Cunard Tavern — Restaurant in Boston

I’ve had a rough relationship with this place because their food is kind of weird and very heavy, which isn’t what you necessarily want often and the service is usually not great. So I was incredibly happy to see upon my recent dinner visits that they offer a refreshing spring pea salad on their dinner menu, which is phenomenal and could have canceled out the notoriously lax service…and I would think that they’d offer it on their brunch menu but instead they have a citrus salad, which frankly sounds much less appetizing. I asked the minute we walked into the restaurant if they offered the spring pea for brunch and I was told they had replaced the citrus with the spring pea. So I ordered the spring pea and asked for a side of chicken (which I’ve done a ton of times) and was told that the “chef” doesn’t like additions and yells at the staff if they ask for them, but would ask anyway. when she came back to tell me I could get a side of chicken, she then told me they don’t offer the salad for brunch, even though I was told that’s not the case. The server then told me she’d consult with the chef to see if they could make the salad. The “chef”, at this time, was sitting at a table conversing with the manager (I assume?) and I watched the whole exchange. The chef rudely exclaimed he didn’t have anything prepped and wouldn’t even be willing to make the salad even though they have the ingredients…and how long would a salad seriously take to make? It’s literally raw peas, collard greens, and ranch????? Again, this place has very particular food for very particular cravings…most of which isn’t my cup of tea (probably why they’re mostly empty on the weekdays too). So it is beyond me why their “chef” would be so against accommodating their customers. It’s like he thinks this place is a five star Michelin rated restaurant, but it’s not. It’s a bar, tucked away in ear Boston, with minimal foot traffic (except for when they have events). It’s a bummer that I finally found a salad in eastie worth eating, but the atmosphere and service is so bad I’d rather...

The food: -Cauliflower was great, interesting presentation and the flavor was fantastic. -Steak was a joke, the size of it was absolutely tiny, drowning in the sea of chips. I asked for medium rare and got pretty much well done. The steak would give off a hint if being old- wonder if that’s why it got cooked so much. The sauce was great though, so really just a shame the dish was a letdown through the tiny size and overcooking.

The drinks: -Wine was fine, my wife asked for a dry wine- asked for a recommendation and our server brought something which really was not a dry wine at all, but nice nonetheless. -First of the cocktails left me underwhelmed, I could hardly taste the flavors in it (can’t remember the name of it, it was a little coconut-y (if I remember well) -My second cocktail was similar to old fashioned, and it definitely lifted my spirits after the whole experience. Definitely the highlight of the night.

The bathrooms: My wife said that the bathrooms were stinky and clogged up, and there was no soap. She was quite grossed out. Men’s bathrooms were fine, stinky like a portable toilet, soap was there- not in the proper casing but the fill was just placed on the sink; nothing I haven’t seen before in men’s bathrooms.

Overall: Service was nice, the kitchen definitely has the skills, the place must just ensure that the items they get are fresh/they must quit using old, tiny steaks. Cocktail-wise there are some gems (in my opinion), but I understand people have different tastes, so I’m happy because I did find something for myself on the menu. Wine- maybe your staff could do with w tiny bit of training on which wine is which, I feel like people mostly identify them as „very dry/not so dry”- even putting it on the menu could help. It has potential but needs...

My wife and I stopped in around 4 Friday afternoon sat at the bar there were a few others at the bar and some dinners at tables not real busy took a few minutes before bar tender passed us menus with out saying anything and proceeded to go about setting up bar checking supplies (they open at 11:30 am) after what felt like too long he asked if we wanted to order drinks the menu had there specialty drinks on it I asked him what they had for beer he told me I could get the selection by clicking bar code on menu with my phone ok so I did so no domestic beer after way too long bar keep returns took our drink order for two mixed drinks he had to go out back to get a case of canned ginger ale made and brought us our drinks now mind you no conversation from bar tender I asked him if we could put a food order in he said no kitchen is closed from 4 to 5 so they can change over from lunch to dinner now I felt he should have passed this information of kitchen hours to us when he gave us menus have to say he was so uninterested in anything to do with us right from the start wish we had left earlier now we asked for our bill he drops it off I put hundred dollar bill to pay he takes it says be right back after a while (lol) he returns says he can’t break the hundred dollar bill do I have anything smaller I check and I don’t he looks at my wife and I rolls his eyes and said just go then as he turned his back to us and walked away I was blown away never been treated so poorly I had to control myself my wife and looked at each other got up out of our seats and walked out the door without speaking I will never go back and hope anyone who reads this will not go there just awful this bar keeper was a bad person should not be working serving...