I swore off architecture criticism after I caught myself liking the John Hancock tower. But 111 Huntington — you know, the building that looks like the Daily Planet on the cheesy Superman TV series? — had me kind of mumbling. And besides, I wondered, what kind of restaurant would go in there? Some airy, postmodern wallet-massage parlor like nearby Salamander and Ambrosia? Perhaps something in Jetsons retro, like nearby Betty’s Wok & Noodle Diner or Stars on Huntington?
No, something even more retro than that. The ideal here seems to be the old Scotch Grill (now the Bull and Bear) at the New York Waldorf Astoria — another steakhouse in an Art Deco palace that opened in a recession. My guess is based mainly on the plaid panels and a menu special on sirloin "Oscar" (veal Oscar was invented at the Waldorf) — and this may be too subtle for the Berkshire Grill, which generally handles semiotics about as well as a dog handles a knife and fork.
Here were my early impressions on a first visit with a college friend:
On the way to the table, three waiters greet us warmly in unison: "Hello, boys!" Is my shirt on backwards?
Our waiter hands us menus and asks, "Have you ever been in a Berkshire Grill before?" Do I need to give you the secret handshake?
The background music is "Margaritaville." They’ve lost all the salt shakers already?
The breadbasket has hot fluffy rolls with no taste, but garlic butter poured all over them. Somebody didn’t read the manual.
By the time we had the fifth conversation about how we were doing, a manager opened a new subject: "Where do you live?" What ever happened to "What kind of name is that, Nadeau?"
The food is generally plain and pricey, with some promise in the specials and seafood. A lobster quesadilla ($9.50) was both a special and made with seafood; it’s a very nice 10-inch pizza studded with nuggets of lobster meat. Lobster bisque ($6.25) is always on the menu, and quite flavorful though high in salt and pepper. I think it has pumpkin in it; whatever the filling, it works. Grilled sashimi-tuna steak ($16.95) is a contradiction in terms, but a fine piece of fish that can be cooked to order, from just-seared, like the popular tuna-carpaccio appetizer, to well-done. We tried medium, specified "pink in the middle," and got just that, with a nice glaze of soy and sesame seeds. I also admired a special on shrimp with potato gnocchi ($18.95) for the lightness of the dumpling pasta and an understated tomato sauce. And a special on rack of lamb ($21.95) was good eating, with good mashed potatoes.
For dessert, the "Liquid Chocolate Truffle" ($4.95) is a best buy. It’s actually a cylinder of chocolate pudding cake, but as powerful as anything in the fallen-soufflé or flourless classes. And coffees here are a strength, with a serviceably strong decaf ($2) and very credible, oversize cups of café latte and chai ($3.95 each).
Beyond that, most of the menu is underseasoned and overpriced, and another fraction of it is conceptually flawed. There weren’t any of the one-time errors that usually befall new restaurants; evidently the system had been worked out in other Berkshire Grills. They want it to be the way it is, and I don’t, so here’s the evidence, and you can pick a side:
The signature appetizer "Triple Sampler" ($9.95) is an anthology of greasy treats. I liked the potato skins because you can scrape off the cheese and bacon and they still taste like baked potatoes. I tolerated the smoked-chicken-and-spinach eggs rolls, even though they don’t taste like smoke or chicken. I abhorred the "Buffalo chicken tenderloins" because they aren’t fried crisp, don’t taste much like chicken, and have too much hot sauce. The blue-cheese dressing, on two tries, was nondescript. Another signature, spinach-pecan salad ($7.50), would be an acceptable salad of field greens and spinach with goat cheese if the dressing weren’t so infernally sweet, and likewise the glazed pecans. Maybe they should recast it as a dessert salad.
The signature mandarin-glazed salmon ($14.95) — in bold type on the menu, and the waiter explains why — is a chunk of farm salmon like any other, with a teriyaki glaze that doesn’t do much. It comes to order, but this is one of the few fish on the market that can take a little overcooking. My problem really started with the vegetables, which are the same on all dinners. One visit we had underdone and amazingly tasteless green beans; on another night broccoli was troubled in the same way. The signature prime rib (12-ounce cut, $18.95) is good meat, but bland, and so too are the side dishes.
The wine list is unexciting, and by-the-glass selections are displayed on a series of blackboards that don’t list all the options. The staff gets around this by putting some wines on some boards and not others. You might not see a merlot; you might get a choice of two. Picking the Château Julien merlot ($6) off a board with two choices brought a very generic pop wine with no French character at all. It didn’t encourage me to try the cheaper option.
Back to desserts. The sopapillas ($4.95) aren’t actually the pillow-like fried breads of Mexico, but stiff triangles of fried dough more like buñuelos. The taste is all in the grease and sugar, but they come hot. So does the apple crisp ($4.95), but there the taste is mostly in the "hot." The apples are done to a gluey-sweet mass, and the topping isn’t crisp. Both desserts come with a scoop of ice cream, and the ice cream is the best thing on the plate.
Service at the Berkshire Grill is quite good, if sometimes overly chatty. On both of my visits the greeters hadn’t yet noticed the entrance from the Prudential Center mall that we used. Twice we were directed up to the front desk at the street side, and each time the greeter thought we were on our way out, and asked us how everything was. High booths give a sense of privacy and relaxation, but noise does build up at busy times.
The atmosphere is steakhouse, but like a thinned-out abstraction of a steakhouse that is not entirely masculine, not entirely overpriced, and not entirely happy consigning vegetables to the horses. Midway through one visit, my friend said, "It’s like an upscale version of the old Watertown Brew ’n’ Chew." Almost any of those ’70s restaurants with an ’n’ in the middle would do, but in fact the Berkshire Grill is an upscale version of a Ground Round. Oh yes, future luxury tenants of 111 Huntington, that pleasantly familiar restaurant at street level is owned by the Ground Round. That’s why the burgers are so pleasant and familiar. You have arrived, and they have come with you.
Robert Nadeau can be reached at RobtNadeau@aol.com
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