Jen here! A few Saturday nights ago Matt and I headed to Soma to celebrate the 3rd anniversary of his 29th birthday!
Although we didn’t arrive via choo-choo, Soma is located on Cabot Street only a quick 10 minute walk away (.5 mile) from the Beverly Depot train station. So it is easily accessible by commuter rail or car.
We reserved the overly large square table in the bar (our favorite table) and enjoyed many delicious dishes and drinks with 4 guest diners: Rich & Sarah and Chris & Keira.
Not enough North Shore restaurants have such a stylish, yet comfortable ambiance that draws you in and wraps around you. The dark wood floor, big cozy booth and perfect chillaxing music makes you feel relaxed and excited at the same time. Soma gets an A for lighting. The hanging jelly fish lights dance above you at the bar and the perfectly lit dining room creates a cool vibe. (Oh! And I think they were one of the first restaurants ever to have the Xlerator, which is my favorite invention of the 21st century. It beats out the Dyson Airblade any day of the week.)
Beyond super cool bathroom technologies, Soma has one of the best drink menus around. The martinis range from perfect pre-dinner libations (The Strawberry Basil Martini or Bourbon Soma Smash) to perfect-ending liquid desserts (The Banana Bread martini – my fave!)
We started with a few delicious appetizers – Classic Caesar Salad for Mr. Matty, Rhode Island style fried calamari for Rich and beet salad with “zingy” dressing for Sarah. Round 1 was a success.
Entrees were the piece-de-resistance. After inquiring with our waitress “what’s the deal with the seasonal vegetable soup” and her response being “it is amazing,” I went right for it – no more questions asked. It was fresh spring vegetables, vegetable nage, parmesan cheese and extra virgin olive oil served in a gorgeous bowl. She was right – it was amazing.
Chris and Rich had beef tenderloin, and Matt had the blackened Cajun pork tenderloin with fontina mashed potatoes, baby spinach with a port wine sauce. Add a few Dale's Pale Ales and all three of them were content.
Sarah had the chicken under a brick, which was perfectly cooked. She almost didn’t miss the mashed potatoes, which she substituted with extra green beans.
I was a bit jealous of Keira’s wild mushroom ravioli, which were fresh, handmade raviolis, asparagus, green peas, pancetta, baby tomatoes and parmesan cheese.
Soma’s “modern Mediterranean” cuisine is always spot on and the drinks will leave you planning your next happy hour outing!
I remember our first Xcelerator experience at Soma! Must have been seven years ago now. I think that was the night they straw-sampled your banana bread martini too, Jen. Speaking of...I had an amazing banana bread shake at Shake Shack on E. 86th Street in NYC with Laura and Luke on Sunday. The veggie burger was delicious too.
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