Sweet and Sour in Boston

I walk by Metropolis Café every night on my way home from work. More often than not, I see this adorable old man sitting in a seat in the corner with an M on his hat (for Metropolis, duh), watching people pass by and waiting for the dinner service to begin. I’ve wanted to try this place for a while now; assuming it was a café filled with yummy Greek and Mediterranean food (surprisingly, there’s more of an American influence). Last night when we were trying to figure out where to eat, I brought it up. JP seemed interested so we did what we always do: we “yelped” the restaurant. I’m always curious about what others think of restaurants; trying to make sure I’m not eating at the latest health code violation (cough, Yum Mee …which is not, in fact, yummy, at all). Anyway, the reviews were all very positive (I didn’t read them, I just looked at the star ratings) and we decided to check it out.
We leave the house early for a few reasons, we’re starving already, I have cute shoes on so it will take me a little longer to walk, and it’s pouring out. Note to self, buy a second umbrella-ella-ella-eh-eh when we’re at the mall today-ay-ay.
We arrive and get to our table quickly. I had already looked at the menu so I knew immediately I wanted the “Horseradish Crusted Salmon with warm cucumber crème fraiche and salmon roe”. We decide on the app (“Gnocchi with duck confit, Vermont brussels sprouts, rosemary jus and parmigiano reggiano”) and it comes out almost immediately (but not so fast that you’re wondering if it’s been sitting in the kitchen for a while). It’s heaven. Amazing. Warm. It’s how I wish chicken noodle soup always tasted. The brussel sprouts weren’t very flavorful (thank god), but they provided great texture. The duck was very tasty; I just wish (like I always do with duck) that there was more…like an entire duck more. Good God I love duck. I’m not a huge fan of rosemary, but it wasn’t too bad in the dish.
Now it’s time for dinner. Oh.my.God. I ordered the most amazing dish. My salmon came out and, I’m not gonna lie, it was probably the best salmon dish I’ve ever had. The salmon was perfectly cooked, and the skin was crispy (which is just the way I like it). The “horseradish crust” was something I’ve never seen before. It was a horseradish cake. Picture a crab cake. It’s seared on both sides, with the consistency of a crab cake. It wasn’t overpowering at all, and tasted amazing with the salmon, salmon roe, cucumber and the crème fraiche. I never would have thought crème fraiche and cucumbers go with salmon, but man, now I can’t imagine them not being there. I now consider it one of the great pairings in the food world, peanut butter and jelly, lamb and tuna fish, and now, salmon with crème fraiche and cucumber. I gave JP a bite and he loved it too. I tried his hangar steak and it was okay, the mashed potatoes were awesome, but I was definitely glad I ordered the salmon. I have a feeling every time we return to Metropolis Café I will be ordering the salmon.


At the end of the night we received one of those “how did we do” cards. I filled it out and told them, feel free to send me to send me the recipe for the duck gnocchi. I doubt they will, but a girl can dream.

I give Metropolis Café 4.5 out of 5 (which will be bumped to 4.75 out of 5 if they send me that recipe!).