Icarus

Went for restaurant week - overall I thought it was average. Risotto appetizer was undercooked. Veal meatballs were amazing. Pork was cooked very nicely and the sauce that came with it was very good. Duck was good but very small portion. Waiter was excellent. Not sure if I would go back.

Pros: Attentive wait staff, good food

Cons: portions

Posted 03/19/09

Went for a birthday celebration and were greeted warmly and given special menus that said Happy Birthday, and a champagne toast. Foie gras was possibly the best I've ever had. Everyone's entrees were cooked perfectly and absolutely delicious as well. Service was attentive and I could not have been happier. Will definitely go back.

Pros: food, service, ambience

Cons: parking can be difficult, but hey, it's Boston

Posted 01/24/09

Its a nice restaurant, but lack of choices on the menu and food are slightly over-priced. A place to go for if you're looking to dine in a beautiful, classy and high-end style restaurant, but definitely not suitable for those who are super particular with food choices and prices.

Posted 12/21/08

The food here was pretty ho-hum. Nothing really stood out except how overpriced the food was. For instance, a chocolate molten cake, billed as being for two, was no bigger than the standard serving size you'd get at any other restaurant, however, Icarus felt it was worth $18. My biggest complaint about this place is that the food is overpriced and just not worth it. The scallop entree was pathetic with 3 scallops and a few bits of lobster interspersed. Management should reconsider the menu. I can't see why anyone would want to go here. The food is much better (and more reasonably priced) at Stephanie's on Newbury.

Pros: Booth seating

Cons: Over-priced food, bland food, small menu

Posted 11/15/08

My fiance took me here for my birthday and the experience was neither good or bad. We were there for the 30th anniversary menu. For the first course I had the Salad of Salt Cod, the cod was bland and rather tasteless. For the second course, I had the bluefish which was good but the portion was tiny. The desert was great, the chocolate cake. My fiance had the field salad and the sole and had the same reaction that I did to my meal. Overall, the dinner was blah.

Posted 07/14/08

Perhaps it's the equivalent of a New Yorker's "Bridge & Tunnel" sentiment....but I will never understand why some restaraunteurs seem to thumb their noses at the folks who come out to dine during restaurant week. In this case, the food was sublime (Corn Polenta with Veal, Blue Fish Tacos and Buttermilk Pannacotta) but the service left something to be desired. While waiting for our table (30 mins after our reserved time) we witnessed a young server having a minor hissy when the sommelier told him they had ran out of one of the paired wines. This is something that should occur behind the scenes if at all. We opted for the additional wine pairing and were served each glass 10-15 minutes BEFORE the related course even arrived. It seems as if all the servers couldn't be bothered to provide timely and conscientious
service. Icarus does deserve credit for not skimping on portion sizes as so many others are guilty of when it comes to restautant week. If your restaurant is so successful and could not use the monetary boost or added customer base than please do us all a favor and opt out of restaurant week next year. We'll save it for those special occassions when, hopefully, better service is the norm.

Pros: Wine List

Cons: Parking

Posted 08/13/07

My husband and I originally took my mother in law to Icarus last fall and received terrible service. We had heard that other people had great experiences there, so we decided to give it another chance last night for restaurant week. Unfortunately, it was even worse than the first time. We waited at least half an hour between each course, with empty water glasses. We had to put our bread basket on a shelf next to our table because no one ever collected it when it was empty. Our courses were supposed to be paired with wines; however, the waitress brought me the wrong wine and it took me 15 minutes to track her down and get her to bring me the correct wine. When I told her that she brought me the wrong wine, she looked at me like I had two heads. Then she finally brought me the correct wine and mentioned that I was right. What is the point of pairing wine with food if the waitress doesn't know which wine goes with which dish? Dessert was even more of a disaster because by the time we got it (two hours into the meal), we were so exhausted that we just wanted to go home. Our paired wines never came with the dessert so we had to track down our waitress again and remind her. No matter how good the food here is, it's impossible to enjoy it because the service is so bad. For a restaurant this expensive, the service should be excellent--or at least average!

