umbria
Umbria Prime is a high-end steak house located in the heart of the Financial District on Franklin Street, blocks away from Post Office Square. Not only does it offer corn and grass-fed certified Angus beef, but the menu also features seafood, salads, and artisan pastas. Show up late night and the 3rd, 4th, and 5th floors transform into a night club for the 25+ crowd. I don’t know that I’m ready for that just yet, but I was looking forward to a good meal.
Bread: I guess I’ll call these popovers? Reminds me of a pastry you’d receive at brunch. The bottom was quite thin and useless, but the top was soft and doughy, great with a bit of butter spread.
bread
Menu: Signature Appetizers, Soups & Salads, Umbria’s Artisanal Pasta, Dry-Aged Prime Steaks and Chops, From the Sea, On the Side, Sauces. I originally wanted to order steak (hello, I’m at a steakhouse!) but the prices threw me for a loop, with the cheapest steak being $36. I was do for a ragu anyways…
Food/Presentation:
Imported Buffalo Mozzarella: tomatoes and basil
Slices of fresh tomato alternated with slices of buffalo mozzarella to create a Caprese tower. Basil leaves were off to the side and a basil pesto was drizzled for dipping. Honestly one of the best Caprese salads I’ve had, mainly because of the soft, fresh mozzarella.
caprese
Pappardelle: braised wild boar ragu
I’m still confused… The above description is exactly what I read off the menu, yet I received a pasta dish covered in mushrooms! I thought at first ‘maybe I was served the Tagliatelle’ which comes with “exotic wild mushrooms and fresh truffle shavings”, but then overheard our waitress describing that entrée to the table next to us and she mentioned it came with a red tomato sauce. There were no tomatoes in sight on my plate so I assume I received the correct meal. Unfortunately I’m not a big mushroom fan but have recently developed a tolerance for the fungi, so I was able to somewhat enjoy it. A ‘shroom lover would have been in heaven – it’s a shame I was deceived by the menu!
pappardelle
Tiramisu
When I made the reservation via OpenTable.com I mentioned Matt & I were celebrating our 4 year anniversary, hence the note in raspberry sauce. The lady fingers were perfectly soaked in espresso, my favorite part! Matt’s a tough critic when it comes to tiramisu and he fully enjoyed the few bites I allowed him 🙂
tiramisu
Bathroom: Located outside of the main restaurant in the foyer of the back entrance. Nothing special; for an upscale restaurant I would have expected something more stylized/fancy. Not a fan of the rolls of toilet paper on display.
bathroom
Wait Staff: Our waitress was great and offered to let me try a couple of wines when I couldn’t make up my mind. She was attentive, knowledgeable, and friendly!
Overall: Definitely more of a fancier/upscale restaurant with its white linens and wait staff suited in crisp, white button downs and ties. Being in the financial district I can only assume it attracts a lot of business executives, but as it was the Friday before Memorial Day weekend there were only 3 other tables occupied. The portions are large – Matt’s tuna steak was double anything we’ve ever seen – but so are the prices. We chose Umbria strictly because we had a $100 gift card 🙂 Thanks mom!
The Perfect Bite: Mozzarella, tomato, basil – hands down! I’d say it was solely the mozz, but this Italian girl adores her Caprese salads.
The Perfect Bite, Boston 