Maison Brasserie

Yikes! We were impressed with reviews in magazines & went to the bar for an early evening meal. The bartender was very surly and full of frowns. The other wait staff was very friendly and accommodating so we tried to ignore her. I have to say the food was delicious---but the special was half price oysters 4-6 pm, and when the bill came we were charged full price. And, we ordered smoked salmon, an appetizer, and what came was a salmon steak--again delicious, but four times the price of what we ordered. We won't be back, but if you do go, review your check very carefully.

Superlative service, gorgeous space, excellent view! Really top-notch service and decor.

On the other hand the food was only so-so. Like Custom House before it (it's the same folks who run this place) the food is very good, but just not quite good enough. I ordered a double portion of the steak tartar, short ribs and cold lobster.

1) lobster was cooked to perfection, sweet and sea-tasting.
2) short-ribs: very tender, but something is always up with the seasoning at this place, same with Custom House. Not enough salt? Wine cooked down too  much? Bad quality wine in the sauce? Something funky was going on with the flavors and not in a good way.
3) steak tartar: tender meat, very fresh, but OVERWHELMED with lemon. So much zest and juice that it overpowered the meat flavor, the capers, and everything else in it. In fact, I could have eaten a lemon and had a much cheaper meal.

Overall delightful place, but they need to fix their seasoning. Good food...but just not seasoned well.

*still washing lemon off my tongue*

I made a reservation through OpenTable and wrote in the comments section that we were celebrating a birthday. When I got to the restuaurant before my friend, the hostess confirmed that we were celebrating my friend's birthday. So I thought, great, we're set, they'll either bring out a dessert or a piece of something sweet with a candle on it or something. Service was friendly, though the first guy who showed up at the table had a haughty attitude. We were served by at least three people, so I really don't know who our actual waiter was. One person took our order, one person brought the wine, etc.

Starting with the good--you can't go wrong with any of the wines here, even the cheapest glass of the red was deliciously flavorful and good. The French onion soup was good, not the best I've had, but pretty good. My friend's gnocchi was fresh and tasty. My burger was beautifully presented/plated, but needed to be seasoned better. It left a strong aftertaste. I'm not one to not enjoy a burger, but I had a tough time chewing through this one. Shoe string fries were too salty.

The bad--apparently after confirming that we were celebrating a birthday, the hostess didn't relay the information to the server--or she did and nothing was done about it. At any other restaurant, they will bring you a piece of cake, a piece of pie, a scoop of ice cream--something--with a candle in it. Nope. Not here. So I insisted we order dessert, thinking ok they'll comp a lousy dessert in honor of us celebrating a birthday and choosing this establishment to do it at. Or that they would at least stick a candle in our dessert. Just a lousy candle and light it and bring it out. Nope! Again, nothing. The bill came to $105 for two people, no birthday dessert comped, which was a slap in the face. I left with an overwhelming disappointment that my friend's birthday passed by unceremoniously, thanks to Maison Brasserie's lack of caring. Thanks for ruining my friend's birthday celebration. If you have a special occassion, do not come to Maison to celebrate. And unless you have cash to burn, don't waste your money here.