Pros: Tasty food

Cons: Terrible service

Posted 08/09/07

For the price, the food was mediocre. For example, if you go to Grotto, for the same money or less you get much better food. Starters weren't bad, corn chowder with scallops tasted fresh. As for the main course, the lamb dish was ok but quite salty and the pork dish was bland. Desserts, chocolate cake and cobler, were fine. Portions were small, service were average. The dining room was very nice though.

Pros: great dining room

Cons: food was just ok

Posted 08/09/07

Having been to several restaurants during this discount week, I can say that none even compared to Icarus. Though some of these restaurants skimp on either food or service during Restaurant Week, Icarus did neither, offering a terrific dining experience even though the bill would not be as high as usual. And to to top it off, the meal was amazing. Highly recommended, and a very romantic setting as well.

Pros: Great service, romantic ambience

Cons: Parking

Posted 05/12/07

Came here once a year ago and had a fantastic experience. Great food and great service. Came here again over restaurant week and food was still good, but service was not so great. We felt very rushed and finished our meal in about 40 minutes! Not what you would expect when having a fine dining experience. We also had to wait 30 minutes to be seated, which was annoying. Overall, great food and certainly would return again....just not over Restaurant Week!

Pros: good food

Cons: spotty service

Posted 04/28/07

I went here with my family last spring and had a wonderful experience. The food, ambiance, and service was definitely some of the best in Boston! As others have said, it is a bit pricey, but worth it on a special occasion.

Pros: food, ambiance, service

Cons: price

Posted 04/06/07

Icarus is the creme de la creme. The best South End dining experience I've ever had. It's located in a nice area, beautifully decorated, intimate and quiet setting. The live jazz is great. I really enjoyed my dinner there. Our waiter was very friendly, approachable and very welcoming and accomodating. For starters, I recommend the grilled shrimp, then a very tasty dish of crab ravioli, a nice grilled chicken with rice and salad for sides and to top it all off a nice coffee with cheese cake. The food is unbelivable and for the price we paid, it wasn't very much at all.

Posted 01/27/07

The food here is unbelievable. My wife and I loved the ambience, as well as the service. It was just an overall great experience.

Posted 11/03/06

Arrived early for a drink. Hostess, bartenders and valet's very friendly and accomidating. We were seated and waited almost 15 minutes before we saw our server, who brough water and didn't take a drink order. When she returned almost 5-minutes later she told us the specials, which were unclear, and took our drink order. We finally ordered our meals after about 45 minutes.
We had read all about how Icarus was one of the most romantic restaurants in Boston, but we did not agree. The main dining area was extremely loud. It was difficult to tune out others conversations and focus on each other.

My wife, who is vegetarian, was very happy with her meal, claiming that is was among the best vegetarian meals she'd ever had, including her salad. It was a butternut squash bowl with assorted vegetables and cheese. I wasn't so lucky. My wife got the farm greens with bleu cheese, which I tried and was very good. I got a fall salad with pears and hazlenuts nuts. The entire salad was too sweet. The dressing was almost like maple syrup. For my meal I got pork. The meat was extremely tough, with veins in it that I was unable to chew. The accompanying sauce was very good and I think the pork was cooked appropriately, it was just a lousy cut. For dessert we shared the signature chocolate soufflet, which was very good, but nothing to come back for.
The service was unattentive. I think this might have just been our particular server. I noticed at other tables that the servers were constantly refreshing drinks and replacing silverware. Our plates sat for about 15 minutes before being cleared.

All and all, I would be willing to try Icarus again due to my wife's excellent meal and the chance of being seated with another server. This was a birthday meal for my wife who was very happy, and that's all that mattered.

Pros: Excellent drink menu, excellent vegetarian meal

Cons: Poor service, tough meat, overpriced dessert

Posted 10/21/06

I always loved this place. It still remains one of my favorites. I don't think I've found a pork chop quite as good, but was really disappointed w/ the service I received that last time I was there. The food was outstanding as always, but the servers have to brush up a bit. I'll definately be back, but this time on an off night.

