318347 Thu Aug 17 11:50:32 -0700 2006 6 12 Boston Area 0 1814095 Mon. 3 of us took a friend for his b-day at S&W. We were seated in the not so pretty first floor bar room but had a booth, so that helped. Waitress and bus woman were pretty on top of things for a busy nite. Choices were decent, caesar or mixed greens, split pea soup and a daily soup to start. Filet ($6 extra for Oscar style w/ lump crab, asparagus, hollandaise), bacon wrapped filet, chicken, salmon, maybe one other. One friend started with 4 shrimp cocktail which were huge. We had two caesars and two mixed, nothing to write home about and boring croutons considering they have a good bread basket (served with freezing butter). One filet, one oscar, one bacon wrapped and one chicken. The filet people said theirs was good and cooked med. rare as requested, one thought the food ws a little salary overall tho. My bacon wrapped was good and med. altho the bacon could have been a bit more done. This actually came with a side of tomato/onion salad. The chicken was obscene, basically a whole chicken quartered and put on a plate. Not very appetizing but the lemon/pepper coating was good (she ate part of it and 3 of us took doggy bags home). Side of fries was great, creamed spinach was good but the whipped potatoes had zero consistency which isn't my favorite. One key lime (nice, not too tangy), one choc. cake (good) and two creme caramels (fine) for dessert. I think the CC was better when I went on a "real" nite a year or so ago (as was everything). There were a few drinks and with the sides, it wasn't a bargain. I feel like there was about $30 overcharged but dinner kind of dragged on and I scooted out without paying close attention to the bill. Pleasant meal at Le Soir, a restaurant that definitely skews to the older Newton crowd. No hip factor here, that's for sure. We were in the smaller room where the bar is, waiter was both fun and not paying enough attention to us. He said I could change my mind on the wine if I wanted to and gave the table next to us a free champagne when the mussels she ordered were out, so he was okay. I started with the clam/corn chowder which was almost like a salad of corn, potato and clam with a little creamy broth. Pretty good. Friend had romaine salad w/ pickled shrimp which the waiter recommended. Pickled shrimp sounded weird but she liked it. Could also choose a salad, mussels or duck confit. I had the chicken entree, stuffed w/ prosciutto and something else. Kind of a boring choice but it tasted good, in a light cream sauce with summer squash. Friend had another boring choice, salmon, but she's on weight watchers so... Bouillabaise, prime rib (for $6 more), veggie plate and something else were the other choices. Choc. mousse was one of the two desserts, she always picks chocolate. But the summer berry cobbler kicked the choc. mousse's ass. Delicious mix of berries, awesome topping, if only they'd given me more than a thimble of whipped cream, it would have been an A+. This wasn't as good as the rabbit pot pie and monkfish I had there a couple years ago, but an enjoyable meal. Thu Aug 17 11:50:32 -0700 2006 14253 Joanie 1 1814324 I am probably not at all the audience S & W has in mind when they decide to participate in Restaurant Week. While I think the food is good, I would never actually eat there at full-price. It's just too expensive and rich and over-the-top for what it is and for the money, there are so many other places higher on my list. However -- I do think the RW gig is a deal there. I think they do steak well -- I went there during the winter during the winter RW and was very pleasantly surprised. For $30 got a pretty good caesar salad, a delicious and perfectly cooked 10 oz filet mignon, and a nice slice of key lime pie. Service was fine. And I'm pretty sure that same 10 oz filet goes for something around $35 on the regular menu...so the way I see it, I'm getting the apps and dessert for free, and even the steak for less. Can't pass that up.... It is true that it's easy to bump that check up. Have a few drinks, a glass of wine with dinner, maybe a side or two, and you've easily doubled the original $30 pp deal. But that's true everywhere, I guess. I'm going next Thurs, will report back. Thu Aug 17 14:21:07 -0700 2006 1814095 11805 twentyoystahs 1 1814326 Did they get rid of the calamari as a choice for the appetizer? That was a favorite of mine last year. The calamari was very well done and came in a cute golden colander... Thu Aug 17 14:23:03 -0700 2006 1814095 10684 Spike 1 1816239 The calamari was not there. This was my first time @ S&W and I was pretty impressed with what they did with the structure. I was seated in the 4th floor dining room which sounds like it was better than the first floor was. The service was professional and attentive, there was a bit of a lapse between the entree and the dessert, but it was a full room and I can give them the benefit of the doubt. I had the split pea soup which was good but nothing spectacular,it contained a few of the boring croutons mentioned above, it was a hefty protion and quite filling. My wife had the Cesar salad which was adequate but nothing special. The only beef offerings were filet which I typically shy away from but I can understand why it is offered in an effort to contain costs. I chose the filet w/ the Oscar option ($8.00 in my visit) and it was quite good. The steak was nicely cooked to order (Med Rare), there was a generous portion of large lump crab meat, the aspargus had a nice bite to it and the Bernaise was spot on. My wife had the filet medalions wrapped in bacon and skewered on a stick of sugar cane (nice touch)and my wife said it added a gently sweet nuance. My wife is a big fan of the no taste super-tender filet (not that there is anything wrong with that), so this was just pushing her boundires. We also got the hash browns as a side. They were crispy on the outside and nicely seasoned and weighed about 2 lbs. For desert my wife had the creme brulee, it was a classic preperation, nothing bold or adventurous, just comforting and classic. I went with the individual key lime pie, I'm on board with the comment above, it was well executed, but the crust was a bit thick for my tastes, but that's just me. This was one of my positve RW experiences. The portions more than adequate, we both took home portions of our entrees and about 1.98 lbs of the hash browns. I do the big steak house thing only maybe twice a year and I would return. Fri Aug 18 02:21:25 -0700 2006 1814095 17937 Food4Thought 1 1816952 I agree that Smith and Wollensky was a good RW experience. I went there for lunch yesterday and was pleased with the service and the food. I ordered a regular salad and my boyfriend ordered the ceasar. Nothing spectacular but pretty good. For entrees, he ordered a steak sandwich and I ordered the chicken. Both were large portions and we enjoyed them both. The sandwich came with some potato wedges but the chicken was just a plate of chicken with no sides. That was the only disappointment, but typical for a steakhouse I guess. Our server was very accomodating in that we were in a little bit of a rush so my boyfriend could get back to work. He packaged both of our desserts to go so we could enjoy them last night. The key lime pie was good but the chocolate cake was delicious! We wish we had ordered two of those! Fri Aug 18 14:38:14 -0700 2006 1814095 13053 lmuller 2 1817303 I'm curious, was the chicken at lunch huge? I got 3 chicken sandwiches out of my portion of my friend's doggie bag last Sun. As i said, obscene and the most boring plating possible. Fri Aug 18 16:31:49 -0700 2006 1816952 14253 Joanie 1 1818161 Yeah. There was a lot of chicken. There probably was not as much as there would be in a dinner portion, but there were two enormous pieces that I never could have finished! Fri Aug 18 21:11:44 -0700 2006 1814095 13053 lmuller