Clio

We’ve spent many fun nights and delicious dinners at Clio. Very sorry to see it go. Glad we had a chance to visit in the last week they were open!

Nice place, overated for the price. I was expecting some molecular gastronomy and disappointed

Sniff, so sad Clio is no longer with us. RIP. It really has been an institution in Boston for many years and I’ve had the privilege of coming here on a number of occasions over the years. Even back in college, I was treated here for a birthday dinner, probably as 1 of the my first upscale restaurant experience. I remember the incredible service, creativity of the food as well as the beautiful presentation.
This year, I came earlier with a Gilt City purchase and had a very nice meal that was surprisingly well done for a voucher meal. Sure there was no caviar or other fancy ingredients, but I did not feel cheated in any way in terms of taste, preparation or presentation. Then 1 month ago, I said my final good bye with the tasting menu. Sure not every single dish was monumental, I didn’t care too much for the uni chawanmushi, probably because it was east coast sea urchin. However some clear standouts include the seared foie gras which was probably the best I’ve had thus far. The beef short rib was incredible flavorful and tender. The cocktails were always fantastic as well.
Well that’s the end of my eulogy. Sad to see Clio go but excited to see what Ken Oringer does next with this space!

Well, I know Clio is wrapping things up and closing their doors but I wanted to send them off with a stellar review and a thank you for an amazing evening out which my girlfriend and I will remember for a great while. I had been wanting to dine at Clio for the past year or so and their more recent news of finally closing up show provided the impetus to make sure I got a chance to eat there. Having dined at Toro and Coppa with particular enjoyment the past few years on quite a few occasions, I had high expectations from a Ken Oringer restaurant especially since this was his fine dining adventure.
I must say I was thoroughly pleased with the entire experience from food to service to décor and ambience. It really is quite nice to see a place maintain their emphasis on producing excellence even as they transition to a completely different venture. We enjoyed the seven course tasting menu complemented with wine pairing for one and supplemental glass pours to experience both elements of the wine list.
Amuse bouche was a tasty nori chip with a cream cheese spread served next to a gougére which was tasty albeit lukewarm. First course featured bay scallops with crosnes and a harissa-​based savory sauce with a slight heat element. The dish had interesting textures and the scallops were cooked nicely. Secondly we enjoyed a burnt bread based south with black truffle and rillettes. There was a great balance to the dish and I could have eaten a huge bowl full of it if provoked. The rillettes could have been more plentiful but whatever. The most outside of the box dish was the chawanmushi or traditional Asian egg custard. This was served with abalone which I never had the chance to try before. Again, a beautiful presentation with burning pine brought over from the kitchen to add a memorable element of sensory pleasure. The foie gras was probably the most flavorful of the dishes which my girlfriend (who doesn’t typically eat foie frequently). The balance of flavors and the deliciously light vanilla espuma provided an awesome foil to the maple lacquee of the foie. I did not want that dish to end. The main course of the evening was a 13-​hour beef short rib which was indeed tender and tasty. Again, the portion could have been a bit more generous but they are going for a «comfortable» approach so I can not complain given the price of the tasting menu.
The sixth «course» while tasty was not really a course and much more of a palette cleanser. Dessert this particular evening was a molten chocolate ball of sorts which had to be cracked open with a spoon. It was pleasantly plated and had a nice balance for a chocolate dish (this coming from a diner who often finds chocolate desserts too rich). Our server, Elena, was extremely pleasant, helpful and had a good balance of interaction and leaving us alone to enjoy ourselves. The meal was well-​paced and the assistant server offered additional assistance pointing out elements of dishes for us. The wine pairings weren’t anything I’ll remember forever but they did serve their purpose and each dish was extremely well complemented. Who can complain about foie gras and Sauternes. It was nice to see a funky Etna Bianco paired with one of the dishes as I feel it was a great way to introduce a style of wine many diners may not have tried before and probably would find difficulty in understanding outside of the context of food. The whole staff was extremely courteous and helpful. I must say, it is sad to see Clio go but I plan on making a trip to Uni sometime in the near future. Thank you very much Clio, I am kicking myself for waiting until the bitter end to see what you had to offer. Shame on me!

I am writing a review a few days after dinning here so as not to be too harsh!
I went on Friday with two friends anticipating a fantastic time…
45mins and TWO course later… I was disillusioned. It took a whooping 3 HOURS for us to finish our 8 course meal. Perhaps it was the long down time and sometimes awkward moments when we and the next table looked around at each other in between the dishes but none of them blew me away… The only thing I remembered was everything being salty.
It ended up costing me $ 194 dollars for meal including sharing half a bottle of wine with my friend. Next time I’ll just take my money to L’Espalier and be full without it taking half my night.

