49 Social - New addition to Temple St. - Downtown

Recently I was looking for a good location to grab some drinks with friends, both from Boston and visiting from NYC.  After debating a bit, I thought 49 Social would be a good place to try - I was really curious to see if and how the new restaurant changed the old Ivy space.

Off we went on a Tuesday night, and lucky for us there was plenty of room for us to grab a table in the bar area.  Turns out not much has changed - the space is just a bit brighter on the inside with the addition of a marble bar top and matching marble table tops.  I was pretty happy with this, since I always thought the Ivy was a great place to go.  We had the bartender serving us and she was more than willing to make us custom drinks based upon what we liked, which were tasty!   

For food, we decided to split a few of the bar menu options, which included a number of really great sounding flatbreads that would be great for sharing.  The first was the pear and prosciutto flatbread. 

Pear and Prosciutto flatbread with Gorgonzola cheese, arugula, and balsamic glaze

We also ordered a truffle mushroom flatbread.  I mean, anything with truffle on it and I am there...

Truffle mushroom flatbread with arugula

Both flatbreads were good and had a great crust with a bit of crispness on the outer edges, but soft and chewy in the center.  The pear and prosciutto combination provided a texture and flavor interest in each bite.  The mushroom pizza was good, but I wish there was a bit more truffle (though that may have more to do with the fact that I am obsessed with truffle!)

Finally we ordered the tuna sashimi plate.  Given the $17 price tag I was thinking we would get a lot more food on the plate.

Tuna Sashimi with a radish salad, soy pearls with a garlic chili vinaigrette

Its too bad there wasn't more tuna because the fish was really fresh and tasty.  It was a bit difficult to split this among the group of us.

Overall, 49 Social really kept the great parts of the Ivy.  It has the same cozy feel and a great list of wines, beers and cocktails.  We had a great time and the bar really is a great place to sit down and catch up over a few drinks and some good quick bites.