Dryft Wellesley — Restaurant in Wellesley

We reserved a table for 9pm on Friday. Our server was attentive and nice. We had the octopus, half dozen oysters, and tuna nachos app to start. I would say the best part of the meal was the tuna nachos which were on point. The octopus app was served over mashed potatoes which we didn't eat. A little strangeto have mashed potatoes in an appetizer for a table. The octopus was fine, nothing spectacular.

For a seafood restaurant, I do take issue with the oysters. They were served in the dish tilted over on their side, so every one of them had their brine spilled out. Seeing as when you serve oysters, the only thing you have to do is shuck them properly, and that involves retaining the brine, I have to point this out that they really need to train their kitchen staff on how to properly shuck and serve an oyster....

The cocktails were pretty good so the bartenders did a good job there. One martini and one old fashion, both were good.

Ok, moving on to the mains. First thing I want to point out, which is not the fault of our server, is that we were asked to put our dinner entrees in because the kithen would be closing, and this was just as we were midway through our apps. This is just a bad look for the restaurant overall. You shouldn't rush tables, especially when they have a reservation an hour before you close. You should always plan to have your kitchen staff giving their 100% until the very last plate is served, and that means that if you are open until 10pm, your kitchen staff should be prepared to still be taking orders and prepared to be serving food until well past 10pm. I can't imagine how rushed the tables who had a 930pm reservation felt..

We had the halibut and stuffed sole. Maybe it was because they were closing the kitchen and rushing, but the broccolini on the sole was inedible, barely cooked. Both dishes were extremely salty. It was hard to find any other flavor besides salt. The halibut was slightly dry (overcooked) but still edible. The sole dish came with two pieces, but my wife was only able to eat one due to the salt content.

We weren't offered a dessert menu as we finished our meals, likely because they were rushing us out the door.

I know it's a new restaurant, but these are very basic things that need you need to be attentive to when a table of 2 is dropping $300...

What a fabulous experience tonight at Dryft! We started with the Watermelon Salad and Chopped Salad. Both were flavorful, interesting and absolutely delicious! I’m going to order them for take out to serve at a dinner I am having at home this weekend. Fresh, crunchy, amazing! Our entrees included the Earth Bowl with Tofu and the Shrimp Lemoncello Fetuccine. The Earth Bowl was full of flavors fresh and intense. Lots of fresh, high a quality vegetables and a light dressing. The tofu could use a bit more seasoning. We will definately order this again. I ordered the Shrimp Lemoncello Fetuccine (I’m mostly vegetarian). The flavor was out of this world! The gremolata topping, sauce and fettuccine were perfectly paired and exquisite. I had to take a moment of no talking while having my first few bites. I would ask to add broccoli in the future - just to tone the richness. To be clear there was nothing wrong with it as is but I stole broccoli from the Earth Bowl to my dish and it was sublime. We sat at the a bar and had fabulous service from Jessie. He knew the menu well, was fun, pleasant, helpful in our selections and attentive. Really couldn’t ask for more. The entire bar team were watching for the needs of everyone at the bar. This is unusual and really sets the experience apart from other venues. When my husband was slightly struggling to put his leftovers in a bag, a wait staff asked if she could do it for him. Overall the team has been trained and or is just innately service oriented. They all seemed happy and were working very hard. We can’t...

Impressionable for (more than one) return

Located in the old Door No. 7 locale, we opted for a try on a sunny and breezy Friday afternoon. We sat outside in the partially covered pergola which did its best to cache the realization of eating close to the parking lot (a fairly admirable job), so appreciative of patio dining, which is somewhat rare in these parts. Notable menu options, diverse in apps and mains- and drawn to sharing across appetizers and Starters, so we could sample. Suffice to say- pleasant surprises with the Tuna Nachos (wonton chips a plus), Grilled Octopus (hearty serving), Burrata (savory), all washed down with chilled cocktails. What a nice first impression- enough to make a return to continue exploring Dryft. We will return..

Update visit #2: Poke Bowel (w/ Tuna) & Mussels are both on point. Fresh, well seasoned & appropriately sized tuna with really nicely prepared sushi rice. Tge gorgonzola and bacon are a nice touch to give pizzazz to the fresh mussels. Touché!

Update visit #3: dinner assessment; and did not disappoint! Usually by #3 restaurant menus begin to peter out- but Dryft continues to step up to the (delicious) plate. Blackened Mahi Mahi, Halibut, and oyster sampler. Fresh, well seasoned, and burst with savory flavors. Hint: gran the molten Oreo tart- it is by far the most molten of any we’ve tasted- steaming, gooey and sweet. PSA for burn-your-mouth-potential, but worth the risk.. Thank you to Dryft for dropping...