Matt & I choose Noche for our joint-birthday dinner, not b/c we heard great things about the food or b/c I’ve been dying to try it… no, we choose Noche b/c of the 1,000 OpenTable point value it provided. We’re up to 6,800 points which means we’re 3,200 away from a $100 gift card to any OpenTable participating restaurant of our choice. On Appleton Street in the South End, Noche is a hot spot for late night diners (the kitchen is open til 1:30am) looking for a lounge/restaurant atmosphere.

Bread: Instead of bread the waitress brought over a tall basket of dried plantains with an aioli dipping sauce. It’s always refreshing to see something new and different to start off the meal.  The aioli was a delicious compliment to the thin & crispy banana imposter.

plantains 'bread' basket

Menu: My menu book was missing 1 of the 2 pages it contained – those types of things should be checked. And I guess I need to stop over analyzing online menus b/c sometimes they don’t match the in-house menus… frustrating! The salad and pasta I was originally interested in weren’t offered, so I improvised. 

beefsteak tomatoes

Presentation/Taste:
Roasted Beefsteak Tomato, with creamed spinach, chipotle cheddar gratin – I knew we wouldn’t be getting dessert so I had to get an app (I can’t blog about just one course 😉 ). I love (fresh) tomatoes dearly and this sounded like an interesting dish. It wasn’t bad, and I can’t quite put my finger on what I didn’t like about it – I think the creamed spinach on top of the cheese but a bit much for me/my stomach.
Veal Cheek Bolognese, with pancetta & goat cheese – I’ve never been disappointed by a bolognese until today. I think I rushed into this decision; this dish wasn’t on the online menu so once I saw ‘bolognese’ I got overly excited and just went for it. I should have stopped to think about the ‘veal cheek’ that was involved, b/c I did not care for the soggy, chewy meat. I ate every bit of the pappardelle pasta, but apparently veal cheek is not for me.

veal cheek bolognese

Bathroom: It was clean, had a nice wicker basket, and the full length mirror was a major plus. My goal is to find a restroom that provides hand lotion; it’s getting colder & dryer out and my hands need to be moisturized!

bathroom

Wait Staff: Our waitress was nice & friendly; turned out she was a wine pourer at the Wine Riot that Matt & I attended on Saturday night. My water glass was never empty and our food was delivered quickly.

Overall: Meh. Food was just ok and it felt weird being the only people in the place (unless you count the few at the bar). But I can’t completely use that against them as it was 6pm on a Monday night. The décor and comfy seating was a plus; I can see how this would be a draw for late night drinks or bar bites.

The Perfect Bite: Plantains & aioli sauce. Can’t say much about the 2 courses I had but Matt did love his stuffed chicken.

http://www.noche-boston.com/