28 Degrees

It took me the longest time to recognize that South Boston and Boston's South End were two different entities. You always hear about people getting shot in South Boston, and it's also the place where my car got taken when it was towed for being on the wrong side of the road on street-cleaning day. So when I first moved to the city and a friend from home suggested that I try some of the highly-recommended fine-dining in Boston's South End, I thought she was insane. How could there possibly be fine-dining in an area known for gang wars (ok maybe a *bit* of an exaggeration) and purse-snatching???

I finally got straightened out, and last night a few of us went out to dinner at 28 Degrees in Boston's South End. When we first walked in, the scene seemed like a mix between a bar, a club, and a restaurant. Decor was an attempt at oober-trendy, but they seemed to be trying a little toooo hard. There was what appeared to be a bachelorette party at the bar, and a few handfuls of young male professionals lurking near-by.

One in-arguably cool thing in the restaurant though, was the water display on the ceiling in the bathrooms. If only there were fish in there too...

The menu was an American version of tapas, with a mix of "small plates" and "big plates." I ordered the yellow fin tuna tartare:

I thought the tuna was a little bit too finely diced, but otherwise the dish was good. The fish was fresh, and there was a perfect hint of lemon.

My friend from home Vera ordered the steak tacos:

Eliza decided on a cheese plate:

Louis ordered the BBQ ribs "big plate" which was accompanied by mango coleslaw:

Caroline chose the tomato, basil, and mozzarella pizza:

We also ordered truffle Parmesan fries for the table, which out-shone my tartare. The amount of truffle oil seasoning the fries was perfect - strong enough that the ketchup and aoli sauce served on the side were completely unnecessary, but not overwhelming. (Unfortunately we were so excited to dig into them that I completely forgot to snap a shot)

Instead, included is a pic of two of BIDMC's best PGY-2's

Overall rating: 6.5/10

28 Degrees
1 Appleton Street
Boston, MA 02116