Sycamore

Last night was my first time eating here. I have been dying to go for a while and it was well worth the wait! Everything from the pork belly appetizer special to the duck board was AMAZING. We also got a side of creamed Brussels sprouts (also amazing). The service was impeccable and if I could eat here everyday I would!!!

One of my absolute favorite restaurants! Great food, great drinks, and very friendly service!

I haven’t had a true 5-​star dining experience in a very long time, but this place made me gush. I can’t stop raving about this restaurant to my friends and telling them to go before they change their menu because their duck board was so riveting. I have been waiting a year for them to get the duck board back and made reservations as soon as I saw it on the menu because its my favorite kind of meat. It definitely did not disappoint.
From the moment we walked in, there was an aura of romance and coziness. The brick walls were lit up by festive tree lamps and the place smelled heavenly. The restaurant itself was small, so you’ll most likely be able to listen in to your neighbors’ conversations, but you’ll be so fascinated by the food you won’t even care.
Everything we ordered was something I would get again. When my bf suggested croquettas, I sneered and hesitated because I normally get croquettas that are overfried or dry. The chorizo croquettas here were so lightly battered and fried, they melted in my mouth. We also got the squash soup to start, and I love when restaurants automatically see two people and split it into two portions so my bf and I didn’t have to fight over it. The soup was a perfect appetizer for this cold weather and it was so smooth and warm.
Nothing beat the duck board though (well except maybe the beignets). It was like a work of art. There were so many complex flavors and different cuts/​styles of the meat. I’ve never eaten nor seen anything like it. Bravo to the chef for creating something so unique and delicious. I kept telling my bf that the chef’s wife must be one lucky lady.
We finished off with the much raved about beignets, and I swear I will never look at a donut the same way again. These beignets were so light, fluffy, warm, and buttery. Even though we were already stuffed beyond belief, I’m so glad we got these.
Service was also impeccable. The chef was a really nice guy who came around to chat with us. Our waitress was great and very sweet.
I already know where I want to eat for my birthday… (or every night if I could)

I never write reviews and you can see that this is my first review ever. My experience was so unpleasant that I decided to write about it so it may help others.
We had a reservation for 6:15, on a week night. It was raining very heavily and we had a difficult time finding a parking spot. We called 30 minutes ahead and said we may be 15 minutes late. They said they have another reservation at 8 and thus we would have to leave by then. We got there at 6:30. And the maitre d kept reminding us how we HAVE to leave by 8 which I found super rude. Too much attitude, and they rushed us through our meal which is unheard of in any above average restaurant. We ended up leaving at 7:45 because they made us very uncomfortable by their rudeness and attitude. The time limit had us frequently checking our watches. And the restaurant was half empty when we left! It’s my first and LAST time in that place.
The food was ok. Nothing extra ordinary. Very few options on the menu and not special…
Tables too close to each other.
The bottom line: Sycamore is not a great restaurant but they are pretending that they are. Too much attitude and a very rude maitre d. Good luck Sycamore!

I’ve eaten many meals at many places, and I can honestly say that the best meal of my life was prepared at Sycamore. The first time I went, my girlfriend and I split the lamb board, we also had a few sends from the kitchen including pork belly and the chorizo. The pork belly was delicious, but the instant I tasted the chorizo my eyes filled with tears. I have not had a meal move me to tears and that was an experience. The lamb board that night was out of this world. Every flavor was fresh and distinct. Nothing seemed to get lost, it was all there and expertly prepared. At the end of the meal I stumbled back to the kitchen and told Dave that the food he made us that night made me feel like I was tasting food for the first time.

Great food! Have never had a bad experience at sycamore. Definitely recommend for all newtonians.

Five months ago my wife and I discovered Sycamore and it quickly became our favorite restaurant, and the biggest reason for that was their roasted green circle chicken – which was a pan roasted statler chicken that was not only worthy of 5 stars but one of the most delicious roasted chicken dishes we’ve had. Last night we ate at Sycamore, and their roasted green circle chicken had been replaced by a roasted half chicken that was pretty tasteless and unappetizing. If they were having trouble getting statler chickens, they should’ve at least warned their diners that this previously fantastic dish was now a roasted half chicken. If they had other reasons for making this change (such as cost) they certainly weren’t taking their diners best interest at heart, because they have to know they replaced something especially good with something poor.
We might try Sycamore again, we might not (that’s how disappointing last night’s dinner was), and if we do and they’re back to serving the statler chicken (and it’s as good as it previously was), I’ll adjust my rating accordingly.

