We met up with friends last night at DW French, Boylston Street. We were a little early, sat at the bar for a glass of wine and a mocktail. The space is very nice, not loud at all, which was a big plus for us.
Our friends arrived on time and we seated. I think we spent a good 20 minutes catching up before looking at the menu, but no rush from the staff. They came buy every so often, which was good but not obnoxious. We finally got our act together, ordered more wine and drinks and decided on the
croquettes, steak tar tare and charcuterie. The bread service came first, thin sliced baguette with salted butter and then our apps came, each with their own bread. Bread heaven! The tartare was very nice, not sure there was raw egg but the seasoning was perfect, could of eaten all of it. Not crazy about most of the offerings on board but everyone else was and it disappeared. The croquettes were lovely, light potato- Gruyere filling with Comte , aioli and chives. Dinners were roasted chicken, trout almondine, moules & frites and the duck confit salad. All was very well plated and prepared. I didn’t try anything beyond my dish but the reviews were very positive.
We split a creme brulee and a pot a creme for dessert. Also very good.
Overall we were very impressed. The space is very welcoming, the service was excellent, we were not rushed out of our table although it wasn’t a busy Saturday night, I think we spent about 3+ hours there. Would definitely recommend a visit.
4 glasses of wine, 1 mocktail, 1 liter bottle of Pelegrino, 3 app, 4 plates and 2 desserts was a little under $300.00 before tip. What we expected and felt appropriate.
I think DH took a few photos and will add those if I can.
DW French sounds lovely. Noting for future reference.
We had an underwhelming experience last Sunday at DW French. We arrived early for our reservation and asked if we could be seated at the (empty) bar. We could and we still got our Open Table points (something which doesn’t happen every time we’ve sat at the bar when having a reservation). They were obviously short staffed (the bartender greeted us, and also was covering 2 table near the bar, and at least 2 near the host stand). We got the escargot en croute, which while delicious, was merely the escargot with garlic butter in the traditional cast iron skillet with a layer of puff pastry on top. I was hoping it was more like a version we had at Maison Robert years ago which was the escargot inside the puff pastry on a bed of spinach. The potato croquettes were excellent, but barely warm. We both opted for steak frites, with my wife having the sirloin, and me having the NY strip. Not sure why a flank steak or skirt steak wasn’t offered as that’s my preferred steak frites steak. The NY strip had a half inch fat cap that ran the entire length of the steak, which definitely lowered the total number of ounces of beef. I have no issue cutting some fat off, fat is flavor after all, but this was a bit much. I don’t know how many people opt for more of the all you can eat fries, as A. you get plenty with the meal, and B. they were very meh, limp and not terribly appetizing. They especially paled with the excellent crisp shoestring fries we had at Eastern Standard the night before. We finished by sharing the profiteroles with cherry sauce and chocolate ganache, which was fine. Cocktails were fine, and the bartender was sort of attentive (considering all his distractions), but overall there was a hard to describe vibe that neither of us liked. It seemed like the staff was distracted and not well trained. Considering that restaurant bills like this with alcohol and tip are hovering between $250 and $300 now, I’m far more critical, and less likely to accept OK or fine as an option when deciding where to go in the future.
