Excelsior

i’ll miss your odd semi-​alcoholic rich people excelsior. i really will.
but not as much as i’ll miss mike. :] *HEARTS*

Honestly, pretty poor performance by Excelsior last night.
Got there with a group of five people ten minutes before their «late night» menu kicked in. Ordered a round of drinks, and were especially excited for their Chocolate Cinnamon S’more Martini. Yeah, how amazing does that sound?! Turned out they didn’t have some of the ingredients left, so we settled on the Grape Excess, which basically tasted like very cold wine served in a martini glass, with some frozen grapes. Yeah, a bit of a letdown.
Oyster– there were six to a serving and we got two orders. I believe we got the Island Creek and Sunberry Point. This was my second time having oysters, and they were a lot better than the first. Plump, juicy, and actually had taste. This confirmed that B&G sorta kinda sucked.
OK, now for the best part. We ordered the Point Judith Calamari with Roasted Peanuts and Sweet Thai Chilli Sauce. The waitress told us that it was a small portion, which we appreciated. However, I KID YOU NOT that we were served a cabbage salad with chilli sauce, a few peanuts, and FIVE SMALL RINGS of fried calamari. Five pieces, like the small pieces they serve in any other «fried calamari» appetizer. Except you normally get at least, maybe… forty pieces? We got FIVE. It was the most ridiculous appetizer we had all been served in our entire lives. We told the waitress, who was going to relay our thought, but I was/​am SO angry that we paid $ 14 for a cabbage salad.
I am never going back there simply because their menu is false. They don’t have what they say they have, nor do they deliver on their menu description. Don’t go here.

Excelsior is a sister restaurant to Grill 23 and Harvest. of Cambridge. The kitchen was once headed by fabled chef Lydia Shire. For the past few years Eric Brennan has been executive chef and has been doing a excellent job. Many changes have happened at Excelsior the newly appointed General Manager is Peter Baker formerly from Harvest and Grill 23.
The bar downstairs formally run by Orion (now at Grill 23) is not the same but the staff is professional but not with Orion’s character. The food is equal when Lydia was executive chef and on par with Mistral. Nine Park, and Rialto. Service is attentive and professional.
Great for dinner, lounging, dessert and late night snacking. Parking is on street and valet. Great for business, date or groups.

A beauty pageant held in the backwoods of West Virginia. An arranged marriage in the house of Capulet. The fresh coat of wax on a concept car.
Excelsior embraces the unfortunate characteristic of elegance at first glance. As the radar of pretense pings in people and cuisine alike, the mandatory investigation beneath the surface yields… nothing special.
We dined on black cumin rubbed duck breast (the star of the entrees), an incredibly misleading smoked salmon sashimi and truffle whipped potatoes. Plated well enough, the main courses served as a slightly dull break between a diverse bread basket and a far more pleasing dessert selection. I insist you try the malted banana crème caramel. The future depends on it.
We drank cocktails that took one fruit and forced it down your throat at $ 14 a pop. One can only imagine what’s in the Lemon Crush, Divine Strawberries and Pineapple Skittle. Grape Excess? You betcha. In all fairness, she loved hers. I should have stuck with the impressive residents living around the Willy Wonka Wine-​evator (patent pending, all rights reserved.)
Close your eyes. Wait. First memorize what I’m about to ask, then close your eyes.
«You’re about to spend $ 85 – 100 a person for an upscale meal. What do you see around you?»
Ok, now open them. Did you imagine Home Depot carpet and lacquered plastic ceiling fixtures? Generic Pier 1 candles and servers kibitzing at a neighboring table? Me neither. The glass wall to the Common adds a nice touch, but unlike a water view, I can walk through the park apres diner. Only noticed, as my attention was fixed on the girl next to me. We broke protocol often — laughing, snorting and hushing each other with «Stop! This is a FANCY rest-​too-​rahnt.»
The service is exemplary — knowledgeable, polite, engaging and opinionated. The bar downstairs buzzed with a blazered crowd, the big game on plasma and a 7 for $ 7 tapas menu. Maybe I’ll swing by for a non-​Trix cocktail or glass of vin someday…
For dinner though? At this level, one expects perfection and Excelsior had a few wrinkles — overlooked on a t-​shirt and shorts, quick to ruin the Armani suit.

I was here for my wife’s company holiday party and it was excellent. Service was a little slow at first until we found out they were trying to slow things down so the dinner would last the alloted time. Once we told them not to worry about things picked up considerably.
I got a rack of lamb rare, which was perfectly cooked. Had I been alone I’d have been gnawing the bits of meat off the bone that utensils could not remove.
The person to my right ordered seared scallops and then left, so of course my neighbor and I couldn’t let them go to waste right? They were quite good, though I think they could have benefited from about 20 more seconds on the heat.
Dessert was very chocolaty. Like one bit lasts two minutes as the beautiful multi-​layered chocolate works its way off your tongue.
I think it was good enough that I’d go back on my own dime, and that’s saying something because Excelsior is fairly pricy.

Despite a terrible start to the evening (a car accident in route), we had a wonderful time at Excelsior during restaurant week. After calling to say we’d be very late due to the accident (no injuries, of course), they graciously sat us at 8:30pm instead of our original 5:30pm reservations.
We started out with a couple of much-​needed beers (a hefeweizen on tap), and then I moved on to the corn bisque as my starter: creamy and zesty, delicious! I had the skirt steak as my entrée, which seems to be a restaurant week staple at most places, but this was hands-​down the most tender and flavorful version I’ve ever had. We shared the 2 dessert options – berry pudding and dark chocolate cake. These were a little disappointing compared to the first 2 courses, but the chocolate cake was still pretty tasty.
Service was prompt and friendly, but not overly personal. Overall a great experience and a great value, but it after a glance at regular menu prices, it will probably take the next restaurant week menu to bring me back again.

I met some friends here for the $ 1/​oyster special. We stayed in the bar area downstairs. We didn’t order much except the oysters that came with some awesome french fries and some drinks. I ordered the grape Martini, I wasn’t too impressed with it.
The music selection was great, and the company was even greater.
Nothing special to report here.