Boston restaurants- Over...rated ? hyped ? priced? publicized?
Posted on Fri, Mar 20, 2009 @ 11:37 AM
I have always thought that many of Boston's restaurants are overrated, overhyped, overpriced, and way over publicized. It is hard to begin to compare a place like Boston to NYC, but it seems Boston restaurants are just not as consistent and volume is typicaly driven by good PR. Take for example every time you read The Improper Bostonian, Stuff at Night or Boston Magazine, turn on Phantom Gourmet, TV Diner, Chronicle, etc. All these local news sources tend to dictate and publicize these restaurants and create buzz. If your like me, upon reading and seeing these articles you begin to believe the hype only to find that upon eating at many of these establishments you walk away feeling disappointed. I have no problem spending money on food and paying $200 for dinner as long as I walk away saying "Wow"! Very rarely have I left a restaurant in Boston saying that...What I mean by "wow" is that every bite wowed me, every sip of wine paired nicely with my meal and everytime you needed something the waiter or waitress was there to lend a hand. I will digress from picking on some of the more overhyped and overpublicized places I have been in Boston, but I will point out a few "Wow" moments. Two places that come to mind happen to be located close to my place of work in Kendall Sq. for the last 5+yrs. The Helmand, an Afghani restaurant over by Cambridgeside Galleria and Oleana, an Arabic influenced Mediterranean restaurant.
Enjoy and I look forward to your comments on my first ever blog post!
-Brian aka The Boston Food Critic