Sycamore was a true home run for us and one of our favorite meals of the year. We came after hearing a lot of great things about it and it lived up to the hype. The food is unbelievably great. We went with the pig board as we are oinkers. When our dinner came to our table our jaws immediately dropped and eyes bulged. A large board came to our table with four different preparations of pig using different parts of the pig. Each one was excellent and we kept changing our minds on which was the best. There were also a few vegetable sides presented with a specific part of the pig that complemented the pork so well. When we looked at the dessert menu we couldn’t pass up beignets even though so many places up north do them wrong. These were heavenly and a must order. Slightly crunchy on the outside and just melted, almost evaporated on the inside. The texture was perfect and the flavor great. The beignets are a must order, and I would say if you like pork the pig board is a must order (although I don’t see it on the menu anymore). The service was just as excellent.
We’re planning to go back to see if they can come close to wowing us this much again.

Had to upgrade the rating. The new menu is killing it at every moment. Much love to the crew for doing it right front to back

Perfect food and drink every time. They may be the best restaurant in the Boston area that can highlight local/​seasonal ingredients so well. Great staff, too.

A tale of hits and misses (3.5 stars)
Sycamore is located in Newton Center and is fairly convenient to find. Travel by car is easy with ample street parking nearby. The staff are friendly and accommodating. The ambiance is minimalist but clean and the restaurant is not loud so you can have an easy conversation with friends and family.
This review will focus mostly on the food. Sycamore was recommended to me by several friends from work. We were absolutely thrilled to have gotten a reservation to celebrate a family birthday. And yes, a reservation is recommended because there are not a lot of tables. The cuisine is a nice blend of French, Italian, and New American. The menu has quite a bit to offer but a bit limited when it comes to the main course (only 5 – 6 choices).
We had the following small starters:
–Baba ganoush– a bit skimpy, size-​wise, the flavor was ok but rather forgettable and bland.
–Pickled vegetables– delicious, tangy, with additional layers of complexity over a simple vinegar brine.
–Marinated olives– pretty standard mix of olives, did not stand out.
For appetizers:
–My family members loved the sweet corn soup with jalapeño and smoked scallop. It was rich and creamy. A real stand-​out.
–The foie gras and trotter terrine served with toasted bread– another miss. The foie gras flavor was really absent and it was a pretty bland terrine otherwise. Disappointing.
–The farro stuffed quail was quite good. Just slightly undercooked (which is perfect for this preparation), the savory quail was nicely balanced with the farro and accompanying jus.
For the meal:
–Several members of the party had the roasted swordfish. I had the chance to try it. The fish was probably fresh but had a very strong metallic taste and the meat was not as flaky as I am used to with swordfish. I think it may have been the cut of the swordfish.
–The half-​chicken with mushrooms and agnolotti was similar to half-​chicken preparations I have had at similar restaurants. It did not standout flavor-​wise. The agnolotti were good. However, it was cooked to the perfection.
–My dad loved the vegetable tagine.
For the desserts (so good the the whole review is bumped up by 0.5):
–The profiterols were outstanding. Rich ice cream in the center of delicate puff pastry and covered with chocolate sauce that had a very nice spiced component to its flavor. I am at a loss for what it might have been. My mom thought cumin. I can’t be sure. Either way, a totally original and delicious take on this.
–The beignets with caramel sauce were light but flavorful. Perfectly cooked so the outer crunch gave way to the soft inner core. I had to fight off my family to keep these for myself. Among the best I have had.
–The cornbread pain perdu– another home-​run. Not overly sweet, the cornbread was dense and rich, covered with tangy mixed berry compote.
Overall, this was kind of like the tail of two meals. The starters and entrees were fine but not standing out from average meals we have had elsewhere. The desserts were outstanding and outdid those from many local competitors.
I would be interested in coming back to try other entries. The fact that the desserts were so good speaks to the quality of the kitchen. Other elements of the starters and entrees suggest the same. Perhaps, we just did not choose wisely.
However, based on my first impression, Sycamore has potential but is a bit uneven.

Sycamore has been pretty hit or miss for me. It’s usually either amazing or just average. Unfortunately this visit drifted to the latter. That being said, still love the quality service here.
The highlight of the evening was the fried green circle chicken with black eyed peas and greens. Wow this was probably some of the best fried chicken I’ve had. You get two giant pieces: one dark meat, one white meat. The greens and peas accompanied the chicken so well too! Another highlight was the beignets as usual. Always flawless.
In terms of items that weren’t so great… mushroom croquetta, charcuterie, corn agnolotti, and the blue fish. I’m used to be being blown away by Sycamore’s dishes. But these just weren’t cutting it for me. Tasted like I could’ve made it myself.
Regardless, I’m still open to coming back

My favorite restaurant and my wife’s too. We like to go out to dinner. Have tried l’espalier, number 9 park, craigie on main, just to get an idea of what we’re into.
But we always end up back an Sycamore.
Food is always excellent, service is always personable and generous. We like to sit at the bar. Scott and Zach both make for an experience that is above and beyond what you’d find at restaurants costing much more.
Go here. And get the beignets for dessert.

