Toro – No.24

Toro is number 24 in our ‘Boston’s Top 50 Restaurants’.  We’ve passed the half way point!

Sunday brunch at Toro, a Spanish influenced Tapas style restaurant in South Boston.First impressions as we arrive are good;  It’s bustling with people and it’s definitely Spanish themed inside, painted in bright red and yellow, with a bull’s head on the wall (Toro is Spanish for ‘bull’).  We had some concern at the distance between the two seater tables.  It seems you’re closer to the person at the next table than you are the person you’re dining with.  A concern which was realised when, upon being seated, the table next to us started conversing with us….too close?  Yes.  It also involved the rather awkward dilemma of getting out between tables when they are in close proximity…squeezing through the gap with bottom hovering over the neighbouring table, or front facing with an apology?  I’m not sure which is best (worse?).  Ah well. to the food.

We love a good brunch and in Boston, oysters are often on the menu and we can’t resist.  At Toro, the oysters are not au natural, but served ‘escabeche’…this is a first.  Escabeche is basically a Spanish dish, usually fish, where the fish is ‘cooked/marinated’ in an acidic mix such as vinegar, mixed with herbs and spices.  We both enjoyed them, but honestly, I think we prefer our oysters to taste like oysters.  You have to try these things though.  We followed the oysters with several small plates, one of my favourites was the corn on the cob, grilled and topped with aioli (looks like mayonnaise, but in fact is a garlic and olive oil mixed into an emulsion),  espelette (a medium spiced chilli) and aged cheese – it looks a complete mess and quite unappetising, but is totally delicious (actually, it’s not only a mess to look at but is messy to eat – in a good way).