Pros: great food, nice wine list

Cons: snippy, slow servers

Posted 08/03/06

I dined at Icarus the other evening and for the money I would have expected perfection versus pretty good. The eclectic décor was eclectic, relaxing and romantic. You can sit in a booth or at a table each with a mini-orchid. The service was exceptional; the waitress was knowledgeable, honest and was willing to give her recommendations versus what the kitchen may have told her. The polenta with exotic mushrooms was very good but the idea that the mushrooms were exotic is a misnomer. The rabbit with lemon risotto was two dishes in quality. The rabbit was outstanding but the risotto was overcooked and mushy and the tomato/olive accompaniment was not heated through and cold in spots. I asked and was told that the sous chef in charge that night so a return visit when the real chef is present may uptick my opinion.

Pros: atmosphere, service

Cons: expensive, food not perfect

Posted 10/17/05

Dining at fine restaurants, like many others, is one of my favorite things to do. Because I enjoy this indulgence so much, I have understandably eaten at almost all of Boston's top spots. With that said, I have yet to find a meal that compares to the many I've had at Icarus. The generous portions are consistantly outstanding. I recommend this cozy & comfortable, yet sleek & trendy restaurant to anyone who wants to be "wow"ed. The staff is so personable (not to mention attractive) that you almost feel like family. The only negative thing I could say is that parking is sometimes difficult. Other wise - allow yourself to be pampered at Icarus and you will not be disappointed.

Pros: romantic, large portions

Cons: parking

Posted 05/27/05

Visisted this restaurant last weekend as I was invited by friends. It was great,. I hadn't been in years and they remodeled. (come to find out about 4 years ago). The room is beautiful and the wait staff gracious and welcoming. I had a mouthwatering shrimp appetizer and adored the salmon entree. We also had a yummy Sancerre, I couldn't believe how wll it complemented the dishes. I will return for another occasion. It was more than I normally spend on dinner, but ....delicious

Pros: Service, Atmosphere

Posted 05/02/05

My boyfriend and I received a dinegift certificate of 100 dollars and went to icarus. The service was very average. The food was cooked to perfection, but way way way overpriced. The atmosphere, particularly the chairs carpet and lighting, reminded me of a fancy but cheesy hotel lobby.
We left wondering what exactly our 120 bill paid for - we didn't even have alcohol!

Pros: food

Cons: , service

Posted 01/02/05

This place was great once - but I recently went back after a couple of years. The menu hasn't changed at all, and I had a horrible response to a complaint I made to the manager (I was essentially told that nobody else had a problem with it). The restaurant does have great ambiance, but at $180 total for 2 people, it isn't worth it any more. I won't be eating there again.

Posted 02/15/04

I go to Icarus for dinner whenever I have special guests in town. The food is always exceptional; the waiters always helpful and friendly, and the ambience perfect for a quiet, intimate, leisurely meal -- even with a group of 6 to 8. My only quibbles: the wine list is very expensive, with not a single inexpensive bottle on the list, and the waiters can be spread a little thin on busy evenings. The is an expensive restaurant, but consistently worth it.

Pros: food, ambience, Friday night jazz

Cons: expensive wine list

Posted 04/05/03

server took the champagne bottle away "to be put on ice" after pouring. taking bottle away from the table after presenting it is improper wine service etiquette. plus i watched her leave the bottle on the server station, not-on-ice, and forget about it until we were ready for a refill. champagne was still cold so no biggie. just surprising for fine dining service. sauce with foie gras a little weak and didn't cut through the richness of the foie. the temp. of my duck was a perfect med-rare and the skin crispy, but thought wild-rice accompianment was an odd pairing. boyfriend's salmon was something i could have made myself. prices steep for what we were getting. especially $18 choc. souffle ($3-$6 food cost for the restaurant). i've paid less and had better food. server was pleasant and space is gorgeous. another overrated "boston landmark restaurant" surviving off long standing reputation.

Pros: gorgeous restaurant, pleasant service

Cons: food not exciting, very pricey

Posted 03/28/03

We loved Icarus! The food, service, and wine were superb. The vegetables were done to perfection! Everything was perfect. Our server was great, I can't say enough nice things about our visit to Icarus.

Pros: service,lots of space, food, great wine

Posted 09/24/02