Maxwell's 148

My husband and I went there recently and he order the bolanese (spell?) and I ordered a pasta in a cream sauce, we had scallion cakes as an appetizer which was out of this world, we spilt a ceasar salad, the desserts did not seem appealing so we skipped that. I ordered a regular coke and received a diet coke, my husband ordered wine with fruit. Overall the food was good, defintely high priced, service was average, not remarkable. With a groupon overall it was worth it. I would go again.

Quality does not equal pricing.

We went to Maxwell's two weeks ago; it was our second time there the first being a good 7 years ago. They've remodeled since then but the interior is still awkward, they need a restaurant architect.

I left with the exact same opinion and almost the same experience as the last time. The food is hit/miss and lack's consistency, not just conceptually but also the quality. Some things burst with flavor and others are bland and to make matters worse we had temp issues with the food being tepid, both times we went. We had to send a dish back because, although cooked it was sort of room temp. Concluding our meal this time again the dessert (bread pudd)  was tepid and unappealing and the coffee was room temp.

Is it Asian Nouveau or is it Northern Italian? Persoanly I think the chef does the Asian better than the Italian!  I think if the chef were to hone his skills/influence on one of the two we would have a better experience. I'd venture to say he could give Wellesley's Iron Chef a run for his money, IF he were to focus on (1) concept.

In addition, it's "stuffy" in a formal, unappealing way, they are trying too hard and/or take themselves too seriously. I imagine a manager constantly scrutinizing and micromanaging the staff (who looked uptight). Yes, the service was excellent  although it's easy to spot a server trying to learn the fine dineing ropes; lack of confidence and inability to deliver without being somewhat nervous and overly attentive (not in a good way).

Both times we' ve been we felt it was overpriced. It's not NYC, L.A., Chicago or San Fran., nor a Zagat top 5 in Boston ... it's Framingham, and as said the concept/quality doesn't merit a 5 star aura. Having a monumentally extensive wine list isn't going to put you on the map of The Countries or area's best.

One can have a fine dining restaurant with an extensive wine seletion in the burb's without city pretention.