Review: Dinner @ Clio, Eliot Hotel, Boston, MA

Dear readers, today I've experienced credit card blunder no. 2 :P The first time was in a cafe. I had only 100 dollar bills and did not have any small change. The owner of the cafe told me that I can use a credit card to foot the 8 dollar meal. I was like "Wuh-aaattt?" with a big question mark on my forehead. Second time was at Clio, a place that I would be reviewing after my short banter on credit card mishaps. I do not know how the system works but in Malaysia, you only take the card after you sign the bill. In US, they give you the bill and the card. You sign the bill without them looking at the card. I felt a little silly when I placed my card with the signed bill together.

I must have not used my credit card enough....

Look, I'm a cash sort of person. I always have this idea that using a credit card can eventually make you go broke. Although my dad is the mother-card holder, I always feel that using my card to pay off things is akin to using your own money.

Have you ever done anything ridiculous with your credit card before?

I digress. I should be reviewing on Clio, which was rated 3/4 in the Boston Globe and 16/20 in the Gayot Survey.


I was one of the first customers
Table clothes not well ironed enough heh but the ambience is still very romantic. :)
Bread roll - tasty but unfortunately, not warm
Pea sphere, Ossetra caviar, Dehydrated Violet and Peas
Wild Nettle Soup - Chinese Almond powder, violets, cod cheeks, porcini
Reminds me of hakka lei cha (pounded tea) (19 USD)
Poached Scottish Salmon with Black Sesame, Periwinkle (Think Sea Squirt), Bamboo Shoots, Chestnuts, Pineapple (39 USD)

Passionfruit - Lychee, Crumble, Kiwi, Elderflower Sorbet, Aloe Vera Gel, Basil
The plating reminded me of Senses' Black Forest!
There is no mistake that Clio is a beautiful restaurant. Located at the Eliot Hotel, which reminded me of Peninsula Hong Kong, it had an air of grandeur without being ostentatious. It was almost warm and welcoming, or should I say cool and calm, since summer is slowly engulfing quaint Boston?

I actually did not know what to expect of Clio. I did not know who the chef is. I did not come by recommendation. I relied on Urbanspoon Boston and the different sources of review I could find on Clio's Urbanspoon page. I prayed that it would be a good meal after ordering the quirkiest things I could find on the relatively straightfoward menu (In the US, entrees are mains, firsts are entrees).

For amuse bouche, I had the Pea Sphere with a little Ossetra caviar on top, dehydrated violets and peas. I popped the entire sphere into my mouth and was very surprised by the flavors that intermingled with one another. It started off savory, halfway, it got sour and ended with a refreshingly sweet note. I was impressed. Very impressed.

My starter was Wild Nettle Soup. I was expecting pretty small portions. I mean, I had many experiences with haute cuisine and most of them were small. While most people bemoan about the microscopic portions that is typical of fine dining, I take pleasure in enjoying small morsels of creativity and ingenuity. However, when the Wild Nettle Soup arrived on my table, I was overwhelmed by the size of the plate and the amount of food I was getting.

Otherwise, I felt that the Wild Nettle Soup was very creative but it may not rock everybody's boat unless one is well-acquainted with the interesting flavors of Asia. The soup comprised of fish cheeks, Chinese almonds and porcini. The Chinese almonds was pretty potent. If you despise the taste of Chinese almonds ( my mom claims that it tastes like cockroaches), this may not be for you. However, ! for the Chinese almond lover inside of me, this was a bowl of heaven.

Having said that, the wild nettle was also prominent in the soup. Drinking the soup reminded me of Hakka Lei Cha. The wild nettle soup has a herbaceous taste. It would have been stronger if not for the seafood base of the soup. The cod cheeks were very smooth and delicate. However, they lacked the unique sweetness that cod fish can offer.

My mains was poached Scottish Salmon in Sugarcane juice. Like the soup, there were many components to the dish but they were out of tangent at each other. I somehow disliked the combination of flavors. I know that the chef was trying his very best to put up a creative dish but sometimes, too much of a good thing can turn really bad. My mains was a very good instance of that. I actually finished up the salmon, hoping that I could find the right way to eat it or to combine it together.

Until the very last flake of the smooth, oily fish, I still could not find the answer to the burning solution. Plus, the fish did not really had the sweetness of salmon. However, it was impossible that the fish was not fresh because it would have shown through its colour and texture.

Desserts brought my mood back up again. I ordered Passionfruit Tart for desserts because after two courses, my tummy could barely fit anything anymore, save for an acidic dessert. The passionfruit tart was very refreshing and the tartness of it was perfect to cut through the sickening richness of the salmon main I had. All of the components of the desserts wow-ed me to no end. I enjoyed the elderflower sorbet, which had a subtle flowery scent to it and the frozen aloe vera gel. Perfect for the hot weather.

I would give Clio a 8 out of 10. 2 points deducted for the mains. I'm sure that other mains would be good... Man, I should have ordered the pork belly!

Little things:

-Cuisine: Fine dining, International, Fusion

-Service: Prompt. They deserve a 15 percent tip from the total bill!
-Portio ns: HUGE

-Budget: Total damage was 72 USD including tax. Excluding tips.

-Ambience: Romantic. Wished they'd ironed the table clothes properly though...