Bina Osteria

Restaurant Week here in Boston is quickly coming to a close, so I'm going to take full advantage over the next few days! Today for lunch, two of my friends/co-workers and I are going to try Bina Osteria. None of us have been there before today, and we all found the menu to be very inspired.

There were quite a few choices for our first courses...decisions, decisions! My top choices were probably the Little Lamb Meatballs with Goat Cheese Fondue, the Sea Urchin Warmed in Olive Oil, Preserved Lemon and Lardo, or the Warm Mushroom Confit. How do you even begin to decide between such tempting options!?!? Turns out, I didn't have to! We all shared! The sea urchin toasts with lardo were decadent, and I'm glad we shared! The hint of ocean that I got from each bite was very refreshing. As for the lamb meatballs, they came in a delicious tomato sauce which blended so nicely with the bite that the goat cheese flavor offers. Both the meatballs and the mushrooms came in these adorable little warming pots. The mushrooms were very comforting and warm, with a lovely forest-y flavor to them.

For the entree, we had our choice of four different options. Again, we all ordered different things so we got to try almost everything there. The Grilled Shrimp Salad with arugula, citrus, green olives and shaved red onion was very tasty. The shrimp were grilled to perfection and the little pieces of pink grapefruit made my day. I love when unexpected ingredients show up in a dish that would otherwise seem mundane.

As for the Shaved Porchetta Sandwich with grilled red onion, provolone and hot peppers, it was kind of like a different take on a Cubano. There was arugula on the sandwich as well and it offered a great peppery flavor for the pork and mild provolone. The hot peppers were an added bonus! The bread was crispy but not crumbly and was easy to eat. I have a pet peeve about sandwiches that you can't bite into easily. This one was great!

Finally, the Spaghetti with Tomato, Basil and Parmigiano Reggiano - FRESH PASTA! Need I say more!? We asked before ordering and the waitress assured us that all their pasta is made in-house, and was it ever! It was very flavorful and deliciously al dente. It was a nice helping as well, and topped with some fresh Parmigiano. It was an excellent bowl of comfort food on this cold and rainy day.

We had a lovely lunch at Bina Osteria today.We decided to go with the 2-course for our lunch since we had to get back to work. I also had dinner plans this evening, so I didn't want to go overboard on the desserts at all, and I knew I'd be getting one at Radius. This was a lovely break to an otherwise stressful day!