Brassica Kitchen + Cafe — Restaurant in Boston

Great coffee. Mediocre food. Great presentation. Average service. High fees tacked onto bill. No tip expected.

Parking: Parking here is not easy, but if you're taking the T, the Orange line has the Forest Hills station right across the street.

Service: When you walk in, you are greeted by the coffee and donut section where you can order items to go. If you're dining in, they'll direct you to the next counter, where they'll seat you or put you on a waitlist. Water was served. My server was very blunt with the ordering experience. Once the food arrived, my water was refilled once (by someone else) without having to ask, but there was no more service until I was ready for the check. Everyone but my actual server was nice.

Atmosphere: There are about a dozen and a half small tables, in a relatively small space. You may be very close to your neighbor.

Price: Be aware that a fixed 20% administrative fee and 3% benefits fee, totaling 23% in fees, in addition to normal 7% tax, is tacked onto your bill, meaning you are paying 130% of the price shown. The 23% fees do not count as tip, but they also don't ask for tip. My server did not explain this, but I did see that it is written in fine print on the menu. I feel like the 23% gratuity/fee is on the high end considering I got average service from my server. I was never asked if my food was good or given any chance to provide feedback to ensure my experience was good.

Food: I tried the B.K. Chicken and Waffles. It came with three pieces of dark meat chicken. The top piece was good, but the two pieces on the bottom were overcooked and burnt with hard batter. It also comes with hot sauce and maple syrup. The hot sauce is really hot and comes on the side. The maple syrup already comes on the waffles, which I personally didn't prefer because I'd rather control my own amount of maple syrup. The waffles were also very thin and soft and soggy from the pre-poured syrup; I think they were just pancakes in a waffle shape. I assume the chicken was a fluke, which I wish they didn't serve burnt and remade it instead. I would consider trying something different next time.

Drink: I ordered the mocha, which was a 12oz coffee. It was smooth, aromatic, chocolatey and did not taste overly sweetened. The chocolate was well mixed without creating a pool at the bottom of the mug. It had the standard latte art on it and the foam was great. I wouldn't hesitate to get their coffee again.

Bathroom: There is a single bathroom for everyone in the back. It was clean when I went.

Based on reviews, I must have had an uncommon experience, so I'm willing to give their food another...

My husband and I came for dinner on a Wednesday eve. Pros: Tasty, flavoursome food. The bun of my “Wagyu” burger was soft and buttery. The seasoning and flavour of my husband’s chicken rice was delicious. Cons: Totally packed with non-socially distanced people. The tables were simply too close to each other. I could hear the chewing of the people next to our table. No ventilation, no AC in the middle of summer. Not one window open (not raining outside). Expect a non-voluntary 20% admin fee + 3% benefit fee added to your check/bill. Regarding the food, let me start by saying the portions are too small to be shareable, contrary to what we were told by the waiter when we arrived. My husband’s dish (rice) was $16 + $5 if he wanted to add protein so he added chicken. He got two nuggets. Two chicken nuggets for $5. He drank water. I ordered a cocktail for $15 and a $18 “Wagyu” burger. I informed the waiter we were quite hungry but the burger reached my table with such delay that my husband had to start without me and had nearly finished his meal when I got mine. The burger….(omg)….aside from the bun, it was a pitiful, quite surprisingly poor example of a burger. It contained a minuscule, soggy patty of generic-tasting beef and a mix of shredded lettuce and sauce, which made the whole thing a mess to eat. And a bucketload of fries. The waiter never refilled our glasses with water. Don’t get me wrong, he was friendly alright but forgot about us for a big chunk of our dinner. Only another waitress spotted our empty glasses and had mercy on us. The check came for $70. My husband, being the man he is, left a 15% tip on top of it, so we paid $80 total. If you subtract $15 of the cocktail, our meals were $65, $32.50 each. That’s by far the most expensive burger of this quality I’ve had. And those are the most expensive two chicken nuggets with rice on the planet. I will never, ever go back and there’s no chance in hell (yes, I’m that disappointed) I’ll ever recommend this place to any friend or relative. There is plenty of wonderful food in Boston, in every neighbourhood, where the quality of the product and the experience is night and day, compared...

Creative twists and bold flavors, but a bit off-balance.

Heard so many good things about Brassica, so my friend and I stopped by with a last minute reservation this past Saturday. We were fortunate to snag one of the last two tables available.

At Brassica, Chef J seemed to revel in creative fusion, blending Italian with Japanese, French with Indian, and so on. But in the midst of all that culinary experimentation, some dishes lost their balance. Bold and spicy, sweet and intense—nearly everything we ordered (except for the hamachi collar) could be summed up in those flavors. I’m all for bold flavors, but without a drink to temper it, the seasoning was a bit overwhelming.

Take the Koji Risotto, for instance—the subtle funkiness of the koji got lost in a sea of salt from the parm and parm shoyu. Then there was the dry-aged duck, which, ironically, was just dry. While the bearnaise sauce amped up the savoriness, it overshadowed the “dry-aged” nuance, leaving the actual flavor of the meat hard to detect. The fried chicken followed a similar pattern—crispy and golden but stuck in that sweet-and-salty cycle. The mustard grains and pickled veggies added some acidity, which helped a bit, but the overall balance of the meal was still off-kilter.

One exception was the Pork Belly. The ginger chutney on top brought just the right hint of spice, elevating the umami, while the marshmallow’s subtle sweetness magically blended into the dish’s complex flavors. The Hamachi Collar came in as a close second, with delicately cooked meat that fell right off the bone and a hint of smokiness. The Jonah Crab and Donuts was an interesting New England twist on Indian flavors, but unfortunately, the curry overpowered the crab.

After six dishes, the pork belly was the only one that really stuck to our memory. The other dishes lacked the refinement to live up to the hype, though I can see why some people might be drawn to Chef J’s bold, contemporary twists. Not sure I’d rush back anytime soon, but I’d be tempted to give it another go if they shake things up with a...