Clio was probably one of the restaurants I’d wanted to visit in Boston the most, given Ken Oringer’s reputation and the hype around the place — was not disappointed.
Atmosphere: It’s inside a hotel on Mass ave, which I was apprehensive about, but you really couldn’t tell its proximity to so much traffic. The doorman and hostesses were very courteous as we ran in with dripping umbrellas, and took them to be dried. As other reviews have mentioned, the clientele is generally a bit older, around 40s-​60s. But, I didn’t find that it made the restaurant stuffy at all, and no one eyed two girls in their 20s weirdly.
Food: Stunning. Obviously. We had their 5 course menu which consisted of:
— Really great sourdough with a strangely beautiful pat of salted butter — could not get enough, got seconds
— A fried tofu-​esque amuse bouche with delightful chive cream — color me amused
— Lobster broth with a fried oyster and a yuzu foam — probably the least amazing out of all the courses, the broth was a little thin to be perfect, and I felt like I had to eat very quickly to make sure the oyster didn’t get soggy. Still very tasty though
— The single most amazing slow cooked egg on top of a salmon roe filled custard with lightly grilled shaved asparagus and fried chicharrones — I’m pretty sure they included some sort of amphetamine or addictive drug or something because, and I cannot emphasize this enough, each bite was basically a symphony. You know that moment in Ratatouille when the rat eats the cheese and the grape together and is describing how they go so magically and create all these new flavors and is the basis for the entire movie? That’s how I felt. I was the rat.
— Slow poached lobster with chanterelles and some other yummy veggie — also delicious
— Digestif of I believe it was limoncello with some sort of melted sorbet
— Palette cleanser of citrus-​flavored ice
— White Chocolate with bergamot Sake Kasu and blood orange yuzu sorbet topped with a light cracker — finish on a bang. A perfect combination of textures from crunchy to creamy to foam, then the flavors of the decadent white chocolate lightened with the blood orange yuzu… perfect.
I’ve heard that they’re going to be closing at the end of the year — go while you still can!!! Though I’m sure whatever else Ken Oringer is concocting will still be amazing.

Here I am, writing this review as a Johnny-​come-​lately who only got around to booking a table after I heard that the place is closing (at the end of the year, subsumed by subterranean sister restaurant, Uni). I went to a ramen pop-​up restaurant at Uni a while back and was very impressed by the bar at Clio, but foolishly failed to get around to going back for a full meal.
The food here is very fancy (with a price tag to match), but it was very delicious. Dinner for me was venison, served with greens and crispy sunchoke. The venison was perfect, and the presentation was stunning. The sunchoke was a real stand-​out winner, texture-​wise. We asked how it had been prepared and they told us it was confit to a very soft texture in infused olive oil, then briefly deep fried to get that crispy shell.
Dessert was kouign-​amann with hazelnut gelato, accompanied by mint tea. A real straight-​shot of a dessert, nothing surprising, but showing off their pastry skills.
The amuse was novel (a chickpea panisse with tahini sauce), the bread was excellent. I also enjoyed one of their signature cocktails, an old fashioned poured into a glass full of cherrywood smoke.
Service was very attentive, too. Wonderful meal. I’m sorry I didn’t get to this place earlier, but far better late than never.

We came here on November 14 for dinner and upon hearing that Ken Oringer was in the kitchen, had our expectations raised.
Standouts: white truffle gnocchi and lobster/​crab dumplings in green curry. These were phenomenal and unforgettable.
I was shocked by the poor quality of a few items we were served: 1) the Amuse-​bouche which was a just from the fridge mini maple muffin, 2) the Jamon iberico was served thinly sliced but that was it; laid out on a plate unimaginatively with nothing else. 3) The hazelnut sorbet was pretty good but was 2 bites served w 2 oversized hard pastries which were worse than Panera– I didn’t understand this dish and how these components were supposed to be on the same plate. 4) Finally the water brought out a final bite from the chef: a very hard burnt baked something which I had to spit out. I’ve never done this before, but I couldn’t swallow this for its calories and told the waiter. He agreed with my assessment of this burnt inedible little mystery baked something and brought us 2 complementary black licorice.
This is the first time ever that I was offended by plates of food because I couldn’t believe this restaurant, whose owner is in the kitchen, would be careless or lazy enough to serve these above dishes. My other fav Boston restaurants: Craigie on Main, Ostra, Oleana, Bricco, no 9 Park, and 80 Thoreau in Concord.
The customers were older than us, mostly in their 50−60s and there was 80s music being played too loudly. We generally like this music but felt it didn’t fit this type of restaurant.
My husband had the 7 course w wine pairing and said it was pretty good but not exceptional. Our waiter was excellent as mentioned above.
Inconsistent food quality and presentation makes it clear why Clio has mixed reviews and is closing soon.

