Punch Bowl — Restaurant in Brookline

Several stays at the Hilton Garden and several times attempting to enjoy meals here. Nice restaurant atmosphere. Multiple meals. Unfortunately, we didn't find the food enjoyable. Dinner... Ordered two steaks - both arrived too salty to eat - which was a shame considering the cost. Mashed potatoes were salty as well. The burger was good, fries were too salty. Breakfast...Scrambled eggs were salty. Blueberry pancakes were so burned on one side, yet undercooked inside, the waitress agreed and didn't charge for them. (Should have taken a pic.) Second night ordered a burger, and again it was good and not salty like the steaks. Fries were less salty this time. Breakfast that day, salty scrambled eggs again. What is it about using so much salt? Others in our group agreed, too much salt in everything. Service is lacking unfortunately, I think they need more help to balance the workload. There's also a kitchen charge added to each bill. While it's a small percentage of the bill and there's an explanation on the receipt, it still amounts to management admitting they don't pay the kitchen staff enough and want customers to make up the difference. (I'd tip the chef and kitchen staff separately from the wait staff if that would reduce the salt content.)

Overall, we avoided eating here. Meals were inconsistent, too salty, under cooked at times. Prices are somewhat typical for hotels, which means overpriced for what you get. But it's convenient. Try this place out, just ask them to...

This is the hotel restaurant at the Hilton Garden Inn. I generally only eat at a hotel restaurant if I HAVE to for some reason, and it was raining to beat heck this night, so down to the Punch Bowl I went.

Here's what I expect from a hotel restaurant: Business travelers bellied up to the bar; Limited menu selection; Frou-frou bourgeois dishes; High prices; Mediocre food.

Here's what I GOT from the Punch Bowl: Business travelers bellied up to the bar; Limited menu selection; Frou-frou bourgeois dishes; High prices; GOOD food.

Highest price on the dinner menu? 10oz sirloin for $39. A 10oz sirloin is not a $39 steak. There was not much to be had for under $20 that wasn't a side dish. And to be clear...I travel with an expense account, so it's not like I'm a pauper...but value is value.

Anyway, I had a patty melt and a side of "crispy Brussels sprouts." I was pleasantly surprised by the food, overall. The sprouts had a flavor and texture more like potatoes, actually. Not the crispy roasted sprouts I was hoping for, but not bad on their own merits. The patty melt was legit tasty. Good quality ingredients, cooked well, I was impressed.

And...I got to listen to the Boomers next to me rattle on about how most Uber drivers "are simple" but "nobody's above" driving for Uber, and how proud she was of the engineer driving at night to try to save up to buy a house, and how he was "living the American Dream," and had "accepted the equation," whatever that meant. So...dinner and...

Punch Bowl is one of the worst restaurants I've ever been to. My wife, our two children, and myself ate here on June 4th for dinner and June 5th for breakfast. For dinner, each plate was brought out individually with my wife being first, mine being second, then around 10-15 minutes later my kid's meals were brought out. What restaurant brings out the dishes separately and the kids dishes last (10-15min later nonetheless). On top of the terrible service, the kids chicken tenders were burnt and dry like rubber to the point that we couldn't even give them to our child. Furthermore, the steak was dry and the mac and cheese had no flavor.

The manager ended up taking the chicken tenders off of the bill but at that point my child only had french fries for dinner...

Breakfast was even worse. The continental buffet was $18 per person and the toaster wouldn't toast the bagels no matter how many times you put them through. The fruit was basically gone when we got there and the bacon was undercooked.

If you have the option, eat...