this was pork belly and i’s 1st vday together after he moved to boston. i was not familiar with the vday restaurant scene because we never celebrated together before since he lived 10 hours away. i really dont care much about vday; im happy as long as i get my white roses, but since now we are together, its a perfect occasion to go out to eat right? NO.
puritan & co. is a relatively new restaurant in inman square. i wanted to check it out cuz i heard a few good things about it. pork belly made a reservation a month in advance with puritan & co. so a few days ago before vday, i went on their website to check out their menu and doing some research like i always do. i saw this valentine’s day Prix Fixe menu on their website. i opened it up and my heart dropped. the menu looks so cliche jus like valentine’s day itself. i felt like i was reading a restaurant week menu. there were a few specific things on their regular menu i really wanted to try like the lamb and duck cuz i heard they only have certain dishes that are good. i made pork belly to call the restaurant immediately to ask if the regular menu available, do we have to get the vday prix fixe menu. they said yes if sit at a table you have to order the vday prix fixe, but you can order a la carte if you sit at the bar. ok so whatever, it was too late to get any other reservations, so i ll deal with seating at the bar as long as i can order off regular menu.
on vday when we walked in, the host told us that by ordering a la carte, they meant ordering a la carte from the vday menu, not the regular menu. my heart dropped again. they didnt make any effort to inform us that there would be a diff menu for vday when they called us to confirm the reservation. even when we found out ourselves and called in, there was a miscommunication. pork belly expressed clearly that we didnt like the vday menu when he called, we still didnt get a legit answer. if i knew this, i wouldve gone to a totally different restaurant.
when im forced to get the prix fixe menu, it reminds me of meals on flights. ‘would you like chicken or beef’ a voice of a flight attendant would be in the back of my head. not to mention their menu looked super cliche. items like seared bass, pork chop, and grilled beef? can it get more cliche than that?
we were disappointed, but still sat down. at least they apologized and be polite about it.
the restaurant was really dark; my photos didnt come out as nice as i wanted them to due to non-existent lighting.
st. urbans hof riesling | house beer
the bread was my fave thing of the night. nice and fluffy while still has this chewy, firm texture. loved it.
the prix fixe menu is $75pp. on top of that, it’s $40 extra to get the seafood tower.
1/2 doz. oyster, 4 shrimp cocktail, 4 bay scallops, ceviche
totally not worth it but whatever, since we are out we might as well jus go HAM. the scallops were sandy and the ceviche was a bit fishy.
steamed egg
nantucket bay scallop crudo
meyer lemon, brown butter, horseradish
again, sandy scallops. disappointment.
assiette of duck charcuterie
chaud froid with black-eyed peas, mustard
duck was a lil bit salty and dry, but overall still kinda tasty
lobster bisque
uni toast, savory granola
another disappointment. very salty. overpowered all the nice flavors that lobsters have.
winter vegetable salad
yogurt cheese, dill oil
it didnt look appetizing so i didnt touch it.
grilled wagyu beef
potato mousseline, hay-roasted vegetables, bordelaise
this was good comparing to other dishes we got. beef is relatively tender. well cooked, and has a nice texture to it.
seared bass
ragout of heirloom beans, vegetables, citrus nage
nothing special about this dish. you cant really make bass taste bad honestly. i would never get seared bass at a restaurant, but i didnt have many choices.
i forgot the names of the desserts. pork belly didnt really like both of them. i thought they were ok.
this one was really sweet, but i liked the texture, and the sourness of the grapefruit balanced off the sweetness. (the sweetness could make the grapefruit tastes more sour tho)
i also liked the texture of this dessert. something butter i forgot
anyways, i really didnt want to hate too much on puritan & co. since they were nice and polite about everything and i wanna give them credits for their efforts. i really liked the ambience, very laid-back and cozy. the meal lasted 2 hours due to slow service, but i dont wanna blame them i understand that its a busy night. the food was very disappointing and overpriced. i dont really mention about prices on my blog cuz good food is pretty much worth anything, but the total came to $280. for this kinda food? no thank you! as much as i would like to try their lamb and duck, i dont know if i would wanna take another chance. i dont know if most restaurants have this kinda prix fixe menu on vdays to make things easier for them. if thats the case, pork belly and i decided to stay in for future vdays after our 1st vday experience.
pork belly bought me flowers yay. unfortunately they messed up his order and the roses are red :’(
im still happy tho ♥
♥♥♥♥♥♥ thanks pork belly for being so sweet and generous. ♥♥♥♥♥♥ i still had a great vday.
hope you guys all had a great vday.
share with me some of your bad/good dinning experiences on vday!
