Sunday, May 6, 2007

South End Brunching - Aquitaine

Seth Woods and his restaurants always get good reviews, so we decided to try Aquitaine for Sunday brunch. The space is medium sized, smaller than I expected, and very inviting and upscale French Bistro style. One drawback was there was only one bathroom, so regardless of timing there is a line. And it's next to the kitchen entry, so difficult to find a safe spot to wait.
There were 4 of us without a reservation at noon, and so we had the option of waiting 45 min. for a table that would seat us comfortably, or to squeeze into a window booth that should really not seat more than 2. We opted for the latter.
Upon first sip of the coffee, my co-diners commented on how GOOD it was. This is a first, I have never heard anyone comment on the tastiness of restaurant coffee. I asked for a Passion Tazo tea (the menu stated they carried Tazo) and the waitress responded that she didn't think they carried it, and would go check. 2 refills of coffee and order being served, she still hadn't gotten back to me. I finally asked her about it again, and she said "oh yeah we didn't have any", seeing as she had told all the tables around us about the daily special and not told us until we overheard her and had to ask, I'd say she was a bit distracted.
We all ordered the brioche french toast, one without creme fraiche, and one with berries on the side. Both ended up coming to the table sans creme. She brought 2 small boats of syrup to the table, which wasn't adequate for the 4 of us. Good thing I don't love syrup. Again, maybe the waitress would have wanted to be more on top of things. She didn't really check in on us during the meal, other than to make sure the water and coffee glasses were full.
But the french toast was good! A hint of cinnamon, thick slices of bread, topped with berries and 2 slices of applewood smoked bacon. . The french toast was cooked very well, soft but not soggy, and crispy around the edges. The bacon was placed on top of the creme, and so was a little strange to eat. I love bacon, I love anything cream related, but the two together didn't do anything for me.
We all enjoyed the food and ambiance immensely. I'll try the restaurant again, perhaps for dinner as the menu looked excellent, hopefully I'll also have a server that isn't so distracted.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

mmmmm, I miss Boston. I live down south now and your blog has me feeling sentimental.

great blog!