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Spike Jun 24, 2010 02:02 PM

Estragon unevenness

Hit Estragon last night to see if it was a worthy competitor to Toro and I'm afraid it wasn't :-P
The food varied from moments of brilliance to ok to ehhhhh, this tastes overcooked.
Overcooked:
- calamari (to the point of chewy)
- beef cheeks (dry looking on top and pretty chewy)
- sea bass special w/ a red pepper sauce on top (waiter said it was sea bass, but it tasted more like striped bass to me since I've been experimenting w/ sea bass lately)...edges were overcooked and only the middle was what I'd consider close to properly cooked
ok:
- garlic shrimp (Toro's is muchhh better if a bit inauthentic) seemed like it was premade a while before and didn't have that garlicky taste I like in this dish
- tripe (though a touch salty) was ok but didn't have enough meat
brilliant:
- the scallops were perfectly done and had a great sauce...3 for $13 though :-P
- the shank/marrow/pork belly on toast was nicely done...I'll done braised short ribs that this technique would work great with too

Had a groupon ($40 for $20) so it wasn't that bad $55 after tip, but w/o the groupon, it would have been $95 and not worth it...

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Toro
1704 Washington St, Boston, MA 02118

  1. l
    lypp Jun 26, 2010 05:59 PM

    We had some of the dollar snacks at the bar the other night and everything was delicious. Especially the artichokes and grilled peppers with salt. Ant the drinks were great! The bartender was very accommodating to our tastes and made great recs. Sorry to hear your experience was so uneven. Given the madhouse toro can be I thought this was a cute alternative ( recognizing it wouldn't BE toro.

    1. Bob Dobalina Jun 25, 2010 05:11 AM

      Depending on the size, 3 scallops for $13 could be a fair price, compared to other scallop dishes around.

      1 Reply
      1. re: Bob Dobalina
        s
        Spike Jun 25, 2010 06:10 AM

        These were decently sized, so probably a fair price, especially given that it was the best dish of the night. I probably could have eaten that all night... :-)

      2. StriperGuy Jun 24, 2010 06:18 PM

        I agree that Estragon can be uneven.

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