Delectable Baba Ghanoush: Review of Ilona Boston

Our very first meal in Boston was at Ilona, an Eastern-Mediterranean restaurant located just south of the Back Bay area. I love Middle Eastern/Mediterranean food, and always seek it out while travelling. Ilona had great reviews and topped many “Best of” lists, so it seemed like the perfect spot to try. It easily exceeded my expectations, and the delicious baba ghanoush blew me away.

Ilona Boston Food

To start with, here’s the current menu (February 2021). It pretty much matches what can be found on their online menu, which I’ve linked.

Because the vegetarian main course options were lacking, we instead decided to order a variety of appetizers.

We started with the Pikilia, which comes with baba ghanoush (eggplant dip), htipiti (greek feta dip), and muhammara (red pepper dip), plus bread. However, since muhammara typically contains walnuts, they swapped it out with hummus for us. Htipiti and baba ghanoush are two dips I don’t tend to love, but Ilona’s take on each was fantastic. The baba ghanoush had so much flavour and tasted very fresh – my dad also loved it. It was most definitely the best baba ghanoush I’ve eaten thus far.

Additionally, the texture of the htipiti, something I often have problems with, was just right. It was smooth and creamy but not too creamy. It tasted great too. The hummus didn’t shock me as much as the other two, but that’s not to say it was bad. The taste was fresh, and it wasn’t lacking in flavour.

We also ordered the Halloumi, which came with an absolutely delicious tomato spread. The crispiness of the cheese was great, and I enjoyed the crunch the sesame seeds added.

My dad sampled the Fish Crudo (catch of the day). I’d been slightly worried about it being listed at market price, but it was a reasonable $16. He really liked the dish, and it was plated beautifully as well.

Finally, we got the Batata Harras, which were just as tasty as everything else. I’m not even sure how to describe the flavour, but all the components of the dish blended together well to create an amazing taste. The frying was done perfectly, as you could enjoy the crispiness without it tasting super unhealthy.

We’d also ordered the Manakish (za’atar topped flatbread), not knowing that it was the same bread that came with the Pikilia. It was very good, but I feel like that could’ve been specified on the menu.

Ilona Boston Drinks

There aren’t any non-alcoholic drinks listed on Ilona’s menu, but I was able to order a lemonade. Although it was annoyingly 50% ice, like in most American restaurants, it was freshly squeezed and had a strong lemon flavour. My dad also ordered an off-menu passionfruit lemonade, which he liked.

Ilona Boston Dessert

Ilona also doesn’t provide a dessert menu on their website, but they do have 3 desserts: Baklava, Greek Yogurt with berries and honey, and Sunflower Halva with vanilla ice cream. Unfortunately their desserts aren’t made in house, rather they’re catered from an outside source.

Aside from the greek yogurt, which we determined wasn’t worth paying for, all the desserts contained nuts. So my dad ordered the Sunflower Halva, and they put some ice cream on the side for me to have. I can’t personally speak for the taste of the halva, but my dad liked it. The vanilla ice cream was just vanilla ice cream – it was decent quality though.

Ilona Boston Ambience

While the meal was high quality and delicious, the ambience wasn’t great. However, that’s more of a personal preference – I tend to dislike packed, noisy restaurants. There was no outdoor dining option, so I was grateful that we were at least placed in a corner table where we could stay relatively distanced. It was still a little uncomfortable, being in the midst of a pandemic, so I kept my KN95 on between bites.

Additionally, for any families interested in this restaurant, I will note that I didn’t see a single child there. We were eating late, around 7:45, but it definitely had more of an adult vibe.

Ilona Boston Service

Contrary to the ambience, the service we experienced was good. It wasn’t fabulous by any means, but it wasn’t bad either. Our waiter was very friendly and helpful, and our food was brought out in a timely manner.

I will note that despite the city of Boston still having a mask mandate in place, it was clearly not very well enforced. The servers consistently had their masks below their mouths, and would pull them down to take orders. Some people might not find this to be a problem, but it ruined the meal a little for me.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I had a wonderful dinner at Ilona Boston. The food was great, especially the surprisingly tasty Baba Ghanoush. While I have so many other restaurants I’d love to eat at in Boston, I’d happily return to Ilona on a future trip. If you are looking for high-quality Mediterranean food in the city, I’d suggest checking this place out.