Columbus Café Sailed the Ocean Blue – Boston

Contrary to what your high school history books want you to believe, when Christopher  Columbus landed in America, it didn’t take him long to realize that this promised land wasn’t exactly offering up everything it promised. He actually went island hopping (but hopefully with better staff than the server from Island Hopper), and compiled what little treasure he could scrounge up on each island to bring back to Spain. When I docked at Columbus Café for dinner, it didn’t take me long to realize that the food here was about as visionary as the name of the restaurant (it’s on Columbus Street).

The three dishes we had were analogous to Columbus’s ships, considering they all seemed to be sailing (or sinking) in large bodies of water. The Sangria was more acidic wine than fruit, but it was fine, a quality which seemed to set the tone for the rest of the night.

The Polenta appetizer slowly sailed in tomato-water like the Santa Maria. But apparently slow and steady wins the race as the polenta managed to retain the wholesome creamy-grainy texture of boiled cornmeal without succumbing to the diluting effect of the tomato liquid. On a more positive note, the juicy, slightly chewy mushrooms were a tasty topper.

The veggies in the Pasta di Giardino were staying afloat, as was the al dente linguini, but the surrounding olive oily liquid was clearly neither broth nor soup. The broccoli stems retained a little crisp, just the way I like my veggies cooked - it you don't work to chew it, it's basically baby food. The liquid it swam in was accented with a sharp tang of tomato. Just a request: Before serving, please treat this dish like the Nina and tip it over to dump out the excess liquid…too soon?

Imagine my disappointment when I saw the Moroccan Lamb Shank topped with the less complementary spinach leaves instead of the dark bitter promise of collard greens. The lamb itself was tender enough, and the hard beads of lentils and thick au jus made for a filling, comforting broth. While this dish failed to really make waves across my tastebuds, it was, like the Pinta, the last of the trio to sink.

The Tiramisu was about as memorable as Columbus’s governorship of Hispanola - not much amaretto flavor with mediocre mascarpone, laced with a loud throat-clearing hint of store-bought (as opposed to made in-house). Then again, considering that it was served in a small café, it's fine; excusable, unlike Columbus’s governorship…

In the defense of Columbus and his crew, those at Columbus Café were undoubtedly courageous in their efforts to create a casual café with hearty dishes for supping friends. The Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria were meant to be Mediterranean ships, ill-equipped for sailing across the ocean, and Columbus Café was meant to be a small eatery, ill-equipped to produced the labor-intensive dishes described on their menu. Unfortunately, I found about as much wealth in the food as Columbus did in the new world, but Columbus found some gold, and I found some potential at Columbus Café so I’m not ready to write it off yet…if only they would go easy on the liquid…