Tonight I took one of my favorite girls to Eastern Standard to celebrate her birthday. My first trip to the restaurant was three years ago for the 4th of July. I had dinner there on the 4th with my sister, my cousin and five guy friends in town from New York City. I thought the restaurant was absolutely beautiful, the cocktail list was the most impressed I'd seen, and that every dish we sampled was incredible. To top it off, they let everyone leave their table to go outside and watch the fireworks and then come back in. I have been in love with Eastern Standard ever since. If I had to pick only one restaurant in the city of Boston as my favorite, this would be it.
Though I love the French feel of the inside of the restaurant, tonight we sat outside on the patio. Eastern Standard has heaters on the patio so its open all year round. It was nice to have a front row seat for the excellent people watching in Kenmore Square.
Our waitress came over and brought us bread (with warm butter!) and took our drink order.
We both ordered our mutual, favorite cocktail, the Blueberry Thrill. Its blueberry infused vodka and tastes like candy, which is exactly how I like to consume my alcohol.
To start we shared the bibb lettuce salad. It came with croutons and was dressed with a dijon vinaigrette. I still think Cambridge 1 makes the best bibb lettuce salad (served with cherry tomatoes and gorgonzola cheese), but this was a nice, crisp way to start the meal.
The birthday girl ordered the steak frites which came with a gigantic pile of herbed french fries. Naturally I had to reach across the table and snatch a few. These are the thin, golden, perfectly crisped french fries a junk food addict dreams about.
I ordered the sugar pumpkin ravioli which came over brussel sprout leaves and pesto, topped with pecorino cheese. It was absolutely heavenly! Though the dish was rich, the portion size was exactly right, leaving me delightfully full.
We passed on dessert because we were too stuffed and we had mere minutes to scoot over to the House of Blues before our concert started.
Eastern Standard continues to live up to my #1 status. A beautiful restaurant, excellent service, a fantastic drink list and mouthwatering, seasonal food along with French classics.
You can follow Eastern Standard on Twitter @ESKDBoston.
