The Beacon Hill Hotel & Bistro
The Beacon Hill Hotel & Bistro is located in one of
The long and narrow dining room was illuminated generously by a bank of large street-facing windows which let in tons of natural light. The booths and tables were a little close together, but not so much as to detract from the experience. The dining room was spotless as was the crisp white linen tablecloth.
The three of us ordered from the special Restaurant Week menu, where there were three appetizers, three entrees, and three desserts. For the sake of completeness, we made sure each choice was ordered. We munched on the provided rustic sourdough bread and fresh butter while awaiting our appetizers to arrive.
At this point I would like to remark how superlative our waitress was. She was very knowledgeable about the dishes offered, and never once made us feel like we we’re being cheap plebeians by taking advantage of the discounted menu. With each course she brought out a fresh set of utensils corresponding with the upcoming dish, we never had to remind her who ordered which dish, and while she would leave us in peace while we dined, she would instinctively appear when we were ready for our next course. Service like this is what separates the best upscale restaurants from the merely pompous ones.
We started where one does in a three-course luncheon; the starter course. Jon had a salad of bitter greens served with thick and generous slabs of pork liver pâté and a dollop of coarse-grain mustard. The bitter greens brought out the bitter flavors of the pork liver making for a salad that Jon found disappointing and difficult to finish.
Jenny started with a generous bowl of mussels and cockles in a salty, oniony broth. She found the mussels to be pretty average, not disappointing in the least, but not spectacular either, but the cockles were the star of the dish for her; slightly sweet, perfectly cooked meat served in a pretty little shell. The broth was strong and briney and went mainly untouched.
I started with a parsnip and celeriac soup with roasted pears and hazelnuts cooked in brown butter. This was by far the star of the first course; rich and warm with perfectly balanced flavors. Ever since eating this soup, containing two of my favorite root veggies, I have been looking for an excuse to make a batch of the brown butter-fried hazelnuts. The only thing that I could have done without was the roasted pear bits lurking at the bottom of the bowl. I hate pears.
The second course was, as one might imagine, the entrée. Jenny ordered the roasted eggplant, not her favorite vegetable to begin with. I suppose the Beacon Hill Bistro felt the need to offer a vegetarian option, and that’s fine, but this eggplant dish left Jenny wishing she had ordered something else. In fairness, Jenny does mark this dish as the best eggplant dish she’s ever had, but reiterates that she does not like eggplants. The caramelized onions and shallots, mushy stewed tomatoes, and fresh watercress were all very well-received however. Overall she summed this dish up as smoky yet bland.
My entrée was a sizable bowl of homemade pasta ribbons, mixed with black kale, button mushrooms, and shredded duck. The dish was a tribute to the flavors of the mountains in winter, with rich and comforting earthy vegetables and seasonings tying the slightly gamey duck into the mix with ease. While I would welcome a dish like this in the cold heart of winter, I was really hoping for bolder, more exciting flavors. Not a bad dish though, just not what I was looking for.
Jon’s main course had us talking long after lunch was over. He had a wing of locally caught skate served with slivered almonds, capers, cauliflower, and everybody’s favorite fractal food Romanesco broccoli. None of us had ever has skate before, and we had no idea what to expect. The wide, lateral wing bones were easy to avoid and the meat was tender, delicate, and wholly delicious. I could see skate being very easy to overcook, yet this wing was prepared expertly. I will, without a doubt, be seeking skate on my next seafood outing.
The final course was dessert. Jon had a roasted apple surrounded by thimble-sized pieces of farmer’s cheese. I would have pegged this as the safest bet from the pared down dessert menu, but what Jon ended up with was a mushy and under-seasoned roasted apple surrounded by an army of distinctly footy-tasting cheese. The two items, cheese and apple, such a perfect match on paper, had nothing remotely pleasant to bring to one another. I was surprised at this miss; it was almost as though the dish had been put together with no forethought whatsoever.
Jenny ordered a dense chocolate cake served on a bed of cooked figs and crème fraîche. This was quite tasty, if a little underwhelming. The figs were brutally overpowered by the dense, dark, chocolate cake in all but their grainy texture. Taking it apart into its separate offerings this dessert worked much better as a jammy pile of figs with crème fraîche, along side a decadent wedge of chocolate cake. Honestly, Jenny was too full to have more than a nibble of this dessert, so Jon and I did the honors.
My dessert was a spectacular crème caramel with blood orange marmalade. The bitterness of the blood orange marmalade played a perfect counterpoint to the velvety smooth and lip-smackingly good crème caramel. The delicate texture of the dish encouraged small, ponderous, thoughtful bites, and was the only thing keeping me from wolfing this dessert down like a beast and giving away my true station. One small thing that I felt was superfluous about this dish was the addition of a slivered date amid the marmalade, it had no business being there and brought nothing to the party.
We left the bistro with full stomachs and the certainty that, at least until restaurant week rolls around again, we probably couldn’t afford to step through those unassuming doors again. While I cannot attest to their standard menu, and even less to their standard prices, I can tell you that the Beacon Hill Hotel & Bistro will make you feel like a well-respected gastronome, even if you are an ill-mannered gourmand.