I recently went back to Social Restaurant & Bar for a blogger evening in order to do a tasting of their revamped menu. Arriving a little earlier on a ridiculously rainy evening, I sat at the bar and waited for my own friends and some fellow bloggers to arrive. After a while, my friends had turned up but sadly no bloggers. What a shame for them but great for me and my two friends as we were in for a treat of an evening. They totally missed out :).
High Top seating at Social
Just to give you a recap (from my last review) of the space. Located in the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Newton in a former Applebee’s space, Social is designed for entertaining and welcoming patrons through its doors. A huge long bar runs the length of the restaurant. High-top red chesterfield style leather seating run opposite the bar for those wanted to stay and dine in the bar area. A huge open plan restaurant houses about 100 seats with an additional more private area towards the back for those wanting to host a special event. It’s a really great space and something Newton surbanites need to offset the smaller very high-end restaurants or super fast in and out dining establishments.
Escorted to a high-top table in the main bar area our waiters only ask of us was to pick something on the entrée menu, which appealed to us and they would do the rest, which basically meant a LOT of food was coming our way.
We ordered some wine and eagerly awaited our surprise appetizers. First up was the Firecracker Shrimp. This was a little different as it is wrapped in an egg roll wrapper, which gave it a fun and unique texture. A touch spicy but I could go a whole lot spicier on these.
Firecracker Shrimp – spicy marinated shrimp in a crispy egg roll wrapper with sweet chili sauce – $13
I am not a lover of red meat but my friends are and raved about the Hot Rocks. The hot rock (literally) is put in front of you so you can sizzle and sear your own thin slice of beef to perfection and dip into a choice of sauces. This appetizer was a big hit at our table.
Hot Rocks – thinly sliced brandt beef drizzled with white truffle oil. Stone seared table, with dipping sauces – $13
My friend, Karen enjoying her seared beef appetizer
I loved their mussels because I love lemon grass. Simple, tasty with a tang of mango.
Mussels – ginger and lemon grass steamed pei mussels with mango and coconut milk – $12
Then came our entrées, which we were not sure we could handle but of course we managed just fine.
I think mine would have won the entrée ordering competition if we had one with the most ridiculous, insanely good pizza I have ever had. I really mean that. Just think about these ingredients for one minute and tell me if I am wrong? Duck confit, blue cheese, fig, Brussels sprouts leaves and beet chips. You might need to just go and try it for yourselves.
Pizza – Duck confit & bleu cheese with fig, Brussels sprout leaves and beet chips – $14
Karen settled on another appetizer with the Fish Tacos, which were enjoyed.
Barbara ordered the Yellow Fin Tuna, which she said knocked the socks off the last time she had it. The Pad Thai has greatly improved with being a little more savory than sweet.
Yellow Fin Tuna – seared rare with gingered carrot salad, vegetable pad thai, soy glaze & yazu pickled vinaigrette – $24
Our evening of over indulgence ended with the most ridiculous of indulgences with a crazy, heart stopping Peanut Butter Torte. I can say no more except the plate was wiped clean of any hint of there being dessert! I even forgot to take a photo so you just have to trust me :).
The rest of our evening was enjoyed with watching first dates going on at either side of us, which made for very interesting eaves dropping and listening to awesome singers, Laura Vecchione and Jodi Heights, who are back on November 13 and well worth going to Social to listen to.
Let me conclude with saying there is something special going on at Social that is worth the visit to Newton. The food is great, the ambiance is easy and the music is entertaining. Couples, families, people on dates, it all works.
