Although entrées are sufficient, side vegetable are a highlight. The chef has developed an artful way with Brussels sprouts ($4.50), my second-favorite brassica — he shreds them and sautés them up with onions and a lot of pepper. It's a whole new vegetable. Even haters of broccoli ($4.50) will find it hard to resist florets in a Chinese treatment with a few red-pepper flakes for accent. And the snow peas ($4.50) — likewise shredded into something crisp and novel — are shockingly un-Chinese, prepared with just garlic and oil.
You'll want vegetables, because they don't have desserts. None. (What is this, the North End?) But with a nearby Emack and Bolio's, why not turn the limited seating over to someone else?
There is coffee, good coffee. But some folks are here to drink, and for that there are $10 cocktails, 10 beers on tap (more in bottle), and a collection of fine whiskies and whiskeys. We went at the wine list, starting with a pink sangria ($9) that artfully blended wine with orange and strawberry accents. Two reds by the glass were either very lucky or very good selections. The 2009 Bodega Septima malbec ($9/glass; $36/bottle) is one of the richest inexpensive malbecs out there, blue-black in the glass and full of fruit and the elusive wild-violets aroma of Margeaux and a few Argentine malbecs. I believe this one has some cabernet in it for more complexity, and thus approximates the 19th-century plantings at many Bordeaux chateaus. A rioja, 2006 Marques de Caceres "crianza" ($9; $36), takes advantage of a great vintage to pack unusual fragrance and length of flavor into a lower-level wine that is dependably soft and peppery enough for food, but for at least one year can be a lot more. I'd buy either for my home cellar.
The look is crowded but as eclectic as the mission. The bar wall is bare brick; the opposite painted tan. The ceiling is gastropub black, and the servers are dressed to match. Tables are butcher-block wood, candlelight comes out early, there are two skylights, and light-wood wainscoting. Service is as good as you might expect with a small room and a serious (you can see it) open kitchen.
The no-reservations policy is an obstacle, but not to residents of the area around Washington Square, who can always fall back on Golden Temple, Tamarind Bay Coastal Indian Kitchen, Rod Dee, or, of course, Washington Square Tavern, or cross the street to the Fireplace and the last video store in the world.
The Abbey
1657 Beacon Street, Brookline
617.730.8040
open daily, 11 am- 2 am
ae DI, MC, Vi
Beer and wine
No valet parking
Sidewalk Level Access
Robert Nadeau can be reached at robtnadeau@aol.com.