To celebrate a long week at work, I pursued this French restauraut for their duck board I read abouton Unilocal.Apparently that was a former special, so I had their lamb chops instead. I had it with a glass of reisling. It was delicious. They serve some house bread with olive oil. It is a little pricey but definitely worth it for a nice night!

My new favorite restaurant.
We started with the soft shell crab and the strawberry salad and then had the pork board as the main meal. Delicious flavors and wonderful combinations. Dessert was the angel food cake and chocolate cake. Probably the best dessert I’ve had in a long time.
For wine, I had a rosé from Lebanon. Truly unique and memorable. She enjoyed the blackboard red.
We will be back.

My wife and I went to sycamore last night for our wedding anniversary. We started with some cocktails. My wife had the ghost of
Mary which was a martini like drink but tasted like a Bloody Mary. Amazing! I had the dadbod because I have one and it reminded me of a very good Manhattan
The food was outstanding. We started with the soft shell crab was homemade kimchi. Very tasty. For our entrée, we shared the pork board, which was shank, tenderloin and sausage. The shank was crispy on the outside and meltingly tender inside. The tenderloin was cooked perfectly and went so well with the almond romesco. The sausage was flavorful and juicy. For dessert, we got the beignets and they were so light and delicious. We had a fantastic time, and our waitress was excellent and even gave us a few glasses of port on the house with our dessert.
I would highly recommend this place for a fun night out or a special occasion

I have found an amazing gem of a restaurant!
This is «Chad’s Eats» review of Sycamore
Cuisine: New American, French
Location: Newton, MA
Parking:
Abundant street parking and there seemed to be lots nearby that could be used. The meters were buried in snow but luckily it didn’t apply as on weekends parking is free after 6:00 PM. Not sure of weekdays
Décor /​Ambiance:
Low lit romantic, creative use of ambient lighting which comes up from behind the seats along the wall. Great bar along the right as you walk in, dining to the left. As we walked in I got that feeling of «Oh yeah this is a cool place». Nice vibe, playing old classic funk in the back. Not to loud but just enough to dig it! Open kitchen with a great bunch of focused chefs in view making wonderful foods. I particularly liked how each one had there own distinctive look. As this business of being chefs has become almost rock star like, it’s not uncommon to see a chefs appearance to accentuate their personality. I sat so I could watch the wonderful show.
Greeting:
Super friendly, we had 7:30 reservations that we arrived right on time for. We waited about 10 minutes for our table and the hostess gave us a drink menu. We ordered quickly and were given our drinks promptly. The bartender brought them over to us rather than reach across the folks at the bar which I found to be a great gesture. The entrance can be a little cramped if waiting for a table. Waiting outside was not an option in the winter weather but in warmer months I am sure that’s where folks could wait. And trust me, it is worth the wait if you must!
Menu mix:
This menu clearly represents the culinary fortitude that is so strong in this kitchen. A great selection.
Water /​Bread service:
Fantastic, awesome ramekin of whipped butter, bread was warm and crusty and fresh. Bread is served from the staff from a basket which the hold and present you with as much as you wish. I got seconds! Water was tap served in a bottle that was left on the table. Tasted as good as spring water. Our glasses were kept full by the attentive staff.
Drink pour:
Good wine pours, my rum was a measured pour and certainly acceptable.
Food quality:
Talent, talent, talent and oh so creative. This food is remarkable. It’s not a large menu but you can safely bet that anything you choose will be a home run. We started out with the sweet potato muhummara which came with a grilled Naan type bread. We also got the winter citrus salad… cured black olive tapenade, grilled avocado & pistachios. This salad actually inspired me to create a similar salad at my school. I think my students would enjoy this very much. We also got the charcuterie plate. I remember this had summer sausage, a liver mousse and a chopped meat terrine I believe? Forgive me for not recalling exactly but it was wonderful (see my comments below). For our entrees I got the painted hills bavette steak… hand-​cut frites, porcini butter, watercress, red wine jus 28. My wife got the loch etive sea trout… maine mussels, macomber turnips, leeks, butter lettuce velouté 25. Both were «Friggin» awesome… Please note that I only use «Friggin» when I must indicate that something gets an additional push on the remark. The food at Sycamore is beyond awesome, or fabulous, and or fantastic so I strategically place «Friggin» in front to emphasize my feelings.
Service:
This stood out right away as soon as we came in the door. Throughout our entire meal we were well taking care of. Nice team work. At the end the kind hostess that took care of us when we came in asked us how our meal was. I told her we were thrilled and that she was so pleasant and kind.
Value:
For this class of food which is very creative, elegant and artistic I think it’s a great value. I think closer to Boston you’d be paying far more and 35 bucks parking on top. So all around I am pleased with the value.
Bathrooms:
Impeccably clean! Beautiful and well maintained
Would I return?
Absolutely
Comments & Tips:
I highly suggest making reservations. Also I recommend getting the charcuterie. It changes frequently and features a variety of various house cured meats, sausage, pâtés, terrines and such. Comes with assorted pickled veggies and stone ground mustard. Grilled bread to help build little assembled bites.

