My husband and I recently tried Pomodorro in the North End and Bomboa--it was a great time. At Pomodorro, we started off with fresh Italian bread and a wonderful, fruity green olive oil. We ordered the antipasto, which was arugula dressed in olive oil and lemon, roasted red peppers and red onions, prosciutto, shaved parmesan, white bean salad and fried artichokes. The simple lemon and oil on the arugula tasted like coastal Italy itself, the red peppers were the best I've ever had--where did they find such flavorful vegetables at this time of year? The artichoke was light, not greasy at all, coated in flour and fried--simple as can be and delicious with lemon. I had papparadelle (sp?) with wild mushrooms and my husband had linguine with shrimp--the whole meal was the closest I've ever tasted to what I've had in Italy, it was out of this world. Our bill, with two generous pours of wine each, came to a little over $60. All this in a tiny storefront that seats about 24 people... At Bomboa we started off with drinks; I had a Bomboa Caipirinha which was a type of Brazilian liquor with lime juice and what tasted like apricot juice, it went down quite easily. My husband had a fruity, coconut mixed drink that was also really good. We had some good crusty multigrain bread with white bean spread, which probably could've used a little more garlic but was tasty nonetheless. The seating is very close in Bomboa, and it's very loud, but we had fun chatting with our neighbors and my husband admired the various bums from serving waitresses that were inches from his face. We ordered a selection of appetizers: taro root ravioli--these were one of the best, in a rich buttery wine stock and fava beans; beef skewers with roasted pineapple and avocado; abacaxi ravioli, which were filled with some sort of dried fruit (figs?)with frisee and duck confit, it wasn't bad but it didn't really come together; a corn flan with sauteed mushrooms and huitlacoche which was incredible, the corn was unbelievably fresh and sweet contrasted with the savory mushrooms but we the huitlacoche was masked by a vinagrette which was a shame. My husband and I recently discovered huitlacoche (corn fungus) at Casa Romero and we are hounds for it--I realize it sounds gross and it does have a slimy texture but the flavor is like nothing else. My husband had a pecan ice cream sundae for dessert and I had chocolate bread pudding, and coffee, a pleasant enough ending. I also had a glass of Banyuls after dessert. It was the first time I've ever ordered Banyuls, I thought I read somewhere that it was like a "poor man's Sauternes" but it tasted more like a fruity marsala. The bill came to about $100 for all this plus two drinks each. A fun experience. Cassie Doyon
Boston, MA