Restaurant Review: If you are looking for a great steakhouse near Faneuil Hall, don't miss Umbria Prime located in the Financial District. The steakhouse located in the former Il Panino space on Franklin Street serves up some great prime cuts of beef. As soon as you enter the restaurant, you will see the open kitchen where chefs sear and grill to perfection a variety of steaks.
We ordered a glass of the house cabernet (Ferrari) and a gin martini to start off the evening. Our server highly recommended we try the risotto special, which we did as an appetizer - a combination of shrimp, skate fish, monkfish, sea bass and calamari served with cherry tomatoes and asparagus. The deliciously cheesy blend could be ordered either as an appetizer or entrée. We also sampled the shrimp scampi with lemon and white wine - three jumbo shrimp served in a decadently rich sauce (we were glad we saved the warm rolls for dipping). Other appetizers included pepper seared ahi tuna, broiled sea scallops, Kobe carpaccio, crab cakes and raw oysters on the half shell. There is also a good variety of soups and salads here. The restaurant offers an Italian flair on its cooking so don't be surprised to find imported buffalo mozzarella, house made gnocchi, lobster fra diavolo and jumbo seafood cioppino on the menu.
Moving right along, we sampled the 16-ounce New York sirloin and 24-ounce bone-in cowboy ribeye, both of which were cooked to perfection. The cheese broiled mashed potatoes were the ultimate indulgence (who was counting calories?!) along with the parmesan creamed spinach.
Umbria Prime offers some amazing views of the Financial District with floor to ceiling windows that open up in the warmer months. On the third, fourth and fifth floors above the restaurant sits Club Umbria, a dance mecca that caters to a 25 and older clientele. If you eat at here, you will complimentary admission to the upstairs club.
Owner of Umbria Prime, Bricco, Trattoria Il Panino and Splash, Frank DePasquale's newest venture includes a partnership with Strega restaurateur Nick Varano opening a club on the South Shore in Quincy.
Umbria Prime
295 Franklin Street
Boston, MA
(617) 338-1000
www.umbriaprime.com
www.depasqualeventures.com
Kellie K. Speed
Kellie Speed is a freelance writer with more than 20 years' experience writing for a variety of publications, including US Veterans magazine, DiverseAbility and BestReviews. She also contributed to Moon Metro's Boston guidebook published by Avalon Travel Publishing and can be reached at kkspeed@aol.com ...(Read More)