Church

Funny, I usually go to "Synagogue."

Had a fantastic experience at Church last night. Was waiting in the bar while my husband parked with plans to meet friends in the restaurant. Don't ask to see a wine list, there isn't one. I ended up getting a really good class of Cabernet Sauvignon and had fun talking to the bartender in the Misfit's t-shirt. Excellent service.

My friends came over from the restaurant and found me and I really like the restaurant side. You can sit at tables or on sofas. The atmosphere is both goth and cool and comfortable and lounge-ish.

I split a ceviche appetizer and had the salmon and both were delicious and not too heavy. Service was fine, with drink orders taken promptly.

I LOVE the drink menu with the Seven Deadly Sins, Four Horsemen, etc. In fact, we had tickets to the French film festival for after dinner and I tried to talk everyone into staying and drinking, but no dice.

From Church, it's a short walk to the MFA, where we saw our movie.

Great atmosphere and food, I love the place. Just watch out for the total lack of parking on game/concert nights. ($40 lot, no thank you.)

Church is a nice establishment. That's the only description I have of this place. I live around the corner from here and figure it was time to give it a chance and popped on it for brunch.

Both my friend and I found the food to be decent, but definitely over priced. Given it's one of the few places in the Fenway area that does brunch, they don't have much pressure to do anything about it. The saving grace of this place over my favorite brunch places is that even if all the tables are packed, Church doesn't have that half crazed feeling that they're trying to get people in and out as quickly as possible. Instead you can leisurely enjoy your brunch and drinks, which is the whole point of brunch, is it not?

Not the best, but not bad. Worth checking out if you're trying to go to a decent place without a mob waiting to get in.

Sooooo...... if this place weren't so classy, the waiter wasn't so warm and genuine, the food wasn't so good, and the menu weren't full of vegetarian-friendly options ("From the Garden" section, you are like a veggie's favorite thing to see!), this review would be TWO STARS, easily.

I took my parents, who are in town for a visit, here for the first time tonight, despite living in the neighborhood for years.  On a hot, steaming day, this place, so conveniently located 1 block from my air-conditioned apartment, it's a wonder we haven't been here before.

I ordered a Diet Coke (as per usual), my parents each ordered beers.  The Diet Coke was good (Yes, I'm serious, sometimes it tastes like dirty fountain lines and old CO2 canisters).  The waiter was super helpful giving my mom, upon inquiry, some pointers on what he liked on the menu, and why.

My parents ordered the appetizer with pierogies upon both the waiter's recommendation, and also because we're all eastern European-descent, we love us some piergogies.  My mom ordered the duck dish, my dad ordered some fish dish, and I ordered the vegetable sliders, sans mushroom (shudder, mushrooms) and an arugula and some other field green salad, to be served at the same time.

The bread came out, it was delicious, especially those breadsticks, fried and delish.  Then the pierogies came out, I didn't partake because I know they had bacon in them.  The onions looked perfectly and slowly caramelized, and it smelled wonderful.  My parents enjoyed them.

Then the food came out.  Unfortunately, my mom's duck was quite cold, and my sliders were also barely warm.  We reluctantly sent them back, my dad's food was hot.

So, my dad finished his dinner, and my mom and I continued to wait for our food.  So, my dad is done, and now we're waiting for our food.  My mom and I finished my salad together, then my sliders came out.  Decided whether to wait for my mom or not... but now my food was getting cold.  So I went ahead and ate.  FINALLY, my mom's duck came out, and it was hot.

The food was delicious.  And the waiter apologized, and it was genuine.  He offered us a free dessert, which is a nice gesture.  I personally think that for a meal that cost 3 of us $107 (which is a lot compared to the places we usually go), I would have expected either our meals to be comped or significantly discounted.

I dunno.  The food WAS good.  But spending $107 on dinner, and neither my mom, my dad, nor I, actually physically ate our meals at the same time, it was a serious let down.  We didn't leave feeling dejected, because I think the food and waiter were first-class, but the kitchen goofed on this.  

If my parents want to come here again, I'll go.  Otherwise, I'll pass.  Eating a nice dinner with parents you never see, and you don't actually get the food hot on 2 out of 3 meals, is a letdown.

Sigh.  Bummer.