A Little Bit About a Lot of Things

We went out to the Stanhope Grille for a midweek birthday dinner. The Back Bay Hotel was recently bought out by the Loews Group. The restaurant remained the same as I remembered it from years back. Our server Greg was wonderful, he was professional, knew his specials, and was personable. He is a great example of what service should be like.

We started with the burrata and tomato salad ($12), the tomatoes were a little under ripe, light in color and too firm, but the burrata was quite tasty.

The polenta cake with mushroom ragu was very tasty ($14). The mushrooms were a bit overcooked and thus tough, but the flavor was really nice mixed with the tomatoes and onions.

The French onion soup ($8) did not disappoint, lots of delicious melted cheese on top and a nice piece of bread inside.

The steak frites were tasty ($24) and the thin cut fries were salty and crunchy.

The pasta ($20) was so so, but what do you expect when you order pasta at a steak restaurant.

A trio of ice cream ($10) was a nice end to the meal, it was almost too much ice cream (I never thought I would say those words).

And the cheesecake was a fun surprise to close the meal. The restaurant only had one other person when we arrive and there were about 3 other tables sat by the time that we left. A pet peeve of mine is when the restaurant is that empty, don’t sit people on top of one another. We were flanked on both sides by two tops while the rest of the place was empty. Overall a good meal, the service was exceptional, in addition to the waiter,  the food runner/bus boy made sure that our water glasses were always full. I wonder if it will get a renovation now that the hotel has been bought…I think that the menu needs a lift to attract people other than hotel guests to dine there.

The Stanhope Grille

350 Stuart St  Boston, MA 02116

(617) 532-3849

http://www.opentable.com/rest_profile_menu.aspx?rid=3294&tab=1

Tags: back bay, restaurant, steak frites, steakhouse