Om (the restaurant)

Note: I've decided to get more detailed in my restaurant reviews, so if you're not a foodie this entry is probably long and boring -- you may want to skip it entirely ;)

Last Friday night Alli and I went to Om, a modern fusion type restaurant in Cambridge, not far from where we work. It's kind of hard to describe this place, as it's a fusion of several types of bars and restaurants (CitySearch does it better than I would), but the end result is a chic, cool-looking place to hang out.

The menu is interesting, all sorts of different ingredients, but they work surprisingly well together. I had the foie gras appetizer (an interesting combination, served with Pecan pie, pickled Muscat grapes, banyuls gastrique, and micro mustard greens), which was superb: they really nailed the texture. Alli had the Korean beef appetizer (Chili spice and brown sugar rubbed sirloin, yellow watermelon, Asian herb salad), which was interesting and not bad.

Then for our entrees, she had the "steak and eggs" (grilled filet mignon, Yukon potato puree asparagus, fried truffle egg, bordelaise), which was amazingly, incredibly good -- one of the best steaks she's ever had. I had the "surf 'n turf" (grilled sliced yellow-fin tuna, brown sugar glazed rutabaga, beef momos, clementine aioli, micro-coriander & radish shavings), very promising on paper, interesting in delivery: looked great, tasted OK. Very nice sweet rutabaga.

We were full by dessert time, so we shared the creme brulee, and it was pretty a good. A little watery texture-wise, not as rich as I would have expected, but not bad.

The bar drinks were amazing. Both the "Tall, Dark, and Edgy" (an espresso martini type of thing) and especially the "Hotel Costes" (a tribute to Stephane Pompougnac, one of our fav ambient DJs), were phenomenal. We did the unusual (for us), skipping wine in favor of sampling more cocktails with dinner.

All in all, highly recommended. The front lounge area is hopping, bar drinks are amazing, atmosphere is cool. You pay for these, as the prices are not cheap, but hey...

Picture (outside the Hotel Costes) by Carlitos9: