Yesterday afternoon we saw Jiro Dreams of Sushi, a documentary about Jiro Ono the owner of Sukiyabashi a sushi only restaurant universally regarded as the best sushi restaurant in the world. The restaurant, inconspicuously located in a Tokyo subway station, has only 10 seats and a dinner there costs a minimum of $350 per person. People come from around the globe and call months in advance for reservations. Jiro who is 85 years old has no signs of slowing down. It was a fascinating movie and we will never look at sushi in the same way.
After the movie our first plan was to go to East Boston for ceviche; then we were going to have pizza but because we were in the Third Street of area of East Cambridge that we have come to like so much we ended up at Abigail’s. Abigail’s doesn’t take reservations and I’ve been wanting to check it out so last night was perfect. Because it’s Easter/Passover weekend the restaurant was fairly quiet so there was no problem for 2 at the bar.
We started with a nice 1/2 bottle of Sancerre but Scott our bartender suspected we’d be better off with a full bottle, knowing that a 1/2 bottle probably wouldn’t do. We said no thanks but he was right. When we asked for another glass of wine he smiled and suggested a Sauvignon Blanc from the same region that Sancerre comes from; he poured two glasses and left us with the remainder of the bottle – as noted in my picture. It’s a delicious wine – if you like a Sauvignon Blanc, check it out.
Our meal started with soused shrimp. What’s soused shrimp? It’s a southern specialty in which the shrimp is marinated with onions ceviche style but oil is used, escabeche style. Loved it.
Then, we shared roasted oysters and tagliatelle carbonara with guanciale, fresh peas and a fried egg. Fried egg you say? Yes, I’ve never seen a presentation of carbonara with a fried egg sitting on top of the pasta but it was delicious. We didn’t know what guanicale was and in case you’re wondering, guanciale is unsmoked bacon from the jowl or cheek of the pig. This makes it leaner and tastier. We also shared a lardo and bitter greens salad with pickled currants, Parmesan and grilled bread.
We finished the meal with a coffee bean and cardamon panna cotta with candied orange.
Abigail’s is named after the owners’ 8 year old daughter. The owners are a married couple and their restaurant resume ranges from The East Coast Grille, B-Side Lounge to the Independent. It’s a labor of love. The menu is eclectic and not only is the food good, so is the atmosphere; an open kitchen, a large bar and I have to give a thumbs up to the soundtrack that was playing while we were there. It was the soundtrack of our adolescence – The Four Seasons, Bobby Darrin, Little Peggy March to name a few – the genre from the late ’50’s and early ’60’s and every time we heard a song it took us back to slow dancing in someone’s playroom on a Saturday night!
Check out Abigail’s, you won’t be disappointed: http://abigailsrestaurant.net.
See you at the bar….
