Luna, yes; not much to Love or much Good

Oh boy, only halfway into January and I am already breaking resolutions. Specifically the one about keeping up with my blog... in my defense, not keeping up with my blog (or, more accurately, not eating out so much), is helping my keep another resolution which includes shedding a few pounds. However, that's barely an excuse for letting a whole week slip by before reporting on my experience at Bella Luna last weekend.

Looking for a fun, convenient place to have a bite to eat and some entertainment for a large-ish group, a friend recommended that we have dinner at Bella Luna followed by some bowling at its sister establishment, Milky Way. Given that both are located right in Jamaica Plain (and, really, how often do you get chance to knock down a few candlepins?), we readily agreed to the plan. Paul and I were the first to arrive and mistakenly headed first to the upstairs restaurant, which is clubby and cozy, with only a small handful of tables. The host, quickly recognized our reservation as the "party of eight," showed us downstairs to the bar/games/bowling area - what I assume is technically the Milky Way. While cold and a little dank downstairs, it had the funky atmosphere of a good dive bar with clientèle that was classically JP. Our friends arrived shortly and our waitress took our orders for beer & wine.

We spent some time catching up (as well as giving one couple directions over the phone - JP is such a quandary unless you live around here) and not looking much at the menu. The waitress did a few drive-bys to check on us and, while very attentive, seemed to eventually get a little frustrated with our lack of ordering. We finally decided on a few appetizers and everyone chose an entree - with selections as varied as a pulled pork sandwich, pasta, fish & chips, pizza, steak frites, and mac & cheese. For those that read this blog with any regularity, you might be sensing the red flag at this point. I always have concerns when restaurants try to do too much - offering a thousand options, to guarantee that everyone will find something they like, but then ending up with everything slightly lacking. Sadly, Bella Luna falls into this category.

We'd ordered fairly standard, pub grub appetizers, including a veggie quesadilla, fried calamari, and spinach artichoke dip, plus one friend ordered an arugula salad and another got a selection of soup. Having had a difficult time choosing between the soups, the waitress ended up bringing my friend a customized platter with a half cup of each type - totally redeeming my opinion of her service in the process. My friends indulged me in lots of tastes of their dishes. The tomato soup was thick and sweet with lots of fresh flavor and was the far superior soup, when compared with the Spanish chicken soup (I believe that's what it was). The chicken soup had an interesting back note of what I think was cumin, but had been made too early in the evening and had gotten a bit gummy with the orzo that it featured. The salad was simple with a few shavings of Parmesan and toasted pine nuts, but a little overdressed - losing the pungent arugula flavor in doing so.

The quesadilla was the clear winner amongst the shared apps. It was made with a hearty whole wheat tortilla and it was full of lots of fresh vegetables, cooked well, but not overdone. The calamari were tasty, if mostly unremarkable - though they were dressed with a tangy vinaigrette, which was a pleasant change from the standard marinara that often accompany this dish. The dip was lacking, in that it was too thin, with no discernible taste of the spinach, artichoke, or the cheese.

For my main course, I'd ordered the potato gnocchi with a sage-cream sauce. The large gnocchi arrived dotted with bits of ham and asparagus. The pasta itself was tender and well prepared, and the cream sauce made it a warm, filling dish - which was a good foil for the chill of the room. However, the sauce had virtually no sage flavor and the ham was slightly over processed and salty. My nibbles from a few other plates - including some fries from my husband's meal and a bite of the pulled pork - proved tastier than my dish and left me wondering if the secret to ordering at Bella Luna was to stick with more of the bar food.

At one point in the evening, this blog even became the center of conversation, which led to the inevitable, what would I review next? I revealed that I would probably be writing about the very meal we were eating, so naturally, at the end of the night, I found seven other heads turned in my direction asking, "so what did you think?" Gulp. I am not a professional reviewer and I mostly do this as a means of personal catharsis about my many eating experiences. Now, it seemed that what I thought of the meal somehow mattered and, I was a little nervous to say, what I thought was not that complimentary. I sheepishly muttered, "um, I thought it was ok." A chorus of groans and laughed ensued. "A 'B' or a 'B-,' not worse, I hope!," exclaimed one friend. Me, "uhhhh..." Another lightly chided me, "not every place is going to be L'Espalier!" Me, "I know! I know!" (I swear, I am not a total food snob... must we again discuss how $6 is a first-class ticket to mouth heaven at Taqueira La Mexicana?) Lastly, my friend who placed the reservation said (with what seemed like a tiny hint of guilt that she'd somehow chosen a sub-par restaurant), "I thought the bowling would be fun!" Oh gosh... let's stop talking about the blog and go rent some ugly shoes - this pressure is too much!

Here's the thing - all in all, what I ate at Bella Luna was reasonably passable, but it wasn't remotely important to me. The beer was great and the company was even better... and, I haven't even begun to start gloating about how the girls totally kicked a** in the first round of bowling! I love food and I love being wowed by a restaurant, but those things will never take the place of the rare night when a group of friends is miraculously free at the same time and can join each other in laughing, eating, and being reminded of why we dine out in the first place - to be together, with or without an 'A' meal.

I'd give Bella Luna at 403-405 Centre Street in Jamaica Plain a B-. Order some pub grub, eat quickly, and get right to the main event - shaming your friends at game that requires you make a total fool of yourself. Oh... and maybe don't mention that you're going to blog about it.

(P.S. Anyone that got the Harry Potter reference in the title, you're my new BFF.)