After experiencing one of our more memorable meals a couple of years ago, my husband opted to celebrate his birthday celebration here. Such a disappointment. As other reviews have said the drinks were the highlight of the evening. Wonderful, attentive service but the food really fell short.
Nothing at all was was even close to the level of cooking we have had here before. Don’t even want to go into detail really it was this unmemorable, also badly executed. The deserts, there were two on the tasting menu had to be spit out, and there were four in our party. Couldn’t wait to pay and get out of there. Complete waste of almost $ 600!

Finally, after all these years, a chance to dine at Clio.
Embarrassingly, I let a previous Gilt coupon expire without using it.
Well to be perfectly clear; was it worth the wait?
Yes.
A great host/​wait staff.
Spot on when presenting the courses of the tasting menu. Spot on.
There wasn’t a weak plate in the presentation.
The dish which stands out best in my mind is the lobster.
It was unbelievably yummy (yes, I used the word yummy).
That alone was worth the trip.
An added bonus is that they’ve relaxed their dress code.
No longer a requirement to get dressed to the nines.
Don’t get me wrong; on occasion I love to get gussied up.
But sometimes, it’s nice to enjoy a high end meal whilst dressed more casually.
It is a tad on the price side. But you do get what you pay for.
If you want to treat yourself to a great dining experience (especially with the cost savings of a Gilt/​Groupon coupon), then go do Clio!

We had reservations and both ordered the 9 course and the wine pairings. The atmosphere was cozy but definitely loud and lively. Servers are well informed about the food and wine they are serving. I will say I was not as satisfied with the food as much as I expected to be. The mousse au poulet was my favorite and the foie gras laquee had a nice touch with the bee pollen. The rest was meh tasting, though excellent presentation. I will say the artisinal cheese was the worst, the cheeses were way too strong in flavor and overpowered the rest of the ingredients.
The service was excellent, staff is an very attentive and polite. I enjoyed my experience but we probably will do ala carte next time. And no wine pairings, I will also say I didn’t agree with most of the pairings.
This is subject to your palette, we may have different preferences as far as food and wine are concerned. But service is great! Nice date place for sure.

Words can’t describe how disappointed I am since my last visit in 2013…
Out of all 9 courses, there was only one dish that I thoroughly enjoyed. One of the desserts was so bad that I had to spit it back out. To say that I enjoyed my sourdough bread and butter more than some of the dishes is truly sad. The chef also forgot about my nut allergy and served me a dish with pesto and walnuts. When they brought me a new plate without the nuts, I found a bug in it. I couldn’t believe it!
That being said, the restaurant itself is really nice. Great for dates! The servers were attentive. I never had to ask to get my glass refilled. They also did a great job explaining all the dishes. However, I’m going to need some serious convincing to ever come back to Clio.
Highlights:
Heirloom tomatoes with squid
Drinks
Bread and Butter
Ok:
Nikujaga
Grilled Melon
Oysters
Honeybee Assiette
Frozen Soufflé
Meh:
Roasted Carrots
Don’t even bother trying:
bayrischer blauschimmelkäse
Mousseau Foie Gras

Came here for dinner last night with my daughter to celebrate her first day at her new school. I opted to go with a special 4 course meal while our server worked with the chef to come up with something that my daughter could eat. It seems to me that if you don’t eat seafood or beef, you’re kind of out of luck here at this place. Don’t get me wrong. My rating has zilch to do with it being non-​kid friendly though.
Here’s what we tried:
Amuse bouche — Delicate tasty morsels of chickpeas topped with tahini sauce along with another offering that had cream cheese served on nori. This was very unique and popped into your mouth like a tiny fried appetizer. It delivered a packed punch of flavor and got us excited for what was to come.
Mussels in butternut squash based soup — Very flavorful and the presentation was different. Our server came over with the soup bowl which only had sea salt and the mussels and then gently poured the pureed butternut squash soup into it. My only negative comment about this course is that it was lukewarm to room temperature and I’m still not quite sure if that was how it was meant to be served?
Salmon Crudo — Now the Salmon Crudo was exceptional. Served fresh with added flecks of what I think were sesame had made this a crunchy little party in my mouth. 5 stars for this dish.
Mako shark — Only phrase that comes to mind here when I look at the pic I took of this dish is «Objects look closer than they appear» and it isn’t meant to be funny. I think the entire dish could not have weighed more than 2 ounces. It was a bit on the salty side as well.
Goat’s Milk Panna Cotta — Okay okay. Everyone can kick me for this but goat’s milk or cheese is the only taste I haven’t acquired after years of trying it so for me, the Panna Cotta was just okay. I probably would’ve been much more satisfied skipping this and grabbing dessert at another destination.
Overall? Ambiance — Very fancy. Service — Attentive and nice. Menu — Very limited and particularly hard to substitute offerings. Price point meet experience? Not really guys. Two words — Way overrated. I’d still rather go to Craigie On Main.

