Viale

Cuisine	Italian
Price	$$$ (31-50)
Rating	5/10
Last Visit	Feb. 5, 2020
Location	Boston: Central

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General Notes

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Viale is a solid option for Italian food. I didn't have anything particularly noteworthy, but every dish was generally prepared decently well. I like the way the menu is structured: very concise but covers always has something to offer for everyone. Do come here for their happy hour oysters deal (5-7pm, $1 oysters), and from what I've heard, a solid option for brunch as well. When I visited here, I was originally planning to try Little Donkey; unfortunately even on a Wednesday night at 6pm there's a 1 hour wait. Fair warning if you do decide to go to Little Donkey, I suppose.

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Positives

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> I love the interior design. It's bright, vibrant, and modern during the day. At night, it feels warm and not overly dark like a lot of other restaurants.
> You can't go wrong with $1 oysters from 5-7pm.

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Dishes Tasted

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• ★★☆☆ Potato Gnocchi -- Wild boar bolognese, grana, rosemary. I like the intense rosemary flavor, and the texture of the gnocchi is excellent. A solid dish overall with some flaws. It was quite overseasoned, which overpowered a lot of more subtle flavors, such as from the gnocchi itself. It was also a bit oily. The wild boar didn't quite have the tenderness or intensity of flavor that I was looking for.
• ★★☆☆ Arancini, Fontina Stuffed -- Pretty similar to the polenta. The arancini itself was pretty well made; crispy exterior and creamy interior. My main gripe is with the sauce, which was too cheesy and not tart enough to provide a nice contrast to the arancini itself.
• ★★☆☆ Crispy Polenta -- Not quite was I was expecting - tastes good but didn't quite have the grainy texture from the polenta that I was expecting.
• ★★★☆ Oysters -- These are $1 each from 5-7pm every day! I would definitely recommend taking advantage of this if you're here during this time. The oysters have a nice clean flavor and are well-shucked.