Blue Room Brunch-What happened??

[aadesmd]

This used to be one of my favorite places for Sunday brunch, but a major turn downwards.

Salads were ok, but nothing outstanding.

Alsmost every dish overcooked. The say basted drumsticks dry and surprisingly bland. Shrimp with heads on obviously precooked and heated. Mealy dry and boring. Homemade sousage meatballs totally dry, lacking in flavor. How do you screw up scrambled eggs so poorly? Even when I asked for a separate order, they were overcooked and not scrambled until in the pan, resulting in a white/yellow melange. Bacon not bad. Pancakes inedible- my 5 and 11 year old kids turned them down. The worst? Brisket that was stringy, dry, tasting like my mother's famous stew beef that we all despised.

Pastries a little better, but bread stale, and chocolate mousse ranking right up there with poorly mixed Cool-whip.

This place was such a disappointment after the excellence of Brasserie Jo the night before. Was I simply there on an off day, or is this the way it is?

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Brasserie Jo
120 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02116

The Blue Room
Hampshire and Portland streets, Cambridge, MA 02139

[misscucina]

This place hasn't been good in ages. I was dragged their once about two years ago and while it was perhaps not as bad as you describe when I went, it certainly was neither good nor lavish.

I'll take the very reasonable a la carte brunch at Union Bar & Grill or the megabucks buffet at Four Seasons over BR any day.

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Four Seasons Restaurant
249 Lake Ave, Worcester, MA 01604

[Uncle Yabai]

Agreed. It had its shooting star moment when it first opened, oh, maybe 20 years ago, slipped into mediocrity not long after and stayed there. Never saw what the big deal was.

[CocoDan]

I'm shocked and dismayed to hear this. I too am not a buffet person, but this is one place that I've always enjoyed the brunch, especially when they did the Jazz brunch (do they still do the Jazz brunch?). Hope this is a one time thing.
CocoDan

[viperlush]

I went there for an early brunch a little over a year ago (I think Summer/fall '09) and had a similar experience. The rabbit was cold and dry, the fish was cold and over cooked, as were the shrimp. We didn't make it to any of the breakfast dishes. The pastries tasted good, but they were sloppy and didn't look appealing. I just figured that it was an off day and maybe I had poor timing.

[MC Slim JB]

Been a while since I was back to that one, but it sounds like the victim of recessionary cost-cutting pressure, not at all like the lavish, beautifully executed spread I recall, one of the few spots (aside from Indian restaurants at lunch) where I'd break my no-buffets rule.

http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/