Tremont 647 - for dinner

I visited Tremont 647 for brunch recently with my brunch-loving, adorable SO with mixed results. We definitely enjoyed ourselves, but best brunch experience ever? Not really.

However, Tremont 647 stayed on my list of Places to Try for dinner. The restaurant has such personality, its hard to not like it. So this past Friday night, faced with trying to find a moderately priced, fun, yummy restaurant, I suggested Tremont 647 for a night out with Sebastian, Michelle, and Maeve.

When we walked in, I knew that it was a good decision. The buzzy, high-energy atmosphere could be felt even before stepping into the restaurant. Twinkly christmas lights at the bar lended a magical and whimsical feel.

We were seated right by the open kitchen which was fun, as we got to check out the super cute chefs working the line. Yum. We started off with some fun cocktails-- Michelle and Sebastian went with the Tremont Tang-- papaya infused vodka with "fruit juices and bubbles" ($7). This was delightful! Sort of like Fanta for adults.

Maeve tried the 647 Raspberry Vodka Gimlet ($7). I was expecting not to like this, as raspberry cocktails can sometimes be too sweet, but it was nicely sour from the fresh lime juice and very refreshing. I decided to try the Fabu-tini ($8.5) which the waitress aptly described as a sangria martini-- Absolut Ruby Red with Cointreau, fresh lemon juice, orange juice, and a splash Graham’s 6 Grapes Port.

After our festive drinks arrived, so too did a decadent and massive bread basket, filled with cornbread, carmelized onion bread, flatbread-- quite the options. Next up were our appetizers-- we started with the Momos ($9)-- fried dumplings with a sriracha sauce and soy dipping sauce. We also got two orders of the fontina stuffed tater tots ($6), which are a side dish we just had to try.

Both of these things were good... but reminded me of other restaurants who do it better. The dumplings made me recall those juicy and steaming hot Meyers + Chang's dumplings, and the tater tots reminded me of Will Gilson's heavenly tots at Garden at the Cellar. Sigh.

We decided instead of stuffing ourselves we'd be sensible and split entrees. Sebastian and I split the free-range 1/2 chicken, which came with Israeli cous-cous and Asian-style slices of eggplant. The side dishes on this one were the clear winners-- soft and silky eggplant and tart Israeli cous-cous.

Maeve and Michelle split the banana leaf-wrapped Chilean sea bass. They loved their choice, and it was a delicious piece of fish, moist and flavorful.

The best part about the meal? We each only paid around $30 a piece! True, the momos were free, since I had a coupon for them, but for a lot of food and drink it was quite the bargain. All in all, I wasn't blown away by the food. BUT I was in love with the fun atmosphere, great waitstaff, fabulous company, and of course, the cute cooks ;)