Dining Out: Sip Wine Bar + Kitchen

Last night I met up with two friends before heading to the musical "Billy Elliot" at the Opera House. When deciding where to meet, my friend's fiance suggested a new place on Washington Street called Sip Wine Bar + Kitchen. Sip is so new that they don't yet have an online menu, reviews on Yelp, or as I discovered, a registered venue on Foursquare. In fact, our waitress told us they'd only been open and serving food since Monday!

Sip is located at the corner of Washington Street and Avery Street, a few doors down from the Opera House and the Paramount Theater, and just around the corner from the Boston Common movie theater.

Sip has a sleek looking exterior that is anchored by a black awning.

Inside, the dining room gets tremendous light from its booth to ceiling windows. I'm not sure I'd call Downtown Crossing a beautiful view, but at least it's interesting people watching.

Along the back wall of the restaurant sits the bar, perfect for sharing wine and small plates with friends. I took this picture at about 6:15pm and by the time we left at 7:45pm, every seat was full.

Sip also has an intimate and romantic private dining room. This would be the perfect location for dinner before a special night out at the theater.

Our table was right next to the entrance to the private room. Our seats were below these celadon green mirrors. Celadon was the color of my senior prom dress so I always notice items of that same hue.

Sip has a robust wine menu that is categorized by flavor, such as "sweet & bubbly" or "fruity."

You can order your pick in four different portions: a sip (just 2-3 ounces), a half glass, a full glass or an entire bottle. I love the sip concept. Instead of having to commit to a full glass of a new wine, you can simply sample it.

Sip also has a great cocktail menu and I couldn't help but notice the final item on their list, the mangria. The menu reads, "Our version for men of the traditional sangria but served with vodka." I would marry any man who orders this.

My friend chose her libation from the cocktail list and she went with the Figawi Wowie. The drink was blueberry vodka, mint, soda and lemonade.

I ordered the Casa Silva sauvignon blanc which is from Chile. I really loved this one! I also loved the sophisticated, branded wine glass.

The most appealing section of Sip's food menu is their small plates. They have everything from pretzel bites to arancini to fried mozzarella balls. We wanted to order absolutely everything, but eventually narrowed it down to just two plates.

The first was the tempura green beans. I had high hopes for this dish because I love tempura and I love green beans. However, I was disappointed. There was too much tempura (this sometimes happens with onion rings too) and the green beans lacked that fun, delicious snap. I did appreciate that the beans came with a chipotle BBQ sauce for dipping in addition to the soy sauce. As a vegetarian I so rarely get the chance to eat BBQ sauce!

Our second choice was polenta fries. This is a dish I order pretty much any place I see it (the best polenta fries are still at Big Pink in Miami Beach). These fries were excellent! They were crunchy on the outside and piping hot on the inside. The fries came with a caramelized mushroom crema for dipping which was unappetizing to look at it, but quite yummy!

My friends decided to order a sushi roll to start and chose the spicy tuna tempura roll. How cool is this presentation? It looks like a dragon!

They raved about this roll. So much in fact, they ordered a second one!

For entrees, two of us selected to split the penne caprese pasta dish. The penne was cooked perfectly and tossed with heirloom tomatoes, mozzarella and basil. For the token vegetarian dish on the entree menu, this was actually quite satisfying.

My friend's fiance wanted to order the buffalo rock shrimp, but it came topped with a blue cheese fondue and last night I learned that he hates blue cheese. He asked our waitress if it was possible to get the shrimp without the blue cheese and with zero hesitation she said, "Of course! Would you like a different sauce on the side? Say a  . . . ranch?" He smiled wide (clearly surprised) and said, "That would be great." I was impressed that just five days into serving food they were so accommodating about special requests.

The buffalo rock shrimp came in a Guiness beer batter mixed with Frank's hot sauce. He said they were really tasty and it was exactly the buffalo taste he was looking for.

After our dinner plates were cleared we checked the time and sadly, we had to get going to the Opera House. We did have enough time to quickly peruse the dessert menu and I already know what I'd like to order when I go back. Two words: s'mores sticks.

Sip Wine Bar + Kitchen was a delightful discovery. Ever since I started working in the Financial District I find myself in the Downtown Crossing area a lot, so I appreciate having a new place to nosh before movies and shows.

Have you discovered any great new places lately?

 

Molly Galler

Welcome to Pop.Bop.Shop. My name is Molly. I’m a foodie, fashionista, pop culture addict and serious travel junkie. I’m a lifelong Bostonian obsessed with frozen confections, outdoor patios, Mindy Kaling, reality television, awards shows, tropical vacations, snail mail and my birthday.

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Address:
Sip Wine Bar + Kitchen
581 Washington Street
02111 Boston , MA
United States
Massachusetts US