Croma Boston

My roommate's parents are in town for the weekend, so after deliberating for quite some time on a restaurant, she chose Croma. Calling itself a restaurant, pizzeria, and bar, Croma is tucked away on Newbury Street and has abundant seating both inside and out. Inside there are two levels - the upstairs starts with the bar followed by a dozen or so tables of varying sizes. Downstairs is similar, with its own bar, and can be rented out for private functions. I found the decor a bit stark, but we were also surrounded by empty tables, so that could have added to it.
I must say I was a bit irked when, after ordering a bottle of wine, we were brought out only three glasses, myself being left out. Though I acknowledge my youthful countenance, the waiter should have asked how many were planning on having wine. When he came back and saw we had shifted the glasses over he gave me a puzzled/questioning glare. I'm sure I was the only one that noticed any of this, however, so whatever.

To start out we got a round of bruschetta. Holding true to its description, it was indeed garlic bread topped with a vine ripened tomato salad, plus hunks of cheese. I liked having the bruschetta on actual soft bread as opposed to the more standard (at least in my experience) crispy slices of bread. Deciding on our main meals was another matter, as there were many great-sounding options for pizza, pasta, salads, and other items.
For my meal I chose the peking duck pizza (first picture above), with slices of warm Peking duck, arugula and lambs leaf lettuce, scallions, cilantro, cucumber and hoisin sauce. This was precisely what I had a taste for, and done extremely well. I loved the fresh cilantro with every bite balancing the sweet taste of the hoison sauce. They didn't skimp on the duck, either. Lauren chose the barbeque chicken pizza (left) and finished hers just about as quickly as I did mine - she said it was delicious. Both pizzas were 10" and intended for one person, similar in style to what is offered at California pizza kitchen.

Melanie and her Mom opted for the seafood canneloni, crêpe style cannelloni stuffed with Maine lobster meat, pan-seared sea scallops, and shrimp, baked in a lobster sherry cream sauce. I was very close to getting this dish, and they both seemed to love it. Interestingly enough, the 3 cannelloni were served with dough balls, perhaps for dipping into the leftover sauce. Last but not least, Melanie's father chose the chicken marsala, melted mozzarella and morel mushrooms in a marsala wine sauce, served with haricoverts and linguini. Though I didn't ask him about his dish, he seemed to very much enjoy it.

To finish the meal, we passed around a rich chocolate concoction with whipped cream and fresh strawberries - very nice.

We all left Croma very satisfied and most of us very full. I look forward to returning to Croma sometime to sit outside and enjoy a nice meal complete with cocktails from their sizable cocktail menu.