Lala Rokh: A Small Treasure Box in Boston's Beacon Hill
Written: Mar 11 '07 (Updated Mar 31 '07)
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Pros: Fabulous food, unique cuisine, romantic
Cons: Can be pricey, no easy to find free parking
The Bottom Line: This is a wonderful, romantic restaurant in a historic area of Boston.
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| modernmarvel's Full Review: Lala Rokh |
I ate dinner at Lala Rokh during Boston's restaurant week in March 2007. Restaurant week occurs about twice a year in Boston and over a hundred restaurants offer a three course menu for $33.07. Lunches are $20.07. This gimmick is to fill restaurants during otherwise slow periods and to get people to try new restaurants.
AMBIANCE AND DECOR
Lala Rokh is located in historic Beacon Hill in Boston. This area is filled with old brick homes built prior to plumbing and electricity. These homes have been preserved on the outside but reconfigured on the inside to suit the various owners over hundreds of years. Lala Rokh is in one of these quirky spaces. You enter off a Beacon Hill side street just off Charles Street - the main drag of Beacon Hill. The small sign is easy to miss as is the entrance. However, the small, charming restaurant makes it worth seeking out.
The space is fairly small for a well-known restaurant and is carved up into various rooms with odd angles and low ceilings. The warm entrance area has a hostess stand and standing room for people waiting to be seated. When we ate on a busy restaurant week night, the hostess seemed frazzled trying to answer phones, deal with a full house and take coats. However, the wait staff was friendly and was obviously pitching into help.
We had a reservation and were seated promptly. The dining room is painted a mustard yellow which is cheery and warm in the otherwise small space. Various pictures from Persia grace the walls and the lighting is low but not dim. It seemed perfect for a romantic dinner.
The crowd was well-dressed on a Friday night. I saw some couples out for a romantic dinner. Others seemed to be groups of friends. The booths, tables and quiet, romantic ambiance was cozy and warm.
THE MENU
Lala Rokh is known for its Persian food. We ate during restaurant week so there was a fixed priced menu with more limited offerings than the restaurant would normally have. When we sat down, we got a bread basket with white rolls and a very garlicy, chunky delicious and unique hummus. Our appetizer choices included a nice green salad or a warm eggplant. I got the warm eggplant salad that came in a red sauce with beans and a small amount of sour cream. The seasoning was subtle and unique and the dish was delicious. The green salad was pretty basic with greens and tomatoes and a balsamic vinegar dressing.
Choices for dinner entrees included beef, chicken, veal, lamb and swordfish choices. My date chose beef which came mixed with dark greens in a sweetened beef broth and spiced sauce. My chicken came with a creamy almost curry like topping. Both were served with rice. My rice had sour dried red berries on top. I tried both dishes and they were unique and delicious. I preferred the chicken to the beef because the beef was a little too sweet but I would have been perfectly happy if that had been my entree.
Surprisingly to me, dessert included tirimisu which is an Italian dish. There was a Persian choice but I can never pass up tirimisu. Although this wasn't an Italian restaurant, the tirimisu was probably the best I have ever had and had a distinct coffee flavor with dark chocolate mixed in.
I can easily say that the chefs at Lala Rokh know what they are doing. The food at Lala Rokh was definitely unique and delicious.
SERVICE
We visited during a busy restaurant week night. We were seated promptly and our waitress was friendly and did an excellent job. Our water glasses were filled when necessary and dirty dishes were cleared promptly.
OTHER THOUGHTS
I saw an extensive wine list. I don't know if they have a full liquor license.
You have to go down two stairs to enter the restaurant but, other than that, everything is on one floor. The woman's bathroom did not have a handicapped stall. If you have mobility issues, please call ahead to see if they can accomodate you.
There were no vegetarian options on the restaurant week menu we had. Although there was a salad appetizer and the desserts were meat-free.
This isn't a kid-friendly restaurant.
Parking is very hard to find. There was a sign that valet parking was available on the next street but we couldn't find it. We ended up finding a meter but that was lucky. If you intend to visit this restaurant, plan on starting early to secure parking and expect that you may need to valet or pay for a lot.
Lala Rokh is located on Beacon Hill - you could plan on spending some time in the historic Boston streets or shopping on Charles Street in nice weather.
FINAL RECOMMENDATION
I love small, ethnic restaurants. This one is more expensive than most but I thought the ambiance and quality of food and service more than justified it. I highly recommend this restaurant.
HUNGRY FOR MORE IN THE BOSTON AREA? TRY THESE BOSTON-AREA RESTAURANTS:
BOSTON: Radius; Caffe Vitoria; Excelsior; Jacob Wirth; Cottonwood Cafe; Imperial Seafood House; Sibling Rivalry; Fleming’s; 29 Newbury; The No Name; Grill 23; Kingfish Hall.
BROOKLINE: Mr. Sushi; Fugakyu; Takeshima; Tsunami; Anna's Taqueria; Zaftigs Delicatessen; Bangkok Bistro; Golden Temple.
NEWTON: Appetito; India Paradise; Blue Ribbon Barbeque; Ice Cream Works; Baker's Best; Bill’s Pizzeria; Cafe Nicolas; Union Street; O’Hara’s; Yeradi’s; Johnny’s Lunchonette.
CAMBRIDGE: S&S Restaurant; The Japanese Mall; Jasper White’s Summer Shack; Dali .
WEST ROXBURY: Cafe Misono.
BRIGHTON: Tasca.
FRAMINGHAM: The Aegean.
ESSEX: Woodman’s.
SAUGUS: Kowloon; Hilltop Steakhouse.
CHAIN RESTAURANTS: Not Your Average Joe’s; Bertucci’s; Legal Sea Foods; Cheesecake Factory; Rainforest Cafe; Fire & Ice; Bugaboo Creek Steakhouse; Friendly’s; Ikea Cafeteria; Longhorn Steakhouse; TGI Fridays.
COFFEE, BAGELS AND DONUTS: Bruegger’s Bagels; Finagle a Bagel; Dunkin Donuts; Peet’s Coffee and Tea.
Recommended:
Yes
Kid Friendliness: No
Vegetarian Friendly: No
Notes, Tips or Menu Recommendations The eggplant appetizer was amazing
Best Suited For: Romantic Evening
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modernmarvel
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