The Maiden

          The Maiden in Southie is the newest concept from the team behind Sam's on the Waterfront. The menu includes an amazing selection of meats, cheeses, charcuterie, and raw bar with a smaller selection of entrees. I've been dying to try it since they opened earlier this year, and finally made it in with the fiance this week. 

          We started with a selection of the oysters including a mix of east and west coast. They were paired with the traditional accompaniments (lemon, cocktail sauce, and mignonette) plus a few chosen specifically for the oysters we'd chosen like some cucumber to go with a varietal that had notes of cucumber. I took our bartenders suggestion and tried each of the oysters with the recommended pairings, and they were all spot on.

         

      Next was a dish that the kitchen sent out, a spicy cured salmon sashimi; if this was on the menu I would've ordered five more of these!

          Next were a couple of items from the meat, cheese, and charcuterie selections. You can build your own board with three or five picks, but we wanted to try so many dishes that we decided to stick with our top two choices. We were pleasantly surprised that they created a board with our two selections: the duck prosciutto and chicken liver mousse and made it look just as nice as the larger boards paired with some house made pickled veggies and whole grain mustard. The prosciutto literally melted in your mouth, and the mousse was rich and decadent.

          Next was the smoked fish crostini with butternut squash, yogurt, pickled Fresno chiles, and peanuts. This was such an interesting combination, and all of the flavors just worked together.

           I was way too full for an entree, so I decided to go with more oysters! These were roasted with uni butter, piquillos, and breadcrumbs - quite a contrast from the raw oysters and equally as good. I loved the flavor of the uni butter which was delicious, but light enough that it didn't overpower the oysters. The fiance ordered a burger which he loved, and dug into before I could take a picture.

           The Maiden is definitely one of the best new restaurants I've tried recently, and a great addition to the neighborhood. I can't wait to go back!