Puritan and Company – Number 48

Puritan and Company is the third restaurant in our very tough task.  

Drinks – Puritan has a large bar which is excellent for pre dinner cocktails. The cocktail list here is interesting, although the glasses they are served in were not (boring plain tumbler, hmm, not very cocktaily).  We like to mix it up and try different things, so Clark ordered the ‘Fake English Accent’ – he couldn’t resist and I tried a ‘Mole-spiced Mezcal with lime’ (no, I didn’t know what Mezcal was, I have since educated myself, let me share….

Mezcal is a Mexican spirit made from agave (Tequila is a Mezcal made specifically from blue agave), which is cooked inside earthen pots surrounded by wood and charcoal, and then distilled, which gives it a smoky taste (with Tequila, on the other hand, the agave is steamed and then distilled).  And it really is smoky, and great in this cocktail.

Food – We ordered a couple of raw dishes to start and as you would expect in Boston, the oysters (island creek) were beautiful.  I think we made a mistake only ordering raw as the other starters looked really amazing and things we had not tried before.  It also meant our mains came out too quickly, we only had a couple of minutes between the courses, which is a bit of a bug bear for us.  We really like our meals to be relaxed and not feel rushed….this kind of did.  I can’t fault the mains for the way they were cooked, scallops..perfect, steak..perfect, it just felt as though the dishes were missing that something special that makes you just go “wow – that’s amazing”

Atmosphere – Really lively restaurant with a great bar, friendly staff and a view into the kitchen at the end.  

Cost – In the end $178 after tax (ouch).  We opted for dessert and dessert wine to extend our evening (the Chess pie was good), which cost an extra $35.  The wine list was really good, ranging from $24 upwards.