Puritan & Company

Top quality food compared to anything anywhere. In particular, the seafood risotto that was on the menu on May 26 might very well have been the best thing I have ever eaten including at 3 Michelin Star restaurants in Europe. If you haven't been to Puritan & Company, just go. As a bonus for me at least, we were able to sit outside in the street-side patio which made it a kid-friendly place for my 1, 2.5, and 9 year old adventurous eaters.

Overhyped New American restaurant with average service. After trying Gilson’s other culinary establishments in Cambridge Crossing, I was finally excited to try his first restaurant in Cambridge. Unfortunately, I wasn’t impressed with their food overall. They played safe with the appetizer dishes like the barbecue beets, bluefish pate, and the swordfish pastrami. Some described these as an ingenious portrayal of seasonal sceneries inspired from history, but they were merely a concoction of overplayed flavor combinations. Nothing daring, yet everything was still well-sorted. On the other hand, the mains came with a big transition as they became more bold with the ingredients. Sweet plums topped on the Berkshire pork chop enriched the overall meat flavor, but the polenta and the trumpet didn’t quite harmonize with the sweetness of the plums. Interplay between the oddly sweet Swiss chard sauce and the cod was experimental, but a futile attempt. Phyllo wrapped cod without the sauce would have been better. Saffron risotto was the only item that I really enjoyed, and its buttery texture highlighted the combination of seafood and the subtle scent of the saffron. Service was okay as they were good with the pace of service. However, they were not attentive to our table in between, and we felt ignored by our server throughout the meal.

I had a very mixed experience at Puritan and Co. The mains were stand out dishes which absolutely deserve your attention. (Skip next paragraph for a great review of main dishes and dessert.) But the starters were very disappointing. We got the Parker house rolls, fresh burrata, octopus to start. As a fan of Parker house rolls, these were a little burnt, cold and tasteless - a general disappointment but maybe we just got unlucky. The fresh burrata was tiny and did not make a lot of sense with the salad but as a separate component the salad was good. The octopus was probably the most disappointing. We couldn’t figure out what we were eating half the time - there might have been potatoes or pork on the plate but I’m not sure and the octopus was such a small portion. For main dishes we got Phyllo wrapped cod, New York Strip Steak, Saffron Risotto. There were all high quality and delicious. You can’t go wrong with any of them. I have never had phyllo wrapped anything before and this was a unique and delicious dish. It came on top of clam chowder. This dish should be THE dish of Boston/Cambridge. The NY strip steak was tender with a great sauce. I wish I saved a roll to dip in this sauce. And the saffron seafood rice was well portioned and had a good serving of seafood. I’m not sure what the name of this dessert was but wow it was rich and the flavor combination was unique in a clean-every-crumb-off-the-plate way. All things considered, I would be hesitant to come back because of the price point and how few dishes I actually enjoyed. But there are some dishes are high quality and absolutely worth the price.

Puritan & Co is a popular American fare restaurant in Cambridge. They offer ala crate and a 5-course set menu with wine pairing. We started off with a refreshing watermelon burrata gazpacho. This was followed by a fantastic creamy seafood risotto that was paired beautifully with a white wine. The saltiness of the seafood was wonderfully balanced by the citrus forward wine pairing. The third course was a roasted squash over quinoa. The main entree was a delicious duck . The meal ended with a chocolate cake paired with a sparkling sweet red Italian wine. Overall, a good meal for a nice night out.

The food and the vibe were both excellent, but the portions were really small for the price. The service started out okay but then became pretty inattentive. Took 10 minutes to get a second drink order. Physically the restaurant is quite nice and I had no problem with parking. Overall it was a good experience but I wanted to entrees for the size of what they delivered for the price.

Veggie Galaxy evening Amazing and innovative 10 course veggie food in Puritan & Company in Boston, Cambridge… Puritan is not a veggie or vegan restaurant but as Friday is my veggie day they surprised us with 10 course vegetarian dishes and mouth watering desserts… that was simply delicious! Every plate was beautiful presented and tasted amazing. We started off with a refreshing zucchini burrata gazpacho, then Tofu Caprese it was truly divine and then other came one after another --every bite was an experience, never had any vegetarian food like this! Not to mention the friendly service just outstanding! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ I have pictures of all the plates except kids the pasta because I forgot to take a picture. It was truly a beautiful evening with family, great food and fun!