Eat Drink Laugh Love

We did it! We went to a new restaurant on Thursday night.  Wednesday night’s dinner at Hamersley’s was unbelievable good – as always. I had the cassoulet again, and Andreas had the roasted chicken for the first time.  In retrospect, it was probably not a good idea to go to a French Bistro restaurant the very next night because it really paled in comparison.

Eastern Standard is in the Hotel Commonwealth in Kenmore Sq.  We went to celebrate our friend Seth’s milestone birthday (exactly two months before my milestone, eek!)  with Mick and Monique.  Seth and I had a great time showing our age by reminiscing about what Kenmore Sq. used to be – a little bit seedy with some great bars and clubs.  Ah the good old days.

Anyway, the Eastern Standard is a beautiful spot filled with beautiful young professionals.  The bar was hopping, and the dining room was near capacity.  After settling in at our booth, it struck me that there were a lot of similarities between this and Gaslight.  Same sort of menu, same open space plan, even the same font/color scheme on the menu.  The main difference was the prices.  They were a good 25% higher than Gaslight.  I did some very light Internet research, but as far as I can tell, they are not owned by the same restaurant group.

The service was impeccable.  We had a great waitress and a very knowledgeable GM who was very familiar with the wine list.  My lucky drinking friends started out with cocktails, followed by a free white wine taste (I wasn’t even offered a glass), and then two beautiful bottles of wine.  Oh, and they finished off the evening with a bottle of sparkling wine.  The floor manager also brought me a beautiful mocktail, so I could join in the toast.  It was a lovely touch and on the house as well.

The food?  Well, the food was OK.  Again, it was very similar to Gaslight, but I think Gaslight’s food is much better.  I had a bibb lettuce salad as an appetizer, and hangar steak frites for my main course. I ordered my steak medium and it came out rare – very rare.  I wouldn’t mind, but it was sliced steak.  You could see that it was obviously not medium.  I sent it back to get cooked a bit more without a problem, and it was fine after that.    Andreas and Mick shared a dozen oysters, which they enjoyed.  Andreas got sliced lamb sirloin that he said was just OK.  Seth and Monique both got the nightly special – smoked haddock over dijon potatoes.  They both said the fish was good, but the sides were lacking.  Mick got two appetizers and really enjoyed them. 

The desserts were wonderful, and like I said the service was outstanding.  Plus, we were with great company.  It was a fantastic night.  Would I go back to Eastern Standard again?  Yes, but probably for the brunch, or cocktails, appetizers and desserts.

Happy Birthday Seth!

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