Foodie Friday: Eating out at Grill 23

No recipe today – a girl can only cook so much, and this week I cooked not one little bit, unless you count boiling some Lipton pasta mix on the stove and microwaving last week’s burgers.

Last night my hubby’s BFF was in town, and the dude’s got expensive taste and high standards when it comes to eating out. His choice for dinner was Boston’s Grill 23 & Bar, a swanky steakhouse in the Back Bay neighborhood. They were kind enough to let me in on their boys’ night out, and it was indeed a treat.

grill23.com

The restaurant has been around since 1983, in the old and ornate Salada Tea building.  The guys thought it was a bank, and it looks like it could have been, with its polished wood floors, marble columns and wood and leather chairs straight out of a bank’s waiting room. There is no cloth in the space to speak of, so the noise of the after-work crowd was deafening. I suppose the point is to concentrate on the food and not the conversation.

My man judges a restaurant by the quality of the bread basket, and Grill 23 does not disappoint in that department. There’s a huge butcher block table in front of the open kitchen with loaves of fresh bread and rolls that had me salivating before the basket even arrived on the table. And yes, all the choices were yummy.

I don’t eat red meat very often (mostly because both the boy and I tend to massacre it on the grill or in the oven), but I do enjoy it when it’s a good cut. The beef tenderloin was cooked perfectly, with creamy mashed potatoes on the side and a silky gravy (I’m sure they used a fancier word than gravy, but that’s what it seemed like to me). We ordered tasty button mushrooms and asparagus on the side. It was all quite delish, and we managed to finish it off with an apple tarte and hot fudge sundae with salty nuts (tee-hee!).

Thank god I wore loose-fitting pants!

Beware the valet – $16 up front, not including gratuity. I never use valet service so maybe this is normal? I was expecting $10 at most. A pricey night out, but excellent food indeed.

Grill 23
161 Berkeley Street (on the corner of Berkeley and Stuart)
Boston, MA 02116
617-542-2255
Reservations recommended

I’d like to give a shout-out to the lovely ladies at everything LEB, Deliciously Organized, Perfectly Put Together, and Sabbe Spot for a fun Wednesday night out at Masa! Great to meet all of you!