California’s BOA Steakhouse Wows Austin
Embark on a culinary adventure at this new-to-Austin restaurant to savor the finest steaks and rich flavors from around the world
If the beef at BOA Steakhouse could talk, it might reveal that it’s very well-traveled. Our team sat at the bar for cocktails and was regaled with cow biographies. Over the honey-dipped Bee Blossom and flaming Saint Tropica cocktails, we listened. We heard: Some of these cattle were born in Australia but raised in Japan. They lived at altitude in the snowy mountains, where they grew thick coats to survive. Showing marbling that looked like snowflakes, the snow beef was so good that it made one server cry (rich, but so is the steak). Having absorbed all this info about the origin of the beef, we were led to a table among the various trees in the dining room designed by Tag Front and Finn Wijanto Architects to settle in and taste the specialties.
IDG (Innovative Dining Group) recently opened their high-end restaurant BOA Steakhouse in Austin, the fourth location of an otherwise West Coast only experience. As a luxurious international brand, it caters to seekers of upscale, traditional steakhouse fine dining.
Finest Wagyu Beef
On the $210 plate of three two-ounce portions of the finest Wagyu beef BOA had to offer, the bites from three Japanese prefectures were perhaps arranged in order of their value, with lore attached to each. The facts flew quickly: snow beef is a Wagyu-Holstein cross, we learned later. That snow beef, said a BOA representative, is drenched in beer and massaged daily (before slaughter). Look that up and you’ll find it called both a tall tale and simply exaggerated, but the speedy debriefing held us rapt. Each bite richer than the last, these tiny portions of cow begged the question of sustainability and our own lavish satisfaction, yes, even from two-ounce portions.
What to Order at BOA
To be fair, not every bite was a triumph. The goat cheese baklava was dry. For a baklava, you might expect a luscious oasis to ooze from those layers of phyllo. Other dishes were fantastic. The tableside Caesar salad ferried with the richest, fattiest brown croutons you’ve ever imagined. The herbaceous king crab ceviche with a passion fruit leche de tigre sang. Neighbors at our table awarded it a spot in their own list of the top three best ceviches to try in Austin.
The fluffy, moist sticky pudding in a lovely pool of toffee, ordered from way down on the long list of server-memorized dessert offerings, was I-could-die-now good. As sparklers shot off on desserts to celebrate birthdays and other occasions around us, we added the plate to our own private list of favorite desserts in Austin.
Sometimes a classic is a classic for a reason. The IDG group might just understand exactly where to stick with what works, and where to reinvent, especially where a juicy story is ripe for the telling. Make your reservation at www.boasteak.com.
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