Out With Friends For Dinner At Mespotamia, Boston
Published On Thursday 17 Mar 2022 by Sticky Beak
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His Nibs and I had gone to see my Bestie and her husband (aka The Bolton Wanderer or TBW) and, as is our usual habit, we decided to go out for dinner – this time accompanied by my beautiful niece, which was a lovely surprise. There aren’t a huge number of eateries in Boston itself, although the outlying villages offer more choice for those that like to dine out, but just over a month ago a new Turkish restaurant called Mesopotamia opened its doors in the historic Pescod Hall on Mitre lane.
Local Bostonians will do doubt be familiar with this fantastic building that dates from the 15th century, but for those of us from further afield, I shall give you a very brief description. Pescod Hall is believed to be the solar of a bigger house that belonged to a merchant in the town, and is composed of an exposed timber frame with brick in-filling. Over time there have been several restorative efforts carried out on this Grade II listed building and it has, at various times, been home to a clothes shop, a fast food outlet, and, now, to Mesopotamia.
We rocked up shortly before our reservation time and there was a little bit of confusion over where to seat us, so we remained in the downstairs space which houses the large, open kitchen and has several tables and seats which I presume are open during the day for coffee and/or lunch? Another party arrived and were taken straight upstairs to the restaurant, which rattled us a little as to whether our reservation had actually been booked in! Not to worry, another member of the team came to escort us upstairs and explained that our table wasn’t quite ready so she was seating us somewhere else to allow us to decide on drinks and when our table was vacated and cleaned down she would relocate us. Not the smoothest start to the evening, but hey-ho.
Bestie and I had fancied a bottle of wine but there was no wine (glass or bottle) listed on the drinks menu, just soft options, lagers, cocktails and Gins. I enquired as to whether wine was available (it was) and were told the choices, settling on a bottle of Hardy’s Chardonnay, and then it was the chaps’ turn to sort their libations out – also easier said than done! Despite having a decent selection of lagers and beers, many of them were unavailable (including the draught option!), so it boiled down to a choice of either Corona or Peroni (both bottled); TBW and His Nibs opted for Peroni. Luckily the soft drinks were problem-free and my niece got her Apple and Raspberry J2O ordered with no problem.
With drinks sorted, we settled back into our seats and took in the breath-taking splendour of the restaurant. Impossibly high ceilings had their timber beams exposed and stylish lighting added a nice level of light, with the decor being very simple as to allow the historic building to take centre stage. The sturdy wood tables were spaced apart really well, so you weren’t over-hearing other tables’ conversations or having to mind how far back you moved your seat if you left your table to use the facilities (which are back downstairs).
Mesopotamia has a superb range of starters, both hot and cold choices, and I fancied one of each so I asked if I could have my cold selection (Ezme Salad, £4.45) with my main course; this wasn’t a problem, so I ordered the Hummous Kavurma (£6.45) as my starter ‘proper’. TBW had the Feta Cheese Salad (£7.95) to start, and both BB and His Nibs had the Grilled Mozzarella Meatballs (£5.95). Before long, one of the lovely team was coming over with their arms laden with platters that they placed gently on the table, and we greedily tucked in. BB had requested that her girl had her main course (Fish Fingers and Chips, £4.95, from the children’s menu) when our starters came and my pocket-rocket’s eyes light up as she spied the half dozen marine morsels lined up on her plate, accompanied by golden fries and a pot of ketchup to dunk everything in!
I dived into the pile of creamy coloured Hummus on my plate with a piece of warmed flatbread, making sure that I also got some of the Garlic Butter and Paprika Lamb onto it too! One thing that Turkish kitchens do is cook Lamb brilliantly to retain the maximum moisture and natural flavour of the meat, and my palate was singing with joy as that first mouthful hit it. If I had to be really picky, I would personally have liked more garlic and seasoning in my Hummus, but that’s because I gravitate towards stronger flavours; this Hummus would be right up everyone else’s street, so please order it if you like ‘usual’ Hummus. The portion size of this dish certainly wasn’t found wanting; I think this would happily serve two people with just another couple of slices of flatbread.
Equally filling were the Grilled Mozzarella Meatballs; both The Man Bird and BB commented on how filling this starter dish was and how flavoursome it was too. The mini meatballs were pleasingly dense in texture, with a nice seasoning and juiciness that matched the intensity of the rich Tomato sauce bathing them. There’s something smile-inducing about stretchy ribbons of melted cheese and Mozzarella does have an incredible capacity to extend its milky strands when it’s warmed; both Bestie and Him Indoors couldn’t help but grin like kids as they twirled their forks to try and contain the chaos!
