Asta — Restaurant in Boston

This was my first visit to Asta. I ordered the full tasting menu along with three add-ons—both foie gras options and the Zimbro—and I’m glad I did. The experience was beautifully curated, with inventive flavor combinations and textures that kept surprising me.

I arrived about 10 minutes before opening and was welcomed in warmly. A complimentary glass of sparkling wine was offered, which was a lovely start (though I did silently note that my pour was smaller than those at neighboring tables). Likewise, despite being the first seated, my amuse-bouche was served after the couple who arrived later. Not major offenses, but noticeable in an otherwise detail-oriented experience.

Now, to the food—where Asta truly excels.

The standout for me was the lobster vinegar rice with corn, cucumber, pickled wakame, and black truffle. It was warm, umami-rich, delicately briny, and perfectly balanced in texture. It embodied everything I love about tasting menus—unexpected, comforting, and unforgettable.

Other highlights: • The sumac sorbet palate cleanser, which arrived just when I needed a reset. Bright, citrusy, and fragrant, it sharpened my senses for the courses that followed. • The beets with chile and red dulse, served in a sesame cream, were earthy and creamy with just the right amount of zing. • The lamb with ratatouille was beautifully cooked and plated, bold yet nuanced. • Dessert, a sour cherry hand pie with diplomat cream, was rustic and delightful, capping the meal with a subtle touch of nostalgia.

The add-ons were also worth it: • The seared foie gras with braised callaloo and ginger beer float was both rich and playfully composed. • The foie gras ganache, about the size of a chocolate truffle, was a small but mighty bite. Paired with cocoa nib granola and sea buckthorn, it felt like a decadent little secret—sweet, savory, and complex in all the right ways. • The Zimbro, a dish of aged sheep’s milk cheese with beans, beets, and burnt honey, was unexpected and intriguing—sharp and creamy with an earthy-sweet finish that lingered.

One thing to know: the seating is firm—standard wood chairs and high-top stools, with no cushioning. I arrived right before 6 PM and had my pick of seats, but by 8 PM the place was full. You can choose to sit at the tasting counter, which is elevated and faces the open kitchen (great if you enjoy watching the chefs work), or at a regular table. I opted for a standard table—I like having my feet on the ground. The space has a quiet, understated elegance, and the staff was uniformly kind.

Each table has built-in drawers, and when you open them, you’ll find neatly placed utensils and cotton napkins—another sign of Asta’s quiet thoughtfulness. If you need anything extra, you can simply ask, and the staff will happily bring it over.

A chilled carafe of water is placed on your table, a small but appreciated touch. I also ordered the Lapos Citrus Spritz, a mocktail recommended by my server, Nora—and it was exactly what I wanted. Lightly sparkling, not too sweet, and perfectly balanced, it complemented the tasting menu without overwhelming any of the flavors.

At the very end of the meal, they brought out a small bowl of complimentary popcorn—warm, spiced, and probably the best popcorn I’ve ever tasted. Light but flavorful, with a subtle kick I wasn’t expecting, it arrived alongside the check and left a lasting impression. The check itself is handwritten, which adds to the restaurant’s understated, almost analog charm. I actually went back and mentally tallied my courses and add-ons just to be sure the math worked out—something about the casual format made me double-check. In the end, it just felt like another part of Asta’s personality: thoughtful, gently offbeat, and quietly confident.

Asta is not trying to be showy—it’s trying to be thoughtful. For the most part, it succeeds. The service is warm, the plating elegant, and the pacing (after that initial hiccup) just right. The creativity and restraint shown in the flavor pairings left me thinking about the meal long...

We were really excited for this tasting menu, but from the beginning this didn't compare to other fine dining in Boston. When we entered the host looked my partner up and down, which made us both feel a bit uncomfortable.

We weren't presented with any menu and some dishes were dropped off with extremely quiet and curt descriptions. We're used to knowledgeable staff, but when asked about the champagne our server couldn't tell us anything. I think it was free because today is new Year's Eve, but it would be nice to be told about what we have. When we were presented with our first dish of oyster dressing and asked for more info we were told "it's stuffing" which felt like talking down to us while not giving us any more information.

The service was relatively mixed, with some people feeling pretentious or uncaring, and some really kind. I'm very thankful for the kind servers.

The food was all very good! Just not quite the quality or novelty I'd expect at $125/person.

The oyster dressing was tasty, it felt a bit like oysters Rockefeller presented in a new way.

The turnip soup was a bit bland, except the single ravioli which was filled with an amazing marmite butter that had all the salt and umami the soup was missing. If it was presented with care we might've mixed the contents of the ravioli into the soup (or several smaller ravioli would've been nice), but the experience we got was a vaguely bland soup with a single very powerful and tasty bite.

The sweet potato, passion fruit, and tuna was interesting. The earthiness of the raw sweet potato and the sweetness of the cooked potato with the acidity of the passion fruit worked quite nicely. The tuna got lost in everything else, it didn't have much texture or flavor. It was probably the most novel savory dish.

I can go on, but generally speaking the dishes felt like they needed something a little more and/or had ingredients they didn't need.

Overall, the food was good but not for this price and the service felt very hit or miss. I'd come back at a lower price point, but certainly wouldn't return or recommend it based on my...

Asta, is one of the worst restaurants in Boston.

My wife and I are both vegan and were excited to experience their tasting menu. We expected the small portion sizes but hoped for a variety of tastes and flavors to go along with the experience. Instead, what we received was a bland, uninspired mess of an evening.

Each dish was worse than the next, leaving such a foul taste in your mouth that the wine pairing became mandatory as a palate cleanser. To make things worse, the quality of the food being served was below what you'd find at a traditional chain restaurant. From the limp cabbage to the "earthy" potatoes, nothing that was presented even came close to what you would expect from a similar dining experience elsewhere. Dishes were served at inappropriate lukewarm temperatures,"creative" dishes didn't mesh together(especially the raspberry potatoes), and there was really no experience or atmosphere to speak of.

Possibly the worst part of all is that it took almost 3 hours from start to finish to end our horror of an evening. At the very least, they could have bought us all of our bland food quickly so that we could leave and find some joy literally anywhere else in the world. A meal for two with a shared wine paring costs $330. For the experience we had, I would have felt better about myself if I'd simply been mugged outside of the restaurant. At least that way I would have had the opportunity to resist being taken advantage of.

If you are in Boston, and looking for a place that serves an enjoyable edible meal, please save yourself the trouble and avoid Asta at all costs.

The combination of their prices, food quality, and lack of atmosphere make Asta truly one of the worst experiences...