L.A. Burdick Handmade Chocolates — Restaurant in Walpole

I liked LA Burdick but I did not love it and it did not rate even a 4th star, maybe a 3.5, but not a 4. Too bad, I drove 3 hours (luckily I also met a good friend and saw a great film at the Lowe/Dartmouth, which made the trip worth it.) I got the salad with crab and avocado, dressed with shallot vinaigrette. The crab was tasteless though the avocado was ripened perfectly. The greens were all of a soft variety-it could have used more texture and crunch, especially given the fact that the crab and avocado are both soft in texture. The salad could have used more acid, the vinaigrette did not taste of shallot. My husband got steak with herb butter and frites, it was good, well prepared but (the steak) a bit "chewy." The frites were delicious. My friend got grilled chicken salad and said it was good. The bread-the baguette, was sublime. Really, really delicious, the butter just perfect, not too cold, not too soft. There was a second bread, a multi-grain, which was...just meh. It tasted a bit doughy. Two of us got iced mocha (my husband got the dark chocolate and I got white chocolate.) It was lovely, rich and velvety, not too sweet, just the right amount of chocolate vs coffee.My husband got a sorbet, fruity, fresh and tart-again, not too sweet, which was perfect. He also got madeleines, which were just ok. I got a canele, unfortunately a major disappointment. It was not the crispy, burnt sugar outside (No beeswax maybe? Used silicon molds maybe? Oven not hot enough maybe?) and there was not one drop of the creamy, custard-like interior I look forward to in a canele. The interior was dry, dry, dry and it had a funky flavor too-like the batter had gone off before it was baked. Major disappointment. Believe it or not you can get a fabulous canele on the weekends at a tiny cafe in Warren, R.I. (The Coffee Depot.) The chocolates, given with the check, were yummy. Glossy, with a creamy texture and a luxurious mouth feel...each tiny crunch of shell revealed a tender interior. The perfect chocolate-as much about texture as taste, an event on my tongue:) The venue itself is nice, but noisy (and the soap container in the ladies room was a gross mess!) I'm sure it sounds as if I am picky and inordinately fussy. I am not. Just truthful. Given the cost of the lunch, the details should be perfect. This lunch in France would have cost half as much money and...

I'd like to preface this with the fact that I am in retail and understand not everything can be perfect. However, I experienced the strangest atmosphere here in terms of the service. My grandma wanted to spend the afternoon eating oysters and sipping chocolate so we arrived to do so. She says she has never felt so weird here before, but this being my first time put a bad taste in my mouth. The chocolate is exquisite. The service is horrid. They don't know what a Chai tea latte is, despite having it on their menu. We received a Chai bag steeping in some steamed milk. Yuck. Being the only people ordering drinks in there, we received surprisingly very little attention, i.e. forgetting the soy milk and putting it in a to-go cup instead of a mug. They also put our orders together without asking. They were obviously having too much fun chatting to pay attention to their only customers. We then ordered some sipping chocolate to make up for the horrible tea. Delicious stuff, but the giggling made it sort of frustrating when we weren't getting the basic service you'd expect from such an expensive and well-rated place.

Then we went to the empty restaurant for oysters and we simply felt like we were intruding; like we were ruining their gossip session. It was weird. Didn't feel welcome and just felt awkward around our waitress.

I'm sure it isn't always like this, and maybe they're all new employees, but I was relatively disappointed. At least I have some great chocolate...

Normally we have pleasant experiences at this location, but on our most recent visit we were not informed upon entering that they were closing. Being that it was still near tea time I was in the mood for a green tea but the staff were unable to provide descriptions of their selection without consulting a manual. Being that they are a local provider for Mariage Frères I wanted to make sure that I was ordering something to my palate and having been to Mariage Frères locations in Paris I know the variety they have to offer, I have four canisters of their loose leaf teas at home as it is. Upon making my selection I had asked that it be steeped at a lower temperature to match the variety, but I was told that it was not possible. I made the mistake of mentioning the correct temperature and the woman behind the counter let out a noticeable sound of disgust or frustration over my comment. It was then around this time that we were informed that they were closing and my wife and child would have to eat their cakes outside. After letting my tea steep I was saddened to see that only one bag for 16oz of water was used. Mariage frères provides two bags for this size. To make matters worse I was given the green blend of Jasmine instead of the l'Opéra that I ordered. This is a favorite place for my family to go as a treat, but I will be thinking twice before returning with them due to our...