Rainy Day Blues

           It is a rainy weekend here in Boston, so Laura and I decided to check out The Blue Room in Kendall Sq. www.theblueroom.net, because it looked like it would suite our mood and be the perfect restaurant for a rainy Sunday.  It is another buffet type menu....and you know we like our buffets :)   So we made a 1:00pm reservation and headed off to brunch, never letting the weather slow us down!!
     When we arrived we were a little let down by the atmosphere.  As you enter from the outside, it almost feels like you are entering a basement.  It is very dark inside, and it is set up like a train apartment...very long and not a lot of room.  The walls are brick which is really cool, and adds warmth to make the environment a little more cozy...but overall we were disappointed with the place. 

Laura and I realized today that we have very big hearts, and truly want our brunch restaurants to be amazing.  We start out giving them a ten out of ten eggs before we even get there because we want them to succeed.  We want to be blown away, we want delicious food with an awesome atmosphere to match.  Is that too much to ask for?  However, it is up to the restaurant to give us what we crave.  Some of them live up to our expectations, and some don't.  In the case of The Blue Room, eggs started to get knocked off the minute we walked in.  Laura and I got seated at a table in the corner by the cash register so we weren't in a good spot...which did not help the matter.  Luckily for The Blue Room the food was tasty....
     They have two sections of food for guests to choose from, the sweet section and the savory section.  We started with the savory section of course!  You walk down the counter top full of food and pick what you like, with the chefs right there making the dishes fresh in front of you.

I chose scrambled eggs with creme fraiche (which were a little too wet for our liking), potatoes bravas (which is a garlic and shallot aoili that coats the potatoes...super yummy!), bacon, pancakes (which I added a rhubarb jam on top instead of syrup...amazing!!), broccoli rabe, and grits with cheese (I have never had grits before, and I found out real quick that I don't like them..yuck!). Laura had all of the above as well as the smoked salmon, which she declared as the best salmon in Boston!  We also ordered our coveted mimosas (OJ for me, grapefruit for Laura), and some coffee to wash everything down. The drinks were delicious, and made with fresh squeezed juices which was a very nice touch.  Once we got the first course down it was time to go back for more.

   
        For my second plate I went straight for the sweets table, which had everything from chocolate chip cookies and brownies, to New York style cheesecake.  I chose a bowl of Greek Yogurt with fresh fruit and granola, a slice of cheesecake, a smidgen of apple/cranberry crisp, and some raspberry cookies which were my favorite:)  I liked that the sweets table was not overly sweet, and had a savory side to it that matched the entrees we ate.  Laura's second plate was just that....another plate full of the yummy dishes she had right before :)

   Over all the food at The Blue Room was very tasty.  The potatoes were by far our favorite thing that we ate, with a close runner up for me being the raspberry cookies and apple/cranberry crisp.  Laura loved her salmon, and we were pleased by the variety offered.  However, the price was a little expensive for what was available overall.  After eating at two of the best buffet brunches in town (Henrietta's and Cafe Flouri), The Blue Room does not compare with the top dogs, but it was almost as expensive.  The best thing about the other two is the variety and quality of what you get with the price you pay.  You are overwhelmed with choices in a good way at the other two, and you come away feeling like you ate every penny's worth :)  The Blue Room was good, but it did not blow us away.  Also the atmosphere takes away from the experience a bit, and you leave feeling a little lack luster.  We give The Blue Room 6 out of 10 eggs for atmosphere, and 8 eggs out of 10 eggs for food.  It was good, but not great.
     After brunch we made a quick Target run, and then got cozy on my couch with my two kitties Radley and Zoe, and watched Jane Eyre....which is a perfect movie for a rainy day!!  Sooooooooo DRAMATIC!!!!  Until next time....may the rainy day blues not get you down :)