Don't mess with our Sundayliciousness

         Sorry for the late post, but Mama Butler came to visit Laura and she was busy showing her some fun Sundaylicious things to do in Boston and could not get me the photos until today.  Mrs. Butler's train was arriving at 2:15pm on Sunday, so Laura and I made sure to plan our brunch a little earlier because we did not want to miss it :)  It was impressive that Laura was up and ready by 11:15am after a long night at work ( A 4am bed time on Saturday night!! yikes!!!).  I think this time frame suits brunch a little better, so maybe I can convince her to do it at this time every Sunday?  Maybe....
       So I must get this off my chest right away, and I hate to say this, but brunch this past Sunday was unfortunately not that great.  Trust me, this hurts me more then it hurts you.  This post might shock some of you who know Laura and I as very sweet young ladies...we ARE sweet, but don't mess with our Sundaylicious brunch our we will launch unmerciful fury on you!!!  So what place are we about to diss?  Grafton Street Pub and Grill in Harvard SQ. www.graftonstreetcambridge.com.   I warn you this won't be pretty.....
      So like I said, we went early on Sunday as Laura's mom was coming, and right when we walked in the bad things started to happen.  We arrived to Grafton Street at 11:30am after just scoring the best spot near the restaurant.  Have any of you ever tried to park in Harvard sq. on the weekend?  FYI: it is almost IMPOSSIBLE to find a spot in Harvard sq on the weekend, no less a holiday weekend!! You can spend an hour just driving around if you are unlucky.  So when we scored this spot around the corner I thought "my gosh this is going to be the best Sundaylicious brunch ever!!!  We got the best spot and that is a perfect omen for a perfect brunch".  Boy was I WRONG.  There was no wait when we walked in and tables were open, but they were crowded.  The atmosphere of Grafton Street is very dark.  It has a pub like feel with dark wood tables.  We have been there before at night for drinks, and I think the pub feel suites this place better at night.  It was almost too dark for brunch.  I want a nice mix of light and airy, along with my moody dark wood, or it feels too heavy for day time.  The hostess tried to seat us at the bar stool tables.  You know, the tall ones that are uncomfortable with no place for your purse or jacket, and you don't sit there unless they tell you that you will have an hour wait unless you take those seats?...yeah those!! So I asked her if we could have another table (I mean, there were a lot of them).  Laura and I wait all week for this day, so I had to speak up.  The hostess graciously took us to one of the many open tables amongst the other fellow brunchers, and as I sat down I noticed that my napkin fold had a huge stain on it.  EWE!!!  It was probably wine, but it was a most unappealing brown red color, and there was no way I was going to use a dirty napkin.  I did a secret switch-a-roo with one on the table next to us but strike TWO, and we hadn't even looked at the menu yet!!!
       The reason I chose Grafton Street for brunch was because they have a raspberry mimosa!!  Hello!! Right up my alley!!! I couldn't wait to try it, and I also ordered french toast with apple compote.  Laura went for the peach bellini and a mushroom omelet.  We split the banana yogurt granola bowl because we plan on becoming yogurt parfait experts by the end of this :)   The drinks came and we were underwhelmed.  Her peach bellini looked like regular champagne and was too sweet, and my raspberry mimosa was pulpy and bitter.  I was so disappointed!!

Their coffee however was really good, and was voted as the dish of the day...yikes...if coffee was the best dish of our brunch you can imagine how the rest of this post is going to go.
       So as we were waiting for our food, we started to notice other tables getting these cute baskets of free muffins and breads.  We had been waiting for at least twenty minutes already, and no free muffins and no food!!  Strike THREE.  Not good.  So you are probably asking why we didn't ask for our basket of goodies?  We try and get the full experience of a place when we go, so if they are going to forget something we need to really know that they forgot it.  We want to be able to give you the full disclosure.  Trust me when I say we want a good experience.  We are looking for a place to blow our minds with amazing food and atmosphere.  This is why we do this!!  We have a passion for good food and drink, and we want to share it with the world!!! Yet, if it is not going to be good, we want to make sure our fellow ladies who brunch know what to expect of a place.  So the truth must come out!  After a long wait our yogurt finally came out, and when we asked for two spoons we only got one.  Strike FOUR!!  Laura had to use her teeny tiny coffee spoon:(

The banana yogurt bowl was just alright.  It was natural yogurt again.  What is with these restaurants and their dislike of good old vanilla yogurt?  It adds the right amount of sweetness to blend with the granola and fruit.  Please restaurants, take note, vanilla is where it's at!!  Overall we liked this dish,  but it didn't knock our socks off.  The granola was not sweet enough to cut the natural yogurt bitterness once the bananas were gone.  After another twenty minute wait and every table around us (who came after us mind you) receiving their food, our entrees finally came out.  As if this brunch couldn't get any worse....it did.  My french toast was cold when I got it.  Not luke warm I might add, but COLD!!!  I was going to power though it, but Laura took a bite and insisted I send it back.  We wait all week, and we waited almost an hour to get this dish, so it should be at least nice and hot to eat.  So I sent it back, and watched as Laura ate her mushroom omelet.

It was good, but she did not rave about it.  It didn't even come with potatoes, so I think she was robbed.  Laura was done with her entire omelet by the time I received my french toast.  The waitress was not really fazed about this issue, and I am not sue if she was new or just could not handle a busy brunch, but she was not very Sundaylicious.  The french toast was good, and I really liked the apple compote on top. That made the dish.

However, by the time I got it I wasn't even really hungry for it any more.  No free cute muffin basket, a bitter mimosa, a stained napkin, and a cold dish does not a happy camper make.  To top off the morning, the waitress didn't even comp the dish on the bill.  This is good restaurant etiquite, and I would never say anything to the waitress, but it should have been done.  Laura works in the restaurant world, and she was also upset about this.  Her place of business really believes in good customer service and she would have comped it...too bad she was not our server :)   This was too many strikes to count!!  Over all this was our worst brunch yet.  I almost thought about not writing about it because it depressed us so much.  We give Grafton Street 4 eggs for food, and 3 eggs for atmosphere (this is where we really took off points for all the unfortunate issues that arose from the moment we walked in).  After all, it is the restaurant and its workers that set the tone of a place and ensure the customer has a good experience and leaves happy.  The food was mediocre, but had some good moments (the apple compote, the omelet, the coffee).  Over all, I would not go back there.  It hurts me to write a bad review, but it is the truth.  When you mess with our Sundaylicious brunch you must be prepared for our UNMERCIFUL TRUTH....
         Laura and I cut our day short after brunch, and she picked up her mom and they were able to have a great time together....so that is how I want to end this post.  Laura, her mom, and Boston....it doesn't get more Sundaylicious :)