Excelsior - Boston Common

I picked this restaurant based on the online reviews at Phantom Gourmet. It got an over 90 rating, so I assumed it was just as good as the other 5 star places we’ve eaten. I could not be more wrong.

Excelsior
272 Boylston Street
Boston, MA 02116
p: 617 426-7878

Big D and I show up and should have know by how long the took to valet his car when there was no one ahead of us what was in store. Since it was freezing I waited inside. The hostess wouldn’t even speak to me. I stood there staring at her waiting for some kind of response form her, but nope not a word. Then Big D comes in and she is all smiles and helpfulness. Flirting Big D and offering to take my jacket as an after thought. Already I dislike this place.

Then we are placed into an elevator that was the highlight of the night. It reminded me of a smaller sparklier version on the one found at the ICA.

Once at the top we meet a male host. I was hoping for better then the ditz downstairs, but nope. We tell him we want dark, private and out of the way. He then just belittles me saying the window seat can see the park, is the best seat in the house, blah blah blah, you don’t know what your talking about with seating. “Fine”, I say, “we’ll sit where you want us too sit”. I am then led to a table by a window right next to the only other people in the whole joint. Immediately I am freezing from being next to the window and of course there is a big tree blocking any view. This host was a jerk. I would like to see him working at McDs.

The waiter was fine, but he was no good at selling his restaurants food. We ask for his suggestions and he basically puts down the top 2 dishes Excelsior is famous for. Wow, now I really want to eat here. He spends way to much time on water selection when I have already made it clear that as long as it’s followed quickly by a cozmo martini I don’t care what he gives us. Of course the water comes ASAP while I wait a full 20min for my cozmo…

Food breakdown:

Drinks: Cozmo and Amstel. Perfectly drinkable.

Appetizers: I had the Maine Crab Bisque “Parmentier” while Big D had his Cesar salad. It was ok. I though the new take on a bisque would be refreshing after all the lobster ones, but not really. The broth was a bit to runny, but the fresh crab was very very good at least.

Big D did not like his Cesar salad. “Why did I even bother?” – Big D.

We shared the Foie Gras Torchon, even after the waiter gave us the questioning eye about it. This was the best thing I had in the evening honestly. The foie gras was served cold, which is not my favorite way, but with the accompaniments of marmalade and cured tongue it was heavenly. This dish is exactly what I would want to serve at parties at home, right next to the salsa and chips.
Main Dish:

Maine Lobster Tail “Schnitzel” was my choice after the waiter bashed the duck. It had lobster and is the signature dish, so it might as well be good enough for me. Then I had it in front of me. These people have taken the fabulousness that is lobster tail and over cooked it to the point it taste like a corn dog. I love corn dogs luckily, but it was too heavy for the sides of non deep fried lobster and Brioche Charlotte. I took it home and will eat it in front of the TV.

Big D had the 8-ounce Brandt Farm Beef Filet Mignon. It was good as he said, but not great. Much like the salad he didn’t really feel it was worth the hype.

Desert: Skipped it. Nothing even looked vaguely tempting.


Now I can go back to ranting about the horrible service of the Excelsior.
We gave the waiter our valet ticket 20 minutes before we got our check. We then went downstairs, to hangout with my new favorite tramp the hostess, only to wait another 40 minutes for our car. I have never seen Big D so… upset. It took us an hour to get out of that place! They didn’t seem to want us there; they gave us half ass food and yet they seemed unable to just let us go home.

I do not recommend this place & Big D will only go back if forced to by clients. We give it a double blah all around.