BOA Steakhouse Restaurant

Restaurant Review

BOA Steakhouse: Stylish Steak

Review by: Amelia Whitcomb

BOA Steakhouse offers the simple pleasures of a classic American steakhouse with subtly sophisticated additions.  Against a sumptuous background of leather and wood, Chef de Cuisine Jose Aleman’s culinary creations pay homage to familiar flavors while infusing them with hints of French culinary artistry.

BOA’s dining room blends natural accents with a chic modern aesthetic to create a sexy and stylish environment ripe for indulging in carnivorous pleasures.  A sleek, mirrored bar with low leather couches greets diners as they enter, offering enticing relaxation in the form of inventive signature cocktails.  Lush materials enhance the sensual luxury of the space, with leather-covered banquettes, tables, and menus reiterating the restaurant’s delicious bovine culinary concentrations.  Bare bark tree sculptures scattered throughout the restaurant lend an appealingly rugged naturalism to the space, playfully contrasting with the Roman style façade of Caesar’s Palace that is visible through large windows.  Slatted wood and metal mesh dividers provide partial seclusion to the elevated semi-private dining space.  Seated in our own stylish leather banquette with stunning views of the Bellagio fountain show, our eager anticipation builds as we soak up more of BOA’s exclusive ambience.

While the wine list offers many tempting options, BOA’s selection of creative cocktails proves impossible to resist.  Arriving highly recommended by not only our server but by an enthusiastic passerby as well, the BOA 405 more than lives up to its hype.  A surprisingly complementary mixture of strawberries, balsamic vinegar, black pepper and vodka, the BOA 405 is fruity, slightly spicy, and above all satisfyingly subtle.  My companion’s Crush is similarly revitalizing, delivering a cool, lively sip of citrus, berry, pomegranate refreshment infused with a hint of tropical exoticism from its lychee liqueur.  Both cocktails prove to be a vibrant start to our evening, confounding expectations and fueling our anticipation for our feasting.

Following quickly on the heels of our beverages, we are treated to another culinary surprise: BOA’s delightful dinner theatre of Tableside Classic Caesar Salad.  The air is filled with pungent, salty aromas as a skilled assistant begins furiously whisking together fresh Caesar salad ingredients and distributes the mixture between us before our eager eyes.  Crisp and fresh, the salad is a flood of flavors, balancing the boldness of lemon acidity, garlicky potency, spicy Dijon mustard, and briney anchovies with the more delicate romaine lettuce and soft boiled egg.  It is a bright beginning to our meal, exemplifying Chef Aleman’s emphasis on the freshness of his ingredients.

We are next served the Jumbo Lump Crab Cake, artfully centered in a triangle of beet emulsion and accompanied by slices of sautéed braeburn apples.  It is a surprising pairing, with the fruitiness of the apple and earthy sugars of the beets accentuating the slight buttery sweetness of the crab meat, while lending an almost wintry heft to the dish.  Its light oceanic flavors and fruity notes enliven our palates in preparation for the meatier indulgences to follow.

BOA Steakhouse’s main attraction is, of course, its premium cuts of beef. The unique preparation of the 40 Day Dry Aged New York Strip piques my curiosity, while my dining companion selects the classic Bone-In Ribeye.  While we both forego the offer of one of BOA’s complementary rubs and crusts, we are treated to the full array of housemade sauces: Cabernet, Bearnaise, Peppercorn, Chimichurri, Creamy Horseradish, Soy Ginger and the Signature J-1 sauces all present delicious dipping dilemmas for transforming the flavors of the meat.

The 40 Day Dry Aged New York Strip arrives sizzling to the table crusted in a deep char and accompanied by fragrant garnishes of garlic cloves and rosemary springs.  The unique dry aging process amplifies and concentrates the gamey flavors of the steak, while still retaining its juiciness.  The Bone-In Ribeye is presented with similar minimalism, focusing the attention on this massive cut of beef.  Impossibly tender and buttery, the Ribeye exemplifies the sublime quality and expert preparation of BOA’s meats.  My dining companion gushes that it is the best steak she’s ever had: a statement that is hard to contradict when each succulent bite nearly melts in my mouth.

Although the flavors of both of these fine steaks stand well on their own, dipping morsels into each of the sauces brings out new nuances in the meat, and transforms each bite into a new taste experience.   Some of the sauces impart a classic richness, like the creamy Bearnaise or full-bodied Cabernet, while others like the Soy Ginger,  Chimichurri (a traditional Argentine marinade from vinegar, garlic, and parsley), and J-1 (a unique blend of citrus and vinegar) give the meat novel, refreshing personalities.  Each steak comes with the option of one rub or sauce, although the possibility of adding additional sauces for $1 each allows for the potential for exciting flavor adventures and delightful indecisions.

As accompaniments to our beefy main courses, the Truffle Mac-n-Cheese and Santa Monica Farmer’s Market Vegetables achieve a harmonious balance between health and indulgence.  Golden, with an oven-baked crisp crust, the Truffle Mac-n-Cheese tantalizes with the sharp scent of truffles and sharp cheddar.  The puffy orecchiette that stand in for the more traditional elbow macaroni soak up the creamy pungency of the cheese sauce, assisting in the transformation of this classic comfort food into haute cuisine decadence.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, the Santa Monica Farmer’s Market Vegetables introduce a much-needed lightness to the heaviness of the previous dishes.  Focusing on the freshest produce, this side changes in accordance with seasonal availability: on this day, it features fresh broccolini with dried apricots and pine nuts.  Crisp and verdant, the broccolini’s potent flavor balances beautifully with the deep fruitiness of the apricots and the nutty crunch of the pine nuts.  It is a welcome addition to the meal, brightening the palate and lightening the weight of this hearty, rich meal.

To conclude, we are served three of BOA Steakhouse’s sweet treats: the Chocolate Filled Cinnamon-Sugar Doughnut Holes, the Mascarpone Filled Pirouettes with Fresh Mixed Berries and Blackberry Sauce, and the Warm Banana Cake with Toffee Sauce.  Each is as illustrative of the versatility of the BOA kitchen as the savory dishes that came before them, with each showcasing a sophisticated and unexpected interpretation of dessert.  The Chocolate Filled Doughnut Holes capture the attention first: dusted with fragrant cinnamon and sugar, their golden spheres give off the aroma of fresh baked churros, while their fluffy, lightly fried texture is more suggestive of New Orleans beignets.   While these nostalgia-inducing gems are sweetly appealing on their own, the accompanying caramel toffee and crème anglaise dipping sauces are difficult to resist and enhance the smile-worthy indulgence of this playful confection.

Similarly nostalgic, the Warm Banana Cake with Toffee Sauce recalls the classic pleasures of banana bread, but in a truly refined new context.  This miniature bundt cake crowned by a scoop of ice cream is an explosion of banana flavor, with each component tasting of the distinctive starchy fruit.  The toffee sweetness adds a richness that well complements the fruity intensity and fluffy cake.

The Mascarpone Filled Pirouettes with Fresh Mixed Berries introduce a pleasing seasonal lightness to our sweet finale.  The dainty, rolled wafer pirouettes offer a crispy, ethereal, lightly sugary platform for the tart sweetness of the mixed berries, while the creamy mascarpone innards soak up the blackberry sauce beautifully and disperse its tanginess with taste bud-puckering appeal.  It is a refreshing palate cleanser and a welcome subtle conclusion to our decadent BOA experience.

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