Voracious at Vlora – Boston

The Mediterranean climate consists of hot dry summers, and so does Boston. When I (or Mediterranean people) want to escape the stifling heat, Vlora is the first place I’d head to.  Heat rises and is sure to have dissipated from this garden-level establishment long before your arrival, and the sheltered dining room provides ample reprieve from the tourists trekking along bustling Boylston and pilgrims reaching the promised land of Trinity Church.

If you’re dying of heat stroke and can’t bear the thought of something hot, cheesy, and fried, the Arancini Siciliani is not for you. Turns out, on the winter day I ventured to Vlora, it wasn’t for me either. The rice was a bit mushy, the tomato sauce tasted canned, and I couldn’t taste anything resembling mushroom or mint sauce, but the feta saved the dish. My advice: skip the appetizer, cut to the chase with entrees, and save some room for dessert.

The beef tenderloin is probably the best I’ve ever had. NY strip at the Palm, dry-aged kona at Capital Grille, porterhouse at Harry’s NYC are practically even with the Mediterranean Kebabs. I took a bite and chewed. And chewed. And chewed. The tender, flame-kissed beef was pretty pink and juicy underneath. I swear I chewed each bite 10 times, and the savory juice never stopped flowing. The rice pilaf was a tasty complement, and the veggies were a nice refresher, but it really was all about the meat.

If the cloying atmosphere of Newberry Street on a summer day has made you unable to stomach anything but water or the thought of a slab of beef makes your stomach churn, the light but filling Vegetarian Pasta di Aldo is solid fuel for shopping. The veggies are crispily cooked, the wide noodles are absolutely al dente, and the fresh arugula creates a biting breath of fresh air in a stale, overheated BCBG store during a half-off sale.

There is no way your entrees will leave you unsatisfied, but leave room for dessert because the Kompekai is unbelievable. Don’t be fooled by the unappetizing appearance of this pistachio bread pudding – my cell phone camera hardly crafts a correlation between how things look and how they actually taste. The moist, decadent bread pudding is lightened by the nutty flavor, and the crème anglaise adds just the right amount of sweetness.

It is really saying something when a restaurant actually forces me to give it 5 stars. I originally didn’t want to give this place 5 stars due to the simplicity of the food, but in this case, sweet simplicity is a Mediterranean trademark, and the food, however simple, had its own flourish within cuisine-imposed limits, and it was so perfectly made I couldn’t even begrudge it half a star.

Studies have shown that people live longer on the Mediterranean diet. IMO, they must have used a study population of people who didn’t have teeth. You’d have to remove my teeth to keep me from eating my fill of Vlora’s perfect kebob, and you’d have to remove my feet to keep me from coming back.