The Metropolitan Club

Address: 1210 Boylston Street, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 02467

Phone: (617) 731-0600

Web Page: http://www.metclubandbar.com/

Type of restaurant: American

Handicapped accessible: Yes

Review date: November 17, 2007

Review: We visited the Metropolitan Club for dinner on Saturday night with some friends. We had reservations ahead of time and requested a round table. Good thing we had reservations as it was a busy night. We took advantage of the valet parking too as there is limited parking available in that area of Chestnut Hill.

The Metropolitan Club or "The Met Club" as it is also known has a very attactive decor. It has a beautiful atrium as you walk in with dark brown wood and a high ceiling. I noticed fresh flowers at he hostess station. The Met Club Bar area is very chic. It is a fun place to meet friends.

To begin our dining experience, we were served a variety of fresh bread and rolls. My favