Evoo

Last Saturday Ameeka's friend Sharlene was visiting from India, and we decided to take her to Evoo (located in Cambridge's Kendall Square) for dinner.

Per the restaurant's web site, Evoo stands for "extra virgin olive oil," and they specialize in "New American" cuisine using organic, local, and sustainable ingredients.

They offer a daily $42 3-course menu in which you can choose one each from the appetizer, entree, and dessert selection. Their option is superior to the traditional "pre-fix" that is more commonly offered at restaurants, since at Evoo you can choose your dishes from the entire house menu (whereas pre-fix menus are a limited subset).


All of us elected to take advantage of this $42 menu with the exception of Sharlene, who passed on dessert (if you glance at their menu's delicious-sounding dessert selections, you'll probably agree with me that she clearly has superior self-control)

For appetizers, we got:

Shrimp and grits (mine): the popcorn on top was an interesting touch, but it was a bit too salty

Smoked rabbit confit, wild greens, port-soaked cherries, and toasted pecans with Vermont cheddar and Rosemary vinaigrette  (Meghan's):

Adobo braised smoked lamb belly-filled parsnip tamale with sweet potatoes, pickled jalapenos, and cilantro (Sharlene's):

Goat cheesecake with balsamic glazed pea greens, granola, and roasted red beets (Ameeka's):

For entrees, we got:

Garlic and parsley studded grass-fed beef tenderloin with sour cream whipped potatoes, grilled sweet onions, Portobello mushrooms, and orange bearnaise (both Sharleen and I):

Potato samosas with curried butternut squash puree (Ameeka):

Lamb tagine with dry fruit, olives, couscous, toasted almonds, mint, cilantro, and Harissa (Tunisian hot chili sauce) (Meghan):

Last but not least, we have the desserts:

I chose the chocolate-banana bread pudding with warm buttermilk caramel:

Ameeka chose the carrot cake with rum raisin toffee sauce and cream cheese ice cream (it's pictured right as the ice cream is about to slide off the top of the cake... so dramatic!):

Megan elected to have the warm apple crisp with almond-oat topping and salted caramel ice cream (there was plenty to share and the almond-oat topping was delicious)

At the end of the night I was full and very very satisfied. My beef tenderloin had been perfectly prepared, and the banana-bread pudding was awesome.

Even though it's not far from where I live, or far from our hospital, I don't often find myself venturing into the Cambridge-area, so "thank-you" to Megan for choosing this yummy restaurant and making the reservations!


Overall rating: 8/10


350 3rd Street
Cambridge, MA 02142