This review is Considering price point from someone who has eaten great food at comparable restaurants throughout the country.
Presentation, ambiance and staff ⁴⁄₅!!! Wonderful.
Food. ²⁄₅. For the price point, it was interesting but that doesn’t mean good.
Waiter brought the the 2oz of fancy beef for 60 bucks after I expressly said I did not want. Possibly my girlfriend told him to bring it when I wasn’t looking regardless I told him I didn’t want 2oz beef for 60 bucks. No matter how you describe it is still a crazy offer. In my opinion. 2 oz
300 bucks (and 2 hours later I’m hungry and pissed.
For all those leaving greAt reviews I would suggest looking into cognitive dissonance. Likely you equate spending a lot to being high brow. Not always the same. A much better use of my money would be feeding 2 children for a month and enjoying a reasonably priced meal somewhere else. I will say I don’t fault the business for overcharging people to meet some psychological needs that get met patronizing a place like this. Me I’m out.

Had my valentines dinner here yesterday! It was pretty good. The restaurant was obviously super busy but the waiters tried to be as attentive as possible. We had a 5 course meal and I would say the beats plate was not so good. However, everything else was amazing. The duck was great and the dessert was amazing! I loved it.
One thing though, even though the weather was pretty bad since Neptune storm was approaching they weren’t flexible enough to let us cancel our late reservation. But they did offer a voucher for the amount of the cancellation fee, which was fine.

One of the best meals we’ve ever had. Was absolutely perfect from start to finish, service and food were top notch the Cassolette was stunningly good = perfectly cooked lobster and sea urchin — a good reason why it’s been on the menu since day one. We did try both the 9 and 5 course menus and added a couple of supplements — by the way try the A-​5 Wagyu = WOW the best piece of beef I’ve ever had.
Is it expensive = no doubt about it BUT it is worth EVERY PENNY. Meals like this is what money is made for, spend the money take the 2 – 3 hours and enjoy every second. Life’s hard enough meals like this are like mini vacations — indulge yourself.

We had a very special occasion to celebrate and settled upon Clio as it’s been on our list to try for a while now. Clio did not disappoint and only exceeded our expectations.
For a special occasion restaurant, nothing was missed. There were many little surprises along the way, and the whole staff knew this was a special night for us and treated us that way!
The food is excellent. We opted for the 9 course tasting as this had many of the restaurants signature courses/​dishes. Everything was superb quality. Each and every dish had sharp contrast, but worked perfectly together. Sweet and Savory. Tender and Crunchy. The 9+ courses left me feeling very stuffed and extremely satisfied. Every dish served continued to wow me and after 3 hours in the restaurant I was just as excited as when we had started.
Just like some other reviews had mentioned, I don’t get this Tomato martini. It was the one thing I didn’t wholeheartedly enjoy in our 3 hours of indulgence. It was pretty disgusting and I could only drink half of it. I enjoyed the other elements to the dish but not the liquid.
Don’t let the tomato martini deter you, Clio is one of the best dining experiences in Boston. The food is innovative and excellent, and no detail is missed by any of the staff here.

My husband surprised me this weekend with a birthday dinner at Clio and it was exquisite! We each got the 9 course tasting menu — mine vegetarian, his traditional. Each course was memorable and better than the last; I would be very hard pressed to pick a favorite! Highlights included the corn voloute, BBQ chinese broccoli, beet salad, shitake risotto, roasted root vegetables, and mushroom medley in soy sauce. The cheese course and desserts were also excellent.
The ambiance is very elegant and romantic. The interior is quite posh and I loved the rustic touches of succulents on each table and the burlap bread basket paired with the high end feel of the leather banquettes and soft lighting.
Our reservation was at 6pm and the restaurant was pretty empty at that time. However, the service was definitely at its best then. As the night went on, and the restaurant filled up, the service definitely slowed down and got less attentive. That said, I was filling up and didn’t mind the extra time between courses.
As far as tastings go I wouldn’t put Clio among the likes of Per Se or French Laundry however, for Boston based restaurants I would say it’s absolutely on par with No. 9 Park and leagues better than L’Espalier. It was a beautiful meal and in a wonderful spot in the city. Cost aside, I would love to come back here someday!

