A Little Bit About a Lot of Things

After going to Tavolo the other night, we decided to go back for a second try. When we got there, it was closed for renovations. So we walked a block down the street to the Ashmont Grill, their sister restaurant. It was dim and chic inside with exposed brick and pictures of food spanning the whole length of the wall. The place has a great feel to it, a real neighborhood-y kind of place. It was busy but we were able to get in without a reservation. They were in the middle of their Monday night wine club, four courses, 6:30pm, $30. We wished we had gotten there earlier to take part. The place was crowded and there wasn’t any symmetry to the room. We were sat at a table where you couldn’t push your seat back because it was so close to the table behind.

Our waiter confessed that it was only his second week in a charming southern accent. The accent is endearing so we cut him some slack right from the beginning. He recites the specials to us but we order off the menu. I start with the mussels with white wine, leeks and pancetta ($9) and order the bolognese ($16) as my entree. The rest of the table orders the chicken tacos as an appetizer. They ordered the Pan Roasted Organic Salmon  with new potatoes, brussel sprouts & crispy shallots ($18), Grilled Vegetable Quesadillas (with added chicken) with salsa verde & black beans ($12), and the ribs with hush puppies (not on the online menu). What we failed to notice was that there aren’t free refills on the drinks, so we paid for 6 sodas. The mussels were good but the sauce was bland. The chicken tacos went quickly as there were three on the plate. The bolognese wasn’t nearly as good as the one I had at Tavolo. It was like American Chop Suey at elementary school lunch counters. The sauce was bland and didn’t have the traditional bolognese flavors. It tasted like chopped meat in store bought tomato sauce (bolognese can sometimes be mistaken for tomato sauce but authentic recipes only have a small amount of tomato). The pasta was undercooked as well (and I’m not talking al dente). The salmon was delicious. My friend, who never orders fish, loved every last morsel of it-there was nothing left on the plate). The ribs were moist and tender but the hush puppies were quite dry. A lot of the other tables were ordering the burgers with fried eggs on top, which maybe we should have tried that instead. I thought the meal was moderately priced for what we ordered ($110 pre-tip for 4 entrees and 2 appetizers). You had to leave with a smile on your face when the waiter puts ‘thanks y’all’ on the bill!

Ashmont Grill

www.ashmontgrill.com

555 Talbot Avenue
Dorchester Ctr, MA 02124-3717
(617) 825-4300

HOURS: Bar daily at 4, Dinner Monday – Thursday 5-10, Friday & Saturday 5-11, Sunday 4-10, Brunch Saturday & Sunday 10-3

Tags: bolognese, restaurant