Alba on 53
“We're in Hanover, Massachusetts at a one of a kind steakhouse known as Alba on 53. The original location of Alba is in Quincy, Massachusetts, that location is still there. But this one, they went all out.”
“There’s always a great feeling when the customers come in and say, ‘Wow’”.
“A massive restaurant, absolutely stunning atmosphere, and it's all in the details. Big open kitchen, beautiful bar, high ceilings, cool lighting. There are wine lockers, and meat lockers, cozy banquettes, a great outdoor patio. There's just a lot going on at this place. And just the kind of place you want to go out every night of the week if you could. First and foremost, Alba is a steakhouse.”
“There's no steakhouse in Boston, who carries better steak and we do for probably quarter the price.”
“They have all the cuts you know and love, high quality meat sear at a very high temperature. But if you want to go big, go really big and get the Tomahawk, this is just a massively delicious hunk of meat.”
“We hand cut our steaks. Tomahawk has been aged here for 40 days so you're gonna have that very nutty, mild taste it'll be just perfect steak.:
“You know people always tell you that having the bone in really adds to the flavor that really is true and when the bone is this big, this thing is like two feet long. It super concentrates and enhances that flavor. I know this is a nice restaurant. You're not supposed to do this. But I don't care.
To start your meal you can go a lot of different ways. You can just keep things classic with a great order of chicken wings or you can keep things really Mediterranean and go for the flatbread. This is how all the meals start throughout the Mediterranean. Start with the baba ganoush, you can get some red pepper hummus, my personal favorite is the tzatziki- Greek style yogurt dip. It is cool, it is refreshing and perfect with a nice warm and toasty pita bread.
But the number one appetizer you got to start with the lamb meatballs. I love meatballs. This is more of kind of a Greek influence and has that tzatziki sauce, has a little bit of mint in there as well. The lamb itself absolutely delicious with the pita breads are rounded all out. These are addictive.
When you go out to a steakhouse, there are certain things you know you're going to find. What you don't expect to find is an entire sushi menu. One of the most popular dishes is the Rainbow Roll. but for my money I am definitely going for the Spicy Crunchy Roll. This has crispy fried shrimp tempura, some avocado, cucumber, topped with some spicy tuna, more tempura, and nice tobiko.”
“People say this the best sushi I have had on the South Shore.”
“When it comes to picking an entree, a lot of great options and you can either go for something really heavy or nice and light. Gnocchi- very heavy and delicious and satisfying. Cod- light, refreshing, delicate. Let's talk about this gnocchi dish. This is one of their most popular dishes.”
“I always wanted a really heavy wine-drinking meal, so we have great mushrooms, we have great beef. Let's raise the beef, add some mushrooms, add some homemade gnocchi, put some seasoned vegetables and it became a great dish.”
“This is definitely dense, good for a cold winter's night. The bar here is always packed. This place is happening. And if I'm going to sit down at the bar, get a cocktail or beer watch a game, I'm getting Alba’s burger. This burger is a beast. It's big, it's juicy. It's exactly what you would expect to find at a high end steakhouse. That's my kind of burger.
Super underrated dish is the chicken. I know a lot of people don't just get chicken when they go out to eat, but you should when you come to Alba because this thing is worth it. It's slow cooked service, a braised spinach and pickled Fresno chilies and it comes in its own gravy, that nice chicken jus. This thing is just so moist, delicious and tender. I guarantee you've never made a chicken like this.
When it's time for dessert, you think to yourself, I don't know I ate a lot. Do I really need something for dessert? And then you see a waiter walk by holding one of these. And you say, Yes, I'll have that - eight layers and a foot tall. It is so big. It comes to the table and they already know there's no possible way this is for one person.”
“If you bring something like that cake, everybody wants one”.
“It's chocolate on top of chocolate on top of more chocolate and then it's drizzled with chocolate. It's a lot of chocolate. So you come for the steak. You stay for the sushi and then for the rest of your life, you'll just dream about the chocolate cake at Alba on 53.
