An Evening at Toro

It's been a year since I've last been to Toro. You can't make reservations here so getting there early is key. We arrived at 6pm sharp and the restaurant was already busy but still had tables available.

Toro is owned by Ken Oringer who also runs Clio. The restaurant, in the South End, delivers a modern take on tapas. I always enjoy a trip here. Some of the choices like the foie gras and oysters are decadent but since the portions are small, it makes me feel a little less guilty! Here's what we got:

Atun Crudo: This was sashimi grade yellow fin tuna with citrus and soy. The flavors were really light and refreshing. Perfect for a hot summery evening.

Garlic shrimp: This was only ok for me. I guess I'm not a fan of garlic shrimp.

Foie gras: The portion is small. The foie gras is about the size of 2 quarters or less. Can't expect too much for $12? I thought the ginger gelee was a little overwhelming. Also the fg was cold.

Stew of sea urchin crab meat and lobster: The taste of the tomato was too overpowering. I wish I could taste more of the uni. But that's me. This is dish has gotten raves from friends.

Corn with aged cheese: This is the house special and delicious. Make sure you get a piece with generous topping of blue cheese haha.

Duck with rhubarb: I liked the flavor pairing on this.

Paella: It was ok. Wouldn't get it again and save room for more tapas.

Kobe burger: It was good but not really the religious experience kobe beef should be. Pass.

Fried potatos - Boring, nothing special.

Tripe with chick peas and blood sausage - I liked this! (Disclaimer, I am a tripe lover hehe) The chickpeas are stewed in tomato sauce and tripes with blood sausage. Very filling though.

Roasted eggplant - This was pretty good too!

I also spied some Jamon Iberico on the menu. I read in a WSJ article recently that restaurants in the U.S. will soon be allowed to serve Jamon Iberico de Bellota (where the pigs feed exclusively on acorns)! I wonder if Toro will import some too?

Photo courtesy of WSJ:



Toro
1704 Washington St
Boston, MA 02118
(617) 536-4300
(South End)



Chomp Meter:

A great place to go for drinks and small plates. You get creativity at lower prices. I like!

Tasca Tapas

I've always wanted to try Tasca but our plans are always foiled by the inabililty to find parking or because of the long wait. Pacman and I finally made it there a couple weeks ago and scored a nice parking spot on Washington street off Comm ave.

Just a quick post on this one. I thought the food was only OK compared to Dali but the prices were much cheaper. Or perhaps we didn't get the right dishes? It was only the 2 of us so we weren't able to sample many plates.

We got the beef cappacio, duck with red cabbage, chorizo in a flakey pastry, egg and potato omelette, and a cod fish dish. The food was good but none of the dishes were spectacular. The duck was too dry though the taste did grow on me after several bites. I think it was the pairing with the cabbage that saved the dish.

From L to R: Duck, Chorizo, Beef Cappacio


Tasca
1612 Commonwealth Ave.
Boston, MA 02135
617 730 8002



Chomp Meter:
Good enough but not a wow. I am unlikely to go back. Come to think of it the quality is similar to Taberna de Haro, though I like the latter better and they have outdoor seating in the summers. My personal favorite is Dali of course. :) Tasca's is a good restaurant to check out if you're in the area and looking for reasonably priced tapas. I wouldn't go out of the way otherwise.

Tapas @ Taberna de Haro

Chompster is starting to work for us! No more figuring out where to go. Thanks to Cindy's favorites, we checked out Taberna de Haro last Friday. It's funny how we've never really noticed the place even though we used to frequent Ginza right across the road.
We didn't have reservations so we had to wait a little, but it wasn't bad. We got glasses of sangrias and hung by the bar. Compared to places like Dali and Tasca, Taberna de Haro has higher ceilings giving it a more spacious, less crowded feel. However, looks can be deceiving, the place was packed even as we left at 11pm.

I must say, I really enjoyed the sangria there. It was sweet and fizzy with lots of fruit. Just the way I like it. We also had the steak pincho with asturian blue cheese. The meat was well grilled, though the flavor of the blue cheese was a little intense for my liking. Next we had the fried cod balls. They remind me of Japanese takoyakis! :) Though the insides of the balls were drier.

The pinchos:


Squid balls:


Chomp Meter:
All in all, I thought the food was pretty good, though I didn't love any one dish enough to have it again should we revisit the restuarant. Wait, I take that back, will definitely get the sangrias again!


Taberna de Haro
999 Beacon St. (St. Mary’s St.)
Brookline, MA 02446
617-277-8272

Oh and a random piece of useless info. The night we went, we saw the filming of a movie, Everybody wants to be Italian, happening right next door. We asked one of the crew members who was starring in the movie. His answer? No one famous yet :))