Rabbit recommendations -- Who serves the best in town?

[Klowen]

Some friends and I have somewhat mysteriously decided that we want to chow down on some rabbit. Any recommendations for the best-prepared rabbit around?

[nsenada]

I had a good cassoulet with rabbit at ESK once. Just saw an FB post from Craigie on some new rabbit dishes. I have no doubt they will be good. We have a couple bunnies in our backyard - I salivate when I see them.

[Klowen]

Thanks, all! Been wanting to try Erbaluce, anyway!

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Erbaluce
69 Church Street, Boston, MA 02116

[BobB]

I had an excellent rabbit dish at Bergamot this weekend. Billed as braised leg of rabbit, it was actually parslied pappardelle served with a rich rabbit ragu, with fresh peas and carrots.

[Aromatherapy]

Lower end: I like the sauteed/braised rabbit at the Snack Bar in Cambridge. And I liked the very simple but spot-on (roasted? grilled? can't remember) rabbit special at Buen Gusto, Eastie. Rabbit is easy to screw up and these cooks didn't.

[MC Slim JB]

The Snack Bar / O Senhor Ramos is an excellent call. My favorite dish there when I reviewed it in The Phoenix a few months back was a special of rabbit braised in white wine and herbs. Spectacular!

http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/

[almansa]

I'm curious about lower end. A 3.5 lb fryer rabbit costs around $22. Assuming half a rabbit is a portion - some leg and some loin - that's 11 bucks a pop: domestic rack of lamb territory. Since we generally see racks of lamb on menus for over $40, how can an inexpensive restaurant afford to serve rabbit? Except in a ragu, that is. I have seen pounded, rolled and roasted legs, sometimes stuffed, served sliced, and they're delicious and much less money. Often they're imported from China (no stupid cat comments please). But you don't get the loin.

[bear]

My son had a fantastic grilled saddle of rabbit at Teatro on Christmas Eve. Smoky, tender and delicious. Unfortunately, it was a special, so it's not regularly available. I know it was well under $30, though. Great value.

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Teatro
177 Tremont Street, Boston, MA 02111

[Aromatherapy]

Yup, half a rabbit.

[deglazer]

$22 wholesale? That sounds way high.

[almansa]

http://www.dartagnan.com/51337/565691...

2.75-3.25# fryer rabbit, retail (from a wholesaler, though) $36.99

[deglazer]

That is indeed a crazy price. But that's not what a restaurant pays, even from a high end purveyor like Dartagnan. They set up a wholesale account (do a credit app., arrange for delivery meeting minimums etc.) and end up paying much less than that. But rabbit is still expensive, I grant you that.

[almansa]

True - fresh rabbit from Vermont or similar and not China wholesales for about 6.99/lb, and that's for a restaurant that pays all its bills on time and is on 2 week terms. Most restaurants pay in the sevens. Frozen rabbit legs from China, on the other hand, are dirt cheap, as are frozen whole fryers.

[sablemerle]

McKinnons in Davis square had frozen whole rabbit on sale last week for $3.99 lb.

[teezeetoo]

i buy it at Mayflower Poultry and it's no where near that price!

[sablemerle]

I was mistaken, it was only $2.99 a pound, and it's on sale again this week for the same price (through May 11). It isn't fresh, it's frozen, but that's still way cheap.

http://mckinnonsmeatmarket.homestead....

[annejudge]

Yeah, that's the difference between Chinese and American rabbit - McKinnon's has Chinese, the other prices quoted have been American-grown.

[itaunas]

I can't speak to the Snack Bar, but at least some Portuguese social clubs buy frozen rabbit in bulk from Gonsalves or maybe Trifuno foods. Those are Portuguese importers and their frozen rabbit tends to be a bit better than most of the Chinese stuff (which sometimes are poorly skinned or have innards still attached both of which flavor the meat). They have also been importing it for ages and have a large volume. That doesn't necessarily mean their rabbit comes from Portugal, though (and if I recall that info is conspicously absent on the packaging). That said, the retail price of the Gonsalves frozen is just about the same as Mayflower at least when its on special. So your math still stands, they are probably still paying around $10/rabbit for the frozen or mayflower on sale (they are close enough they could buy a bunch when they are overstocked). The Snack Bar did serve me actual rabbit, not just the packs of legs when I have had it.

Mayflower does sell native rabbit, but I vaguely remember it was from somewhere else (upstate NY), not Vermont. McKinnon's sells the chinese frozen rabbits, they don't even take them out of the vacuum pack. I have a bit better luck with that than rabbit from the Super88 so its worth having them in the freezer for an occasionally change of pace, but if I was going to serve rabbit I would buy it from mayflower.

