Aquitaine — Restaurant in Newton

AquiTaine Bar a Vin Bistrot (French Bistro) - Chestnut Hill, MA - 5/27/2015

One of the many things I love about the Boston area is its multitude of fine restaurants and this one is no exception! Beautifully decorated in natural tones... Dark woods...Mustard colored stucco walls... Fine prints perfectly hung... Large globe lamps and ceiling fans hang from the ceiling... If you like a bar, this place has a spectacular one... The French music in the background just oozes the sophisticated dining experience that would soon ensue...

If you're like me, set the pace up front so that you can savor each course without feeling rushed... They are very accommodating and will honor your request...

The first to arrive are the warm cheese puffs along with a French loaf... Just the right amount of warmth and house whipped butter. A bit cooler on the butter than I usually prefer but quite tasty and nicely served. I have a feeling my taste buds are in for something truly spectacular tonight! The bread...? Exquisite!

Then onto the Salade Aquitaine with Haricots Verts, Bacon Lardons & Spring Onions dressed in a Truffle Vinaigrette! I had mine sans the fried egg on top... What a presentation... The mixed greens with the bacon cut to seemingly exact tolerance with wax and green beans purposely placed make this almost too good to eat...When I tell you that the amount of dressing on the salad was perfect, I do mean perfect...

The main...Filet Mignon Au Poivre, Cognac Peppercorn Cream, Roasted Scallions, Pommes Gratin.. The Peppercorn Cream as only the French can do... The Filet was cooked to perfection... Pink Au Jus... Peppercorns neatly placed atop the beef...

And to finish it... or me off..., The Pain Perdu for dessert... Crispy House Made Brioche... Vanilla Bean Ice Cream and maple Syrup... I've not seen this on any other menu so naturally I had to try it! Add to that my signature Cappuccino and my dinner is complete...

Truly an extraordinary dining experience that comes with my high recommendations... You...

I have been going here since 2010 and things have gone really downhill in the last years. The dinner I had ladt night was definitely the worst yet. First of all let me say that the place was very empty so the service should have been excellent...it wss NOT!!. The waiter's accent was so thick you could hardly undrtstand the specials. Both he and the wine steward, though polite, were very poorly...if at all...trained. To put down fresh silverware, for example, he reached all the way across in front of another member of our party rather than going around the table to the person needing the cutlery. He also stood in one place to clear the table, asking us to hand him the plates. The staff wad so inattentive that a member of our party had to actually get up and pour the wine that was cooling himself. Given the prices this is inexcusable, at the local hamburger place ok but not at Aquataine. Then there was the food. Evety dish I ate was cold. The fig and goat cheese tart (spelled without the final"e" as it should be) was cold, the crust greasy and there was no recognizable goat cheese in it. I had the shortribs special. If I couldn't make better shortribs, I'd close my restaurant. It was a huge portion of meat but was cold, tough and tasteless. I love shortribs but what a huge disappointment these were. For dessert I had the profiteroles. These used to be amazing, 2 as big as a fist with a whole scoop of vanilla bean ice cream each and warm, dark chocolate sauce, a whole pitcher full..now they are a joke! The pate choux was well made, I'll give them that but they were about the size of a walnut, the sauce cold, gloppy and in a small coffee cream pitcher. This was my folks 65th wedding anniversary, such a rare occasion...unfortunately the meal was not fittingly rare. After all these years I really don't see myself going back there, such a shame. I love a good French bistro, but...

If this was based just on my meal I would have given Aquitaine at least five stars. I'll explain why it's slightly less than that. The appetizers were excellent absolutely outstanding the duck Pate was fantastic. The only thing I would have done is maybe a little bit more of the toast points I believe it's called. My endive salad was excellent really enjoyed the blue cheese. For my main I had the beef which was outstanding absolutely fantastic. Richard had the veal schnitzel which definitely was overcooked still had flavor but it was overcooked because it's pounded very very thin you have to pay very close attention to that. Sharon had the herb chicken breast which is very good not quite excellent but still very good. The one big letdown in my impression was the dessert they did not have the pain Purdue I'm probably spelling that wrong it's kind of like we kiddingly call adult French toast it's made with a brioche bread and it is absolutely fantastic and was not on the menu which is such a shame please get that back on the menu cuz I'll tell you that's kind of one of the things I look forward.overall I was very happy and I would definitely not have a problem coming back price is definitely have gone up in the year that it's been since we've been there but well you know unfortunately you got to start recouping some of the losses that all of us in the food industry have had including us because we have a food service business ourselves and we sympathize with what's...