Wowza. It has been quite a while since I wrote a blog for all you super people to enjoy. MY B! The life of an unemployed housewife ain't easy. I tell ya. HA HA! But for realz, I have been wicked busy. Took a mini-vacation to one of my best buddy's beautiful log cabin in Maine. Amazing! And with this gorgeous weather we have been blessed with so early in the year, the hubs and I have been out and about loving life.
On a random note, several of you have asked me why I don't have many negative reviews on my blog. And believe me, in general, I have plenty of complaints on a daily and tend to tell it like it is. But really, in my entries, I give my honest opinion of what I find to be good, bad, and mediocre about the food, atmosphere, service, etc of the places I sample. Since I started blogging, I haven't experienced a place so bad that I felt I needed to blast. So I will continue to give you all MY opinion on what I love most in the world...FOOD.
For mi hermano's BIG 40 birthday dinner, he chose Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steak House at 250 Northern Avenue in Boston on the waterfront. (http://delfriscos.com) Mi madre, bro, his girlfriend, my hubs, and myself arrived promptly at 8pm for our reservation after having our car valeted. We were greeted immediately by friendly staff and seated right away at a large round table towards the end of the large dining room FILLED with tables and comfy looking booths. We were seated smack right in front of the occupied private dining room which had thick, swinging glass doors. Patrons and staff were in and out of the room frequently. From the moment we sat, our chairs were being bumped on a regular by the plethora of staff and diners. It made us feel uneasy and it was not a comfortable dining situation. The atmosphere was LOUD and bustling and the place was jammed. The dining area is wide open with cool light fixtures, glass walls filled with bottles of wine from floor to ceiling, and ginormous windows overlooking the water. The view was quite nice. In addition to the dining room and private function room, there is a huge bar.
Our not so friendly and probably overworked waiter did not attend to us right away which I found annoying at such a high end restaurant. When he did get to us, we ordered a round of drinks, mostly beer and wine and he didn't offer us glasses to drink from. Huh? Just an fyi- the wine list is extensive, to say the least. We took a while to peruse the dinner menu which is pretty straightforward and features mostly steak and seafood with a la carte sides. There are a good amount of appetizers and salads to choose from, as well. We placed our full order while enjoying super soft, warm bread with whipped butter, after the waiter listed off the specials and explained the menu and answered our questions.
To start, we ordered shrimp remoulade which is shrimp cocktail with a horseradish like creamy sauce drizzled on top and two orders of crab cakes (one per order). As you may know by now, I don't do much seafood. The fam loved the shrimp and I can vouch for the crab cake. It was fresh, tasty, and filled with good sized pieces of crab accompanied by a zingy sauce. YUM. By this time, we had basically had it with our seating arrangement. Honestly, we are NOT ones to complain but this was ridic. The waiter did offer and did move our table about a foot to accommodate us a bit better and for a while it was cool. All I can say is thank God we all have good sense of humors.
For dinner, my brother and I ordered the 16 oz prime strip, the hubs got the 24 oz. prime porterhouse, bro's girlfriend got the 8 oz filet, and mi madre ordered the pan seared scallops. We decided on potatoes au gratin, asparagus, sauteed shrooms, and one baked potato to share for sides. The staff appeared to be working as a team with various servers, runners, etc. But when our food was being delivered, it was an absolute disaster. The servers didn't know in which order to place our meals down. And when we tried to explain, it was like talking to a wall. There were so many people around our table trying to serve and help. I felt claustrophobic. It was nuts. Fine dining should not be this stressful. OMG!
And to top it off, our new location turned out to be even worse. As we were about half way through with our meals, a HUGE private party comes marching through to the private function room. For about two minutes straight, they were bumping us left and right. I really could not believe that a staff person would think it's a good idea to lead such a large crowd through the center of an overly filled dining room while paying customers are trying to enjoy an expensive supper. WTF! So at this point, we asked the down right rude hostess chick to speak with a manager. Thankfully our waiter realized what a crappy hand we had been dealt and quickly changed his demeanor and decided to have a manager speak to us, too. And we noticed our drinks started to come a bit faster, as well. Empty drinks are NOT a sign of good service.
I do have to say that the food was pretty damn good. The steak was perfectly cooked to everyone's liking and literally melted in your mouth. The scallops were huge, delish and cooked perfectly. I did enjoy the potatoes au gratin which were creamy and just cheesy enough. The asparagus which I love and eat on a regular, was bland and the mushrooms were a bit salty.
The manager arrived shortly after we all had our fill and the table was being cleared. He was friendly, absolutely amazing and understanding as we explained the negatives. While he was standing by our table conversing with us, he was being consistently bumped by people passing so he could see where we were coming from. It was clear that all we wanted was a comfortable and delicious dining experience to celebrate my bro's 40th birthday. At first, he offered his card with his cell number and a free dinner for all of us upon our next visit. My bro was the spokesperson and we all agreed that his offer was sufficient. But, we still couldn't wait to get the hell out of there. We were even going to skip dessert. Tragic. A couple minutes later, the manager returned to tell us that our whole dinner which cost very close to $500 would be on the house. WHAT!!!! We were ecstatic that he actually listened to us and for real made it up to us.
In addition to our free supper, the waiter surprised us with an array of homemade desserts perfectly decorated and with candles for my brother to blow out. The presentation was fantastic. The lemon cake with lemon frosting was to die for. So moist and just tart enough. I am not a big bread pudding fan but everyone loved and devoured the large portion served with vanilla ice cream. The fresh blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries topped with whipped cream were delightful and a very nice touch. Our least fave of the four desserts was a vanilla and chocolate like mousse. Beggars can't be choosers.
Because of the professional demeanor of the manager and his accommodating manner, I will return to Del Frisco's at some point to give them a second chance. It was a horrible dining experience, though the food was good. Quality not quantity is what they should strive for.
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