Restaurant Review: Boca Kitchen Bar

In the restaurant world of today, the fresh food focus is such a logical, winning idea that any restaurant worth its salt has adopted the concept. Needless to say it works better in some restaurants than others. One place where it works particularly well is the Boca Kitchen Bar on North Park Avenue in Winter Park across the street from the Morse Museum.

Open for a year and a half, Boca has claimed its niche in a corner that has not always been kind to ‘concept’ eateries. Luxuriating recently in a meal that went from one glorious taste sensation to another, I finally realized that a large part of Boca’s across-the-board success comes from the fact that they’ve gone beyond worrying about ‘concept image’ and moved on to sending food from the kitchen that tastes terrific and pleases their guests. Woo hoo! – now that is a concept.

There are items on the menu that have been there from day one, and it’s comforting that we can count on them to be there (like the fried green tomatoes), and other times, our taste buds are calling out for experimentation that translates into trusting the chef to tempt us with something new. Here again, Boca does it better than most by offering us, and I quote the menu, the “Staff Meal – Just order it, the Chef says you’ll love it.” And we did order it, and we did love it.

So I’ve already given it away – my favorite dining guest and I loved our meal at Boca, and I can hear you say, “What kind of reviewer is Josh if he loves everything?” I answer by saying – first – I don’t always love everything, but when I do love everything, isn’t that cause for rejoicing? It certainly makes it easier for you – dear readers – to determine for yourselves that since the place always looks busy, it’s probably got good food – or is it just a great location?

Now I can confirm – it is the food. Go. Eat. Enjoy.

We began with the aforementioned favorite, fried green tomatoes – four chunky slices of goodness with a wondrous dollop of soft pimento cheese with a bite of Boca bacon as a very tasty garnish. Those slices sit on a decorative tomato vinaigrette, which further enhances each of those tastes.

Considering this was a ‘working dinner,’ I ordered the heritage + swine flatbread, which in most cases would be plenty for two people with drinks. Intrepid foodie that I am, however, I required more Boca bacon, love-em-so-much caramelized onions, extra high in protein Manchego cheese (thank you, chef), and a white BBQ sauce. Note to chefs everywhere: high protein, low carb Manchego cheese is delicious. Use it on pizzas and the whole country will be healthier.

Our third appetizer was the yellow fin Ahi tuna tartare, and since my guest tried it first – and she said, “Mmm… the tuna tartare is really good,” I knew we were on to something special. One taste and I was doing my “happy food dance” and declaring it the OMG experience of the meal. Served on a refrigerated marble slab to keep it perfect-temperature cool, the tuna was ‘blended’ with mashed scallions and sweet soy and served between crispy wontons.

Foodie alert: the tuna tartare is worth the trip – come and get it.

Our first choice for an entrée was the yellow fin Ahi Tuna. Yes, I know, but since the appetizer was such a success, we figured we had more taste sensations based on that nutritious fish … and we did. The perfectly seared tuna was served over black fried rice (black rice was once so rare it was called ‘forbidden rice’) with bits of kimchi mixed in with a coconut milk base. This dish fulfilled the taste sensation we never had before, and it is so outrageously tasty (at $30) and so very different from the appetizer that I am happy to recommend both at the same sitting.

The other adventurous choice was the “Staff Meal,” which turned out to be another huge winner. Our surprise entrée was coq au vin, which goes back in time to when French peasants would cook their chicken for hours in leftover red wine. It is pretty much the only chicken I order in a restaurant, and the gorgeous simplicity with which this ‘peasant’ dish was prepared was also its strength. It summed up, once again, the Boca ideal.

Good food cooked to bring out every possible flavor and taste, hearty and comfortable, and Boca does it so very well. Highly recommended – you bet it is.