Bon Savor charms

Jamaica Plain spot splits time between France, South America

October 28, 2009|Dining out, Devra First, Globe Staff

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A seared tuna dish is not. The fish comes with what appears to be corn pudding with a cloying sweetness; a glance at the menu reveals this to be coconut quinoa that has merged with the corn that comes on the side. Again, red peppers blare annoyingly, the taste equivalent of interrupting every time someone tries to talk. I’m not convinced they belong with fish except in very rare instances. Tomato chutney just adds another layer of confusion. A braised pork shank special one night is also a jumble of flavor, too-sweet spices and bland meat, a large helping of sameness cloaked in brown sauce.

Not all is meaty here. There are good options for vegetarians, including arroz con vegetales, a risotto-like affair brimming with vegetables. Coquillettes aux trois fromages is possibly the fanciest name ever for macaroni and cheese; the three are Gouda, gruyere, and gorgonzola. The Gouda is most pronounced, with its smoky, bacon-like flavor. The pasta would be better with fewer sun-dried tomatoes, a chewy blight on this creamy landscape.

Crepes sweet and savory are a focus of the menu. The Bon Savor crepe is a thin, light pancake filled with mushrooms, corn, and large, fatty chunks of bacon. It might be too rich if not for the accompanying salad of chayote, which tastes a bit like a cross between fennel and cucumbers.

For dessert, you might try a crepe filled with dulce de leche, zigzagged with chocolate sauce and served with whipped cream. The chocolate and whipped cream could go; this crepe would be delicious sprinkled simply with confectioner’s sugar. There’s also tres leches cake, heavier than it ought to be but with nice flavor, and a brownie-like chocolate torte served with notably bad ice cream. It’s supposed to be vanilla, I’m guessing, but it tastes more like Band-Aid. When the oysters are Duxbury and the cheese Tarentaise, and the menu reads “We use local and organic ingredients whenever possible’’ at the bottom, some attention is being paid to sourcing. J.P. Licks is right down the street.

The short wine list could also use sprucing in this arena. Selections include the uninteresting Rex Goliath pinot noir and the simple but food-friendly-enough Zestos tempranillo-garnacha blend. It’s nice to find such reasonably priced bottles (more than half are in the $20s), but more unusual finds would better suit the food. Ditto the beer list. The drinks feel behind the rest of the program at Bon Savor.

But this is a place that does not have pretensions. It’s not the kind of restaurant you go out of your way for - it’s the kind you eat at, regularly and gladly, in your own neck of the woods. Hail, Boston, our city of neighborhood restaurants.

Devra First can be reached at dfirst@globe.com.