The South End. It's like this magical part of Boston that no one can get to. It's a mile to the nearest Red Line stop. There's a few buses that run through the neighborhood but that takes a while. I always hear great things about this mystical land but it seems so inconvenient, and there are so many other great spots in the city, that I very rarely have the urge to check it out. The
few times we have
ventured over there we've enjoyed ourselves but not so much to make the trek on a regular basis. Plus, the two times we went it seemed a bit dead and sparse.
Well, that's because we were doing it wrong. The two places we had visited, Estragon and Petit Robert (which we did enjoy), are both on the outskirts of the neighborhood. They gave the impression that there was not a lot there to explore. I mean, who wants to walk several blocks in between bars and restaurants? The other night we decided to go back to the South End. Since it was vacation we didn't care about the extra time it would take to get there and back and I really wanted to go to
Aquitaine for some French food. I was a bit confused when our Uber driver dropped us off on this quaint street filled with brownstones and several restaurants all clumped together. Where were the empty streets and the somewhat sketchy streets? Had we finally discovered the magic of the South End? Would we spend the entire night exploring this new found magical land?
Yes and yes! I'm happy to report that we get the South End now. We found the real neighborhood and it is simply lovely. We started with dinner at Aquitaine. Upon entering the restaurant the Francophile in me was in love. The round leather stools with brass finishes, the beautiful bar that was fancy yet inviting at the same time (totally a French thing), the dim lighting, and the steel accents! Aquitaine definitely reminded me of some of the places we ate at in Paris. The restaurant is long and narrow, although I didn't get a good look at the main dining room because they sat us in the "glass box" off the main entrance. We were seated in a very small, glass enclosed room off the vestibule. We had a nice view of the street and bar and for a while we were the only ones in there. It was a little strange but I loved the space so it worked.
We went total French by getting champagne, escargots, steak frites, and a salad. The champagne was a nice one and very reasonably priced. The glass was perfect and exactly what bubbles are served in at brassieres in Paris. The snails were ok. I like my snails in a liquid of butter, garlic, and parsley. Breadcrumbs dry them out. There was nothing to sop up with bread and that's pretty much the whole point of snails.
The steak frites and salad were both delicious. The truffle butter on the steak was a nice touch. Overall, we had a solid experience and I would definitely go back. We opted to skip dessert so that we could explore the neighborhood some more.
There were so many choices that we decided to walk all around in order to make the best possible choice for where to continue the evening. We walked up and down Tremont Street before checking out the other two main streets in the neighborhood. We fell in love with the brownstones, courtyards, and old world charm of the neighborhood. We settled on checking out
Banyan Bar and Refugee, but made mental notes of the other great places we saw along the way~ The South End Buttery, Butcher Shop, Salty Pig, B and G Oysters, Coppa, and Barcelona.
We were drawn in by Banyan's funky vibe. I loved the neon sign and cool entrance. We grabbed seats at the rail bar a few feet away from the main bar. I loved the upside flamingos and reeds dangling from the ceiling above the entire length of the bar. It made me instantly think of Palm Springs, and boy do I love Palm Springs. The restaurant has lots of funky design features like this. There are lots of plants, bamboo, and funky lighting fixtures. We both tried some cocktails and they were top notch.
We were having so much fun that we decided to continue the night. I had seen this cute spot,
Metropolis Cafe, across the street when we were sitting in the glass box at Aquitaine so we headed over there.
This place is so cute. It's super small with enough seating for maybe twenty people and an eight seat bar in the middle. The counters are marble and there are two large, white, circular lantern style lights with black accents that give the place a super warm and cozy feeling. I loved everything about this place, especially the fact that they serve their bubbles in coupe glasses.
I'm so excited that we have a new neighborhood to explore and that we finally understand what the South End is 😉
