A Little Bit About a Lot of Things

M had never been to Menton, so I took her in January as her holiday gift. After a day of relaxation at the InterContinental spa, we headed over to Menton for the chef’s tasting menu. Kristen Kish, who you may recognize from her win on the 2012/2013 season of Top Chef, has been the chef de cuisine of Menton since June of 2013.

Since opening in 2010, Barbara Lynch’s Menton has won several awards, including a 4 star review by the Globe, and was nominated as a James Beard Foundation Awards 2011 finalist for Best New Restaurant.

Menton is Boston’s only Relais & Châteaux, AAA Five-Diamond, and Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star property.

The menu changes frequently, so these aren’t the exact flavors that we had, but many of the flavors show above made an appearance on our tasting menu. The tasting menu is offered at $155 per person. If you prefer, they also offer a 4 course prix fixe menu for $95.

The decor is simple and charming. I was surprised at the amount of people here tonight that were in casual clothing. One gentleman was in jeans and a -shirt and another gentleman later in the evening showed up in bleached jeans and a sweater.

There is a small lounge area where you can wait for your table.

The dining room is simple and elegant.

Red snapper is our first taste, served in a crispy wrapper, this is light and salty.

Next, the carrot macaron – such a whimsical presentation.

Gruyere and caramelized onion bite. I love when gruyere and onion are paired together – it reminds you of french onion soup.

The nutmeg gougere with pumpkin mousse was delicate and burst in your mouth. A really nice winter bite – the pumpkin was savory and paired well with the warm taste of the nutmeg.

Scallops in a soy ginger foam with daikon radish and grapefruit was a delicious taste – a nice play with salty and sweet.

Cobia, not one of my favorite dishes, but the fish was firm and the caviar had a bold, distinct flavor.

Fluke and celery. The fish was light and flaky, a really nice texture about it. The presentation is lovely.

The lobster bolognese with sea urchin and bottarga (a Mediterranean delicacy of salted, cured fish roe, typically from grey mullet, tuna, or swordfish) was probably my favorite dish of the night. The pasta was delicate and the lobster had a hint of sweetness.

Foie Gras de Canard with mushrooms and escargot – this is quite a generous serving of foie gras, warmed slightly and it just melted in your mouth.

The veal with veal sweet breads was so tender. The veal melted in your mouth – amazing.

Buffalo short rib with wheat berries came plated and they poured onion comsumme over top. A really flavorful, bold winter dish. The short rib was perfectly cooked, the meal fell apart with just your fork.

We opted for the optional cheese course.

Menton buys their cheese from Formaggio Kitchen. We had some excellent choices.

Red currant jam, an onion apple jam, honey, cashews and flat bread.

Moving on to dessert, here is the black pepper ice cream with coriander black tea. Not my favorite dessert, definitely that hint of spice and the bold flavor of the tea.

Honey cake with lemon sorbet and poached quince. The dish was just ok for us. The lemon flavor was overpowering and there was a goat cheese flavor that we weren’t expecting in this dish.

They brought over some little desserts after we finished the meal, the one of the left was peanut butter and a hibiscus caramel is on the far right.

Macarons, hops, beet and a few other flavors I can’t recall.

The service here was top notch – as you would expect. All dishes were brought out and explained in detail – the meal was seamless. While the meal was delicious (and lighter than other tasting menus we have had recently) there wasn’t any one dish tonight that “wowed” me. Looking forward to going back soon to see what chef Scott Jones will do to with the menu!

Menton

354 Congress Street, Boston

http://mentonboston.com

Make a reservation with Open Table

Tags: barbara lynch, celebrity chef, fine dining, restaurant, tasting menu