[StriperGuy]

I usually just head down to the Charles River with my slingshot, they're all over the place on the Allston Brighton side...

[yumyum]

Oh boy. I'm at the Snack Bar, STAT. Thanks!

[MC Slim JB]

Lots of good ideas here already, but I'll add the rabbit porchetta at Coppa. Jody Adams at Rialto regularly features beautiful rabbit preparations on her menu, but I haven't had dinner there very recently.

http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/

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Coppa
253 Shawmut Ave, Boston, MA 02118

[almansa]

That's what I was gonna say. A delicious dish, but maybe outside of their expectations for rabbit.

[meat inspector]

Check out Pierrot Bistro on Cambridge St. Hidden treasure!

[powerfulpierre]

A bit different and in Tapas format but I have always enjoyed this at Dali - "Conejo Escabechado | Braised Rabbit w/Red Wine, Juniper and Garlic 8.5"

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Dali
415 Washington St, Somerville, MA 02143

[enhF94]

Against chowhound common wisdom, I always enjoyed the itty bitty rabbit at Dalí. And also against CH wisdom, I often liked the way Upstairs on the Square treated rabbit on the 3rd floor - though I haven't had it in five years.

[powerfulpierre]

enhF94 - Great Minds (and Dali fans)!

[phatchris]

Erbaluce has the best rabbit dish that I've had in the city.

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Erbaluce
69 Church Street, Boston, MA 02116

[ecwashere7]

I emphatically second Erbaluce. Chef Draghi's menu changes regularly, so there's no guarantee that its currently on it. Nonetheless, the rabbit is delicious.

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Erbaluce
69 Church Street, Boston, MA 02116

[greenzebra]

Third erbaluce. Had a wonderful rabbit fettuccine dish there last summer. If you're going there just for the rabbit, call ahead, because as ecwashere7 says the menu changes frequently.

[StriperGuy]

Vinny's at Night 76 Broadway Somerville

Their rabbit agrodolce was amazing.

[yumyum]

Second the rabbit at Vinny's.

Also the diced rabbit appetizer at New Shanghai -- a bit of a challenge to eat around the bones but that's a yummy bunny.

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New Shanghai Restaurant
21 Hudson St, Boston, MA 02111

[joth68]

I like Chili Gardens version but HATE picking around the bones.

[lipoff]

I'd second Chili Garden's version. Picking around the bones is half the fun! =)

[joth68]

haha well you and I have very different ideas of fun then!

(Actually, I am a bit hypocritical . I can't stand picking around the bones in rabbit and goat dishes but at the same time will happily spend hours picking crabs or tearing apart lobsters)

[StriperGuy]

Kills me when folks say they don't like the bones/shells, etc in: rabbit, fish, crawfish, head on shrimp, chicken wings, etc.

Yah, we should all eat only white meat chicken breasts, huge steaks, and slabs of fish fillet with no bone (the last of which is also tremendously wasteful.

Holy cow that would be a miserable way to go through eating. In my book chewing, tearing, nibbling, crawfish and shrimp head-sucking, marrow bone slurping is part of what makes food interesting. I'd RATHER eat a rabbit off the little tiny bones then eat a bone-free fillet. Bring it on.

[joth68]

I don't think the marrow/shrimp comparison is a fair one. People generally don't eat those things because they find the idea of it gross. My issue with the rabbit dish at chili garden is that it is a pain in the @ss to eat.

The problem with the rabbit is that it is chopped so small that the pieces are already bite sized. I'll poke a bite with my fork and knife and it will appear to be all meat. Then I bite down and a razor sharp shard of bone lurking in the middle stabs the inside of my mouth.

Picking aroud the bones is also twice as difficult when everything is covered in that delicious hot sechuan oil(that sprays everywhere[yes i am a messy eater])

[CocoDan]

Ten Tables in JP had a very nice version with homemade pappadarlle the last time we dined there.
Enjoy,
CocoDan

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Ten Tables
5 Craigie Circle, Cambridge, MA 02138

[Pegmeister]

Marliave does a nice version, and for those in the party that want something different, I thorougly enjoy their beef wellington.

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Marliave
10 Bosworth Street, Boston, MA 02108

[teezeetoo]

i've loved the rabbit at erbaluce and also liked la morras. for a totally different approach Szichuan Garden in Brookline makes a killer spicy rabbit dish

[jajjguy]

I'll second Erbaluce. Their menu changes often, so call to see if they'll have the rabbit.

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Erbaluce
69 Church Street, Boston, MA 02116