Mastro's Ocean Club — Restaurant in Boston

First off - My apologies for the long review. We are from Southern NH, (about an hour's drive North). Went for my wife's birthday on 2/4/23. For 3 of us, (wife, adult son, and myself), the bill with tip was $982. Since it was a special occasion, we splurged a little and expected the bill to be pricey. For example, we got $300 caviar and Wellfleet oysters to go along with other appetizers for each of us. If you're just going for a normal dinner, it'll probably run $175-$200 a person, give or take. The location is terrific and beautiful...right on the water. They have valet parking, and a parking garage within walking distance nearby if you prefer that. One of my concerns was parking, but it was nice to see there was no need to worry. When I made the reservation, I indicated it was for a birthday, so when we walked in they asked whose birthday it was and what was their name. That helped them make our experience VERY special because after we ordered our deserts at the end of the meal, they brought everything out on a big plate with candles and wrote happy birthday in chocolate on the plate. My wife LOVED it and was happy she could take social-media worthy pictures of it. My wife and son had a wonderful time, as did I. I don't have anything negative to say, but will give you a few points to ponder... 1. The service was good, but not outstanding. Our server was super nice and very helpful when at our table, but seemed busy with other tables so it took a while for him to get back around to us. It might have been because he was giving us time to enjoy our meal and deliberately not bothering us constantly...so maybe I'm just being picky. I will say he did have a lot of support because our water was filled anytime our glasses got low, and dirty dishes were picked up immediately from other staff. 2. The place was a bit loud for my taste. They had live music and it was hard to have a normal conversation. I'm sure the fact that I'm 60 yrs. old has something to do with that. But my wife and son said the same thing. The music would have been fine if just turned down a decibel level or two. 3. The food was very good. My wife and son LOVED everything. And they said it was one of their favorite restaurant experiences ever. My son's bone marrow appetizer looked as good as it tasted. I got the Brazino fish, which was good but not worthy of the price in my opinion. I felt the presentation of all three entree plates were lacking. My wife got the Chilean Sea Bass and it was just the fish on a white plate with some sprinkled parsley. We did order sides to share...and that is likely for the reason, but I expected a little more presentation for what we were paying. If you are into posting social media pictures and videos, order caviar and/or a seafood tower... they come out in a terrific presentation with dry ice flowing off of it. Very cool. To sum it up. Very nice place for a special occasion. I think it caters a little bit more to the crowd who like to be seen and tell everyone about it. For the price we paid I think there better options if you are strictly into high-end food. Would I go back again? Yes, for a special occasion but I'll also like to try other places in that price range for a...

We went here for our 10th anniversary. The service was exceptionally good and our server had just the right balance of checking up on us and staying unintrusive to give us the best experience.

We ordered the house salad (minus shrimp), the garlic butter sauteed button mushrooms, the porterhouse steak, and the signature butter cake (which came with anniversary cheesecake).

The house salad was meant to have the shrimp so without shrimp, it was a bit bland. The lettuce was not pre-salted so if you like your salad VERY dressed and not too salty, I think that'd be a good choice.

The garlic butter mushrooms were very good. They were juicy on the inside, flavorful, and the outside had an excellent umami layer of caramelized milk solids from the butter. The rosemary they use in it is feels fresh and fragrant.

The steak itself is somewhat unremarkable other than that it's what you imagine a good steak should taste like. If you like your steaks unsurprising, this is a very good spot to get it. If you want your steak to take you by surprise, you'll find that it isn't worth $70+.

I would say the same about the cheesecake. It tastes like a good cheesecake and clearly it was made with good technique but it isn't particularly surprising. If you like your food to not surprise you, go for the cheesecake.

The signature butter cake, however, WAS surprising. The crumb is light but the brown butter flavor is strong. The outside of the cake is crispy and it has a tone of caramel that makes me suspect they sprinkled the baking pan with sugar before putting in the batter to give it that extra crispy-sweet boost. It's served with ice cream and a tart berry sauce that cuts through the heaviness with some fresh fruits to help.

The reason why I'm giving 4 stars out of 5 is because the menu is very limited on lighter options. Everything feels heavy. Even their salads were heavy (and tbh salads aren't really good for cleansing the feeling of thick fats.) Everything is laden with butter or cheese or other fats except the steamed vegetables (which at $14 really don't feel worth it). This means if you want to eat several courses, each course gets less enjoyable because there's not a lot of lighter options or sour flavors to pull back the richness. Alcohol/cocktails might help in this regard but if you're not a drinker or allergic to alcohol like I am, there's not a lot of options to help that pacing so just eat cautiously!

My opinion is that if you plan to eat several courses here, first, eat something very light (fruits or veg) 3 hours before going to prime your stomach to process fats (there is SO MUCH FAT). Second, share everything (they're very open to sharing) instead of getting your own of anything. Start with the lightest thing you can and save room for that signature butter cake (it's the size of a baby's head). The food here tastes best in moderation but for smaller eaters or people who'd been fasting all day, it can quickly go from 0 to 100 and you don't want to walk away feeling 150. They're very good with (stylish) take-out boxes so don't be afraid to walk home with 90% of the dessert untouched.

Once again, thank you to the staff who made our night...

I have been to Mastros on a few occasions and it’s always been pleasant. Last night, I had a reservation for 10 (that ended up being 7) to celebrate my birthday. When we arrived, 5 of us were there the other 2 guests were leaving work and joining later. The host accommodated us to sit down, even though they prefer the entire party be in attendance to be sat , but we explained about the last 2 guests leaving work. When the 5 of us sat down, the server came over and asked us about our water preference. He said he would get our water and start bread service. He asked about our last two guests and let him know they’d be joining later, but the 5 of us were eating dinner. He said I’ll be back shortly to take your beverage order. The water was brought to the table. 41 minutes passed before our server came back to the table to take our beverages. By the time he came back, our last two guests had arrived. The last two guests asked us why we had no drinks or appetizers. We explained No one had come back to the table after bringing us water only. My friend, went to the host stand and asked where our server was. It had now been about 45-50 minutes with only water. Shortly after my friend went to complain, our server came to the table. He said he had issues with another table and that they were occupying his time. He then told us we needed to hurry up and order because the kitchen was closing. The table expressed to him that almost an hour had gone by without a beverage or bread or appetizer. He apologized and started to take our appetizer and drink orders. The meal went on. Everything was ok but our server never was attentive to us. But it is what it is. The table sang happy birthday and we had the check presented to us. We noticed gratuity was added. Out of the 7 people at our table, 5 of us work as servers and bartenders in fine dining. We told him if he removed the gratuity, we would tip him more than calculated. The server took the gratuity off and presented a new check. We did a partial credit card payment of $675 and the rest was in cash. While we were settling the check, the server was making comments about how gratuity is the policy of the restaurant and how if our entire party had arrived on time, we wouldn’t have been rushed. I’m confused because it was explained that our last two guests would be arriving later. But WE waited almost 45 minutes before getting any service, with the exception of water. But for whatever reason, our server kept trying to blame his other “problematic table” or our last two guests, to excuse the fact that he was horrible at his job. So the bill was paid. Gratuity left in cash. To add insult to injury, this morning , the guest who used his credit card looks at his transactions from last night and realized his card was charged both 675 and 1600 as well. Unacceptable. I can’t remember the servers name but he needs retrained in serving and people skills. My birthday meal was good, due to the company I had there. Mastros has always been good in the past. This visit I am highly disappointed. My friend is trying to get in touch with management in regards to his...