Aquitaine

Cuisine	French
Price	$$$ (31-50)
Rating	5/10
Last Visit	March 12, 2020
Location	Boston: South End

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General Notes

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Aquitaine is your prototypical French restaurant that leans more towards the traditional side but still has a bit of a modern vibe. The menu is decidedly traditional, serving up French dishes like Sole Meunière and Filet Au Poivre. The interior and overall vibe feels elegant and upscale but also sleek and modern. The food is not especially noteworthy but generally executed well, and perhaps slightly above average. A nice date spot, and from what I've read also a great option for brunch (although I haven't gone personally). The neighborhood is also quite charming - there are a ton of other restaurants with a similar vibe nearby.

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Positives

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> They offer a fantastic restaurant week special - $33 for 3 courses for dinner, or $20 for 2 courses for lunch (can be either appetizer + entree or entree + dessert, same menu is used for both lunch and dinner). Considering that the base price for many of the entrees themselves can come close to that price itself, it's a great deal! The options are quite interesting as well.
> They offered us complementary pre-starter, kind of like a profiterole but much more buttery and with a bit of cheese inside. It tasted wonderful! Also free bread + butter.

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Dishes Tasted

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• ★★★☆ Raspberry Cheesecake -- Fresh raspberries, white chocolate powder & cashew praline. A simple but delicious dessert. Cheesecake has a creamy but light consistency. Well-balanced in terms of sweetness and the tartness from the raspberry. White chocolate powder and cashew praline add a nice crunchy textural contrast.
• ★★★☆ Short Rib Bourguignon -- Root vegetables, onion gravy, salsify chips. The vegetables were delicious - perfectly cooked and quite buttery. The onion gravy is wonderful and I wish there were more of it. The short rib itself is decent - pull apart tender but a tad stringy. It could use a bit more fat content or perhaps a bit more liberal basting with butter or the onion gravy.
• ★☆☆☆ Duck Confit Ravioli -- Sweet onion soubise, madeira, candied orange & comte croquante. This dish is imbalanced - it's way too sweet. The flavor of the alcohol from the madeira is also a bit too strong for my taste. An interesting idea, but the combination simply doesn't really work for me.