Marliave - Cocktail of American and French

For those who are still procrastinating on whether to join the Boston Restaurant week festivities, which starts today, perhaps this might encourage you to try one of the participants. Marliave in Downtown/Beacon Hill is a blend of American and European cuisine established in 1885 and then revived in 2008 by the owners of Grotto.

The setting is a cozy bistro with the ground floor more of a bar setting but the second floor makes for quite a intimate dining experience. The first thing we noticed is the extensive cocktail menu. The cocktails are cleverly named with various historical references. Mr. Z and I decided to start with Guys and Dolls and The Great Experiment whist browsing the menu.

The Great Experiment was splendid largely due to the mixture of citrus lemon and orange with a gentle minty finish. It is quite mild and not as "experimental" as I first expected but perhaps that is the marker of a "great experiment".

For starters I had the Rarebits which is a blend of cheeses melted in a pan with crispy bacon and a hint of lager. Slices of toasted bread is supplied and this simple and yet classic dish conjures up haunting but memorable dreams of late night grilled cheese on toast. Highly recommended for those not worried about the waistline.

Mr Z. tried Henry's soup which is basically a French onion soup. Nothing spectacular but nevertheless executed well.

For the main I had a seafood craving so decided to go with the Scampi which was a linguine based pasta with shrimps cooked in a white wine, garlic and lemon sauce. This was done well with a home-cooked feel to it.

The Parmigiana came with quite a thick fillet of veal accompanied by a side dish of baked ziti. Although the veal was juicy and the amount of cheese and tomato was just enough without it been overwhelming the serving was a bit too big given that the starters were not small dishes either.

We finished with the Crisp which takes a little bit of time to prepare so either order earlier or for us this was a much needed break from an already very filling meal. The Crisp is baked, almost caramelized, apple with rum-raisin ice cream melted on top and scattering of crumble. A little bit sweet but again a great classic with that home-made baked apple feel to it.

Marliave is definitely the place to go if you want to go out and have some innovative cocktails after a long day's work accompanied by some comfort food. Although the food was not as inventive as their cocktails it allows for a little stroll down memory lane of some classic dishes. Overall we loved the starters far more than the mains and I think next we visit we will probably just order a mixture of starters or try out their sandwiches.