I went to Sycamore on a Saturday evening. The place was lively and filled completely, but our waitress never missed a beat.
I ordered The Fall Guy for my drink, which was a little disappointing. It had a nice apple taste, which was quickly replaces by a burnt-​rubber aftertaste. How that got a rubber taste in a drink, I’ll never know.
My date and I ordered the charcuterie plate to share for our appetizer. It was phenomenal! Even my boyfriend, who openly dislikes liver couldn’t stop eating the whole plate.
For our entrée, we specifically came here for the duck board, but it was not on the menu that evening. Instead we opted for the Game Board, which included bison steak, venison sausage, and wild boar. All of which had there own accompaniment of various starches and vegetables. We loved the dish! Each bite had a completely different flavor from the next. I would highly recommend it!
My boyfriend ordered the apple crisp for dessert, and I got the warm, sugared beignets. I’ve had beignets in New Orleans, and let me tell you, the beignets at Sycamore blow Café Du Monde of the water. You have to try them!
Overall, the experience was wonderful, and I’d love to come again to try everything else on the menu. The chefs are really doing something right!

I made my way to the corner seat at the bar in Scott’s (their bar manager extraordinaire) section.
The experience being served by Scott is quite unique. He knows what you want, by the words you utter. For example, «I want something refreshing and not too strong.» Soon after the best tasting Cranberry Collins with its 3 tart berries on a black plastic pick arrives. Perfect.
Then voila you have thick cut crusty sourdough and silky smooth house butter with a hint of fleur de sel (I believe).
This place knows food & drink. Despite eye balling the sun choke soup and potato gnocchi, I was nudged towards their signature «duck board» platter which reads «2ppl/​66,» at the top of the box it appears in menu center. Duck four ways myself, why not?
A quick call to a regular at Sycamore and the second thing out of his mouth was, «so you gonna have the duck board?» I hung up, noticed said platters arriving to parties on either side of my perch, as I prepared form my own Man v. Duck battle.
We discussed my impending challenge, and instead of skipping starters, I went with both the bluefish pâté and the chopped liver. I wanted something to spread on that amazing bread.
Ironically, they both come with their own crostinis (I ate everyone). Both were worth the space in my stomach. The pâté was smooth and cream cheese like — white fish salad on steroids. The liver would make any Bobbie jealous; light and airy textured, having only four ingredients. The last one we debated. The answer was ‘shmaltz’.
Enough kibitzing, there was more to be sipped/​nibbled. Scott brought me a twist on one of my favorite drinks called ‘the ghost of mary’, a cheesecloth strained tomato water and lemon vodka garnished with a crunchy yellow dilly (wax) bean.
I would use this essence to get me through the ‘D’ board which arrived on two plates; the smaller a poutine of Vermont cheddar, savory gravy and an almost pulled duck. The larger square platter consisted of the duck the other three ways; glazed duck wings on top a pile of shaved brussel spouts and kohlrabi slaw, a grand portion of duck breast confit (divinely crisp skin) over an American chestnut purée and finally, spiced duck Andouille sausage, layered on a rectangle shaped, cake of Ansen Mills grits.
Patrons and staff where eyeballing my eating challenge, which left only a small box of poutine base, a slice of confit and two slugs of sausage = a light leftover snack.
With barely room for the tip of my meals cap, I saw blended foaming coffee numbers (espresso liquor and mole bitters) arrive to my left and behind me (the same couples that had ordered the duck board for 2). The blended coffee drink named after a firearm, was much needed to snap me out of my post-​campaign ‘oh’ so full belly.
There was no room for ‘death by chocolate’ of any sort, I had just survived ‘death by duck’ and was pretty darn satisfied.
How could I forget Matt for bringing me a warm rolled towel and two lemon wedges for washing up (plus thanks in order to the whole synchronous team).
With that… Here endeth the lesson of a ‘Sycamorean’ dining experience.

Love Sycamore… One of my all time Boston-​area favorites! I try to get there at least once a month. The Zucchini & Basil chilled soup is «to die for…» but the menu is seasonal so I can’t promise it will be on the menu when you go.
No worries… Everything on the menu there is awesome. In fact, it may not sound it, but the Bluefish Pâté small plate is excellent — be adventurous :)
If you like Martinis and/​or Bloody Marys do not miss Scott’s «Ghost of Mary» — a vodka martini (think Bloody Mary in reverse) garnished with housemade spicy dilly beans — it’s awesome!
My only criticism… It’s small! Come early (or late), or plan to stand in line outside. :(