Puritan & Company
Category: American
1166 Cambridge St
Cambridge, MA 02139
Neighborhood: Inman Square
(617) 615-6195
Exquisitely delicious photos, as always. And the food looks good too! E-specially the oysters. You are gorgeous, Bunny!!
aww thank you Victoria!!
Ugh, I hate when restaurants forget to mention what they think is obvious – a prix fixe menu – of course! Beautiful pictures though!
Me and my hub are going to Jamie’s Italian tonight for a late V-Day meal. I hope to put some pictures on my blog!
hope you guys enjoyed ur vday meal!
Reblogged this on The Boston Harbor Picayune and commented:
Love this page and its restaurant reviews!
You guys need to bookmark this one!
Bummer that the the bread was your favorite part of dinner.
You’re pretty forgiving – I would have been pissed and gone somewhere else, especially since you guys went through all of the trouble trying to confirm that regular dinner menu items were supposed to be available.
The important thing is that the two of you had a good time.
You have such. Good attitude! Excellent photos:-)
That’s so disappointing about the menu – and that the food wasn’t great. Lovely roses for a lovely lady though
Having been there myself, I would definitely recommend going on a less-frenzied day. But the bread is amazing every day. Sometime I visit my buddy Colin (the bartender in your pictures) just to see if I could snag a piece!
Great read!
The duck over black-eyed peas looks like an interesting combo I may try.
Great pictures and a good honest review
we struggled to find a decent place this valentines too since we’re not fans of an overpriced set menu… Keep up the good work 
I liked your photos. I thought they were very good. I know you were not happy with the lighting, but I liked them :- } I have been studying “Kinfolk dinners” style of photography and those photos reminded me of that.
I live on th west coast. I enjoyed the review about some place far away.
You are a gifted photographer (despite lighting, you managed some stellar shots). Now, I’m hungry!
It’s a joy to hop over here and visit your corner of the blogosphere. Excellent work!
I’ve made reservations during Denver restaurant week and specifically checked the menu for this kind of problem.
Incidentally, before I scour the Internet, do you have any recommendations for eats in Hong Kong? Didn’t see any on your blog. Thx.
Sorry to hear that your meal was less than stellar. I feel like that happens a lot with V-day set menus because they are also so busy churning out the food. Glad you were still able to celebrate with your bf! Gorgeous flowers.
Gorgeous roses
Wow, that seemed like quite a meal. I have never had a steamed egg.
those oysters…
Waow if i understood you guys were just two eating all those meals? Looks amazing ! i really like your blog
Terrific photos, and great post.
Awww that’s such a shame most of it didn’t taste good, the presentation was nice! Though at some dishes I was thinking, wow, this is so tiny…
Your photos are great though, I’m gonna follow your blog 
It might be time to just give up having Valentine’s Day dinner on actual Valentines Day, it’s soooo controlled and takes the fun out of the romance sometimes.
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I’m SO impressed with your photography that I can’t STAND it! You sold me on the restaurant even though the food wasn’t great. Oh and porkbelly???? The name is KILLING me. lmbo He did an amazing job on the long stem roses. Sorry they weren’t the color you wanted
Beautiful flowers and yummy looking food!
Great photos, nice blog
I cam to check out yours and I was delightfully pleased to find wonderful food pictures and lots of humour. I especially like the name of your blog. hee hee. I am getting hungry just looking at your photos
I know what you mean when you said that fixed menus are just like airline food which I hate as well. Thanks for the heads up on Puritan & Co. Keep the reviews coming cheers
Lovely restaurant photos – you really have an eye for composition.
Great pics! Felt like I was at the table!
blahhhh I’m sorry. I have a hard time paying prices like that for such little portions. Even when it tastes really good…the tiny little pieces of food just make me want a sandwich. Or Taqueria Jalisco. Last Vday my husband looked up good recipes and did all the shopping and cooking, then surprised me when I came home by having everything cooked. So cute!