BOA Santa Monica
Although our Christmas holiday involved more food than anyone could ever consume, we found ourselves watching the Food Network non-stop this past Saturday. If you recall, the morning started out cold but dry and quickly devolved into a rainy, soggy mess. I was out on my bike and got caught in the rain - fun. So once I got home, all I wanted to do was sink into our bed and watch tv. And watch tv we did. In the early afternoon we were starting to get very hungry as we watched a series of restaurant shows on The Travel Channel. One in particular, Food Paradise, was all about steakhouses. We learned about dry-aging beef, wet-aging beef and how to get the best cuts of meat from a cow.
We were all dying for a steak and started calling around town to secure an early reservation with the kids. Mastro’s was booked, Lawry’s was going to be too touristy but BOA was reasonably close and could seat us at 5:30p. Perfect!
We threw on slightly nicer clothes, slicked down the kids’ hair and took off for Santa Monica. As we walked in, our son asked where the pictures were on the walls - unfortunately, he thought we were going to The Palm which he saw on that show. Now I’m forced to take him there one day soon. Only WE would have kids that think going to The Palm is normal.
I’ve eaten at BOA many times and this trip didn’t disappoint. We started off with a special bruschetta appetizer with ricotta cheese, cherry tomatoes and truffle oil that was heavenly and a picture perfect chop salad. The steaks were wonderful although my gigantic Porterhouse (to share with the kids - hello!) was much more rare than the “medium to medium well” I asked for. I also really loved the wine menu with a number of unique, hard to find wines but mostly the half-bottles that allowed the two of us to try two different wines without spending a small fortune.
The coup de grace of the evening though was the perfectly square mound of blue cotton candy they made for the kids. They went nuts. Everyone around us was in awe of it and it was awe worthy. For a last minute trip out for “cow” as my daughter said, it was a pretty great night.
Heather’s Rating: Worth Going Back Again
BOA
101 Santa Monica Blvd, Santa Monica 90401
(310)899-4466