I've been walking pass Loyal 9 a hundred of times over the past year, and always wanted to check out this rustic New England's cuisine restaurant... and finally, I tried the place a couple of weeks ago for dinner.
The ambiance of a hipster gastropub that could be found somewhere in Brooklyn, with open-kitchen concept, additional bar counter with a bartender, and a cafe at the back, is lovely. There is something modern about it that would please both millennials obsessed with instagramming their food, and more mature audience that still feels young at heart.
There is an option to go for the Chef's choice and order shared supper ($55 per person) but since it was a casual Thursday night we decided to choose couple of dishes ourselves to try out the menu, which is strategically divided into sections: seafood, veggies, meat.
As in many other small-plates concept restaurants, dishes arrive when they ready, so preparing your palette for the next flavour is out of question here. We got out dishes in the following order:
Grilled Sweet Corn ($6) - verbena + seaweed butter
I think when you describe the dish is nice it means it tastes okay but doesn't differ from something you can easily cook at home, and those corns were nice. Three pieces, with salted (didn't notice significant seaweed flavour) butter on the side. It was a bit undercooked in some parts but I'm alright with al-dente.
Cold Smoked Striped Bass ($10) - green tomato relish, rye crumble, whipped cultured cheese
My favourite of the night. Beautiful presentation and authentic, memorable taste and texture thanks to the rye crumble.
Sallet ($7) - hand rolled salad with boston lettuce, kohlrabi + aged goat cheese
This was a disappointment of the night. I specifically asked the waiter about the sallet because I was not sure how it would look / taste like, and she gave me a lovely description of the dish that turned out to be literally two lettuce leaves, two tiny kohlrabi pieces with a few crumbles of cheese, sprinkled with lemon juice. And the problem was not in the size of portion but rather in the whole idea of service pretty blant lettuce for 7$. I tried to save it by ordering some house rye bread which was good but reality is that bread without sallet would be even better.
Roast Chicken ($19) - roasted on the bone, served with charred cabbage, chicken dripping potato salad + oyster vinaigrette
The most balanced and comforting combination you can get. 1/3 of a chicken breast roasted to golden brown colour, and amazing oyster vinaigrette that perfectly marry with crunchy cabbage.
The service was polite and friendly, however, I felt that because of small water glasses we we constantly sharing our table with waiters who were prompt enough to clear our plates, fill glasses with water and asking us how it goes. Considering there just another 5-7 guests in the restaurant at that time, I understand that they needed to put their attention on someone but that experience definitely lacked intimacy I would expect from this type of places.
On a side note, I would like to check out the place for brunch but dinner menu didn't leave me wanting more.
Address:
660 Cambridge St
East Cambridge, MA 02141
617.945.2576
C A F É H O U R S
every day 8a-4p
B R U N C H
Sundays 10:30a - 2:00p
S U P P E R H O U R S
Tues - Sat 5p - 10p
Sunday 5p - 9p
Bar Menu Fri + Sat 10p - 11p
closed Monday evenings
The ambiance of a hipster gastropub that could be found somewhere in Brooklyn, with open-kitchen concept, additional bar counter with a bartender, and a cafe at the back, is lovely. There is something modern about it that would please both millennials obsessed with instagramming their food, and more mature audience that still feels young at heart.
As in many other small-plates concept restaurants, dishes arrive when they ready, so preparing your palette for the next flavour is out of question here. We got out dishes in the following order:
Grilled Sweet Corn ($6) - verbena + seaweed butter
I think when you describe the dish is nice it means it tastes okay but doesn't differ from something you can easily cook at home, and those corns were nice. Three pieces, with salted (didn't notice significant seaweed flavour) butter on the side. It was a bit undercooked in some parts but I'm alright with al-dente.
Cold Smoked Striped Bass ($10) - green tomato relish, rye crumble, whipped cultured cheese
My favourite of the night. Beautiful presentation and authentic, memorable taste and texture thanks to the rye crumble.
This was a disappointment of the night. I specifically asked the waiter about the sallet because I was not sure how it would look / taste like, and she gave me a lovely description of the dish that turned out to be literally two lettuce leaves, two tiny kohlrabi pieces with a few crumbles of cheese, sprinkled with lemon juice. And the problem was not in the size of portion but rather in the whole idea of service pretty blant lettuce for 7$. I tried to save it by ordering some house rye bread which was good but reality is that bread without sallet would be even better.
Roast Chicken ($19) - roasted on the bone, served with charred cabbage, chicken dripping potato salad + oyster vinaigrette
The most balanced and comforting combination you can get. 1/3 of a chicken breast roasted to golden brown colour, and amazing oyster vinaigrette that perfectly marry with crunchy cabbage.
The service was polite and friendly, however, I felt that because of small water glasses we we constantly sharing our table with waiters who were prompt enough to clear our plates, fill glasses with water and asking us how it goes. Considering there just another 5-7 guests in the restaurant at that time, I understand that they needed to put their attention on someone but that experience definitely lacked intimacy I would expect from this type of places.
On a side note, I would like to check out the place for brunch but dinner menu didn't leave me wanting more.
Address:
660 Cambridge St
East Cambridge, MA 02141
617.945.2576
C A F É H O U R S
every day 8a-4p
B R U N C H
Sundays 10:30a - 2:00p
S U P P E R H O U R S
Tues - Sat 5p - 10p
Sunday 5p - 9p
Bar Menu Fri + Sat 10p - 11p
closed Monday evenings
