Reviews for The Blue Room

05/07/2007 - Scott from NH
We arrived right at opening time and were politely shuttled off to the bar (where we were not so much as acknowledged) until they thought it was opening time. But they were quite polite and acknowledged our "special request" ("Chef's table" if available).

We ordered 2 appys (sweetbreads, liver ravioli). The sweetbreads were perfectly cooked, but being as subtly flavored as they are, even the mild asparagus/green bean combo it was served on overwhelmed the flavor. I'd order it again anyway :) The liver ravs were great but the sauce they were served in was an overly assertive, highly acidic vinegar-based sauce, Overwhelming.

The "Blue Caesar" was a complete disappointment. Little flavor, under-sauced, the high points were perhaps the shavings of parmigiana and salt-cured anchovies. Neither of us is a huge anchovy fan but at least they hinted a Caesar flavor, and salt-cured ones aren't nearly as "nasty" as oil cured.

The main courses ("pork osso bucco", "skirt steak") were quite nice. The steak was cooked exactly as ordered and hey, it's an under-appreciated cut of meat. It was supposed to be in a gorgonzola sauce, so I expected something more assertive, but the potato and mushroom base and demiglace were very nice indeed.

The "osso bucco" was wonderfully tender and flavorful, it is a little hard to rationalize pork flavor and "osso bucco" but if you can divorce the two its a very nice way to prepare a lowly hunk of pork. It was advertised as "on Spring vegetables" (and hey, it's Spring!) but in fact the veggies were Fall specials like parsnip and turnip. And turnips should not be crunchy, unless perhaps they are made into chips and deep-fried. The base for the dish had polenta, and it was a great way to soak up the sauce.

We skipped dessert.

We found the wine choices (matched to individual courses via letters plus a "thumbs up" sign for the "Wacky German of the day") expensive ($7-$10/glass) but generally a good match for the courses with which we had them.

We spend $115 for two with 4 glasses of wine total. Not out of line, but we hoped for more from this place.