I’ve been losing faith in the Boston foodie scene until I tried Clio. I’ve been to all the super hyped up restaurants (No. 9 Park, Beehive, Gaslight, Craigie on Main, West Bridge, etc.) and have found most of them to be lackluster and overpriced. I’m not going to say Clio is a value deal, but it’s definitely worth it.
Came here with a friend and we decided to order off the a la carte menu. We got:
Amuse bouche: olive madeleines. Definitely very interesting flavor and texture, but it wasn’t good OR bad interesting. just. interesting.
Cassolette of lobster & uni foam: very delicate dish, but I was impressed with how all the flavors were very clear yet balanced. The dish IS mostly foam tho, so buyer (eater?) beware.
Foie gras laquée: O.M.G. is this the best foie gras I’ve ever had? Maybe! It’s hard to go wrong with seared foie gras which is ALWAYS divine but the lacquer and piquillo jam took it to the next level. My mouth just did not know what was going on in terms of texture and flavor in the best possible way.
Maine swordfish w/​black lime and shiso relish: never have I ever had such succulent swordfish. I loved the umeboshi and shiso, which made for a potent flavoring that wasn’t overpowering.
Roast duck w/​licorice and Buddha’s hand: BEST. DUCK. EVER. Such a creative take on duck that completely deconstructs it and then puts it back together into a dish that is so true to its essence. This might not make any sense until you actually try it. Basically the duck is cooked two different ways, one wrapped in licorice, with crisped duck skin served on the side. It’s duck in a way you’ve never thought of before, as if someone took it apart and put it back together into its purest form. You should just try this so I can stop babbling about it.
Les boits: dessert fell flat for me here. It was decent, but nowhere near the mind-​blowing status of the appetizers and entrees. I think the desserts didn’t really manage to pull off their complexity and there were too many flavors going on. Also, the waitress recommended this dessert for chocolate lovers, and there were only 3 bits of chocolate. Girl, I can eat 20 chocolate truffles in one sitting.
Kouing-​Aman: not sure if I spelled this right. I wasn’t really a big fan of this either. I definitely appreciated the hazelnut gelato but there wasn’t enough to accompany the pastry, which was sort of like a well made croissant brushed in cinnamon and sugar, but nothing particularly outstanding. I really really really love dessert so this was a disappointment for me, otherwise I would probably give Clio 5 stars.
Cocktails: Dr’s Assistant and Celine No. 5, both winners.
A la carte was ~80/​pp. I believe the tasting menus start at $ 110, $ 135, and so on. We were stuffed with the a la carte portions (and delicious bread) so I think a la carte is better if you want to be able to choose what you eat, otherwise go for the chef’s tasting menu if you’re feeling adventurous.
Also, presentation was utterly beautiful (reminded me of L’Espalier) and service was great. It’s definitely a more casual vibe than your average $$$$ place; I saw people in hoodies and sweatshirts. You won’t feel out of place if you dress to impress, though. The vibe is very swanky and Clio is located in a corner of the super chic and fabulous Eliot Hotel.
Other legit restaurants in Boston: Toro, L’Espalier, O Ya, Saus, Oleana. The rest you can skip. So glad I found Clio!

I can’t believe that I have not heard about this place before until recently! It is located in Back Bay and is part of the Eliot Hotel.
I was here for dinner the other night and had a wonderful time here. The service was excellent and the food was delicious!
The décor of this restaurant is simple but very elegant. It is the perfect place for a nice date!
For first course I had the Beau Soleil Oysters which was topped with a horseradish foam, cranberry mignonette, and caviar. The oysters were fresh and delicious. The sauces paired very well with the oysters. I also shared the Marinated Yellowtail and Yellowfin Tuna. The garlic and ginger soy went really well with the fish. Also I loved how each slice of sashimi was topped with Tobiko. It added a complexity of texture for each bite.
For main course I had the Smoked Short Ribs with shiitake mushroom, eggplant relish, and broccoli rabe. The short rib was so juicy and tender. The smoky flavor was so delicious! The dish was like a work of art. It was visually appealing, which adds to taste and flavor of this masterpiece!
For dessert, I had the Au coeur de l’hiver. It was a chocolate mousse with a carrot sorbet. The chocolate mousse was so light and fluffy. Surprisingly the carrot mousse was absolutely delicious!