TBW had kept things classy with his choice of Feta Salad and was rewarded by a rainbow of colour and crispness that was punctuated by a plethora of pale cubes of tangy, salty Feta cheese. Mixed salad leaves were cool in the mouth and juicy, sweet Cherry Tomatoes burst over the taste buds, joined by thirst-quenching slices of Cucumber. A multitude of fresh herbs added a wonderful brightness on the palate, with crunchy Carrot ribbons adding texture and colour to this fab dish.
One of Mesopotamia’s team cleared away our empty plates and the bread basket, and we chatted away whilst we waited for the mains to arrive. Pocket Rocket had chosen her dessert (Ice Cream and she was bouncing with excitement, willing time to pass faster; she wasn’t the only one, we were all eager to taste our main courses, given how yummy the starters had been.
The men-folk had ordered the Mixed Chargrill for two (£36.96), an absolute beast comprised of Lamb Shish, Chicken Shish, Lamb Spare Ribs, Lamb Chops and Chicken Wings, served on a deep bed of Rice and accompanied by a side salad. All the meat cuts were a generous size, the Lamb was beautifully deep in taste, and the poultry was creamy and mild, pimped up as it was with spices and herbs in the Shish and a tangy glaze on the wings. When the lads drew breath and came up for air, there wasn’t much left on the platter, save for a bit of fluffed rice and salad.
It isn’t often that my Bestie doesn’t order King Prawns and the lure of the Mezo King Prawn Casserole (£16.95) proved too strong to resist on this occasion, too! I had been tempted by the Chargrilled Monkfish Skewers, but was informed that they were off the menu, so settled for the Vegetable Moussaka (£12.95) instead and remembered that I also had the spicy Ezme Salad to look forward to.
If you love King Prawns then you will be swooning with joy at Mesopotamia’s offering; there were loads of tail-on specimens to get stuck into and they had plenty of that irresistible sweetly fragrant flesh to savour. A base of thick, rich Tomato sauce surrounded the seafood and there were Shallots and mixed Peppers that added even more body to the sauce, enabling it to be scooped up with slices of warm flatbread or mixed in with the Tabbouleh that was on the platter.
My individual Moussaka was gorgeously flavoursome, the softened Aubergine, Potato and Courgette lazing in a Tomato sauce and crowned with a thick layer of Béchamel sauce and melted Mozzarella cheese. Having had meat Moussakas in the past, I can honestly say that this meat-free minx was every bit as tasty, and because the vegetables hadn’t been cooked to a mush, there was still a nice textural ‘meaty’ element to enjoy. As with BB’s dish, I had Tabbouleh and Flatbread to dip into any elusive sauce, which I did, although I did keep some back to scoop up the spicy Ezme Salad. Talking of the Ezme salad, I shall fill you in on what it was exactly: Tomatoes, Onion, Garlic, Olive Oil, Parsley, Chilli and fresh Mint had all been finely chopped and blitzed together, producing an intensely spicy ‘salad’ that really did get the taste buds tingling. Our local Turkish Restaurant at home produces a version of this that His Nibs and I always order as one of our cold Mezze choices (the others usually being Potato Salad, Hummus and Aubergine) and although Meso’s was banging, I have to say that my local’s, Istanbul, has the edge for me.
Anyone who can resist the charms of homemade Baklava has no business dining in a Turkish Restaurant, in my opinion, and none of us put up a fight when asked if we’d like dessert! The pieces of Baklava were quite large in comparison to what I’m used to (no complaints here, though!) and the light as air, flaky pastry had been stuffed with a nut mixture and smothered in sticky, sweet Honey. A dusting of ground Pistachio nut added a pop of colour on the serving platter and a single scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream added a rounded flavour (and a temperature contrast) to this moreish, Turkish sweet.
Despite a shaky start to the evening and the frustrating lack of lagers, I think that Mesopotamia is worth the visit. My gut feeling is that these glitches are down to teething troubles that can affect any new business and will be ironed out fairly quickly. The quality of the food and the fact that it offers great value for money, combined with friendly servers has swung my decision to award Hot Wings here, so well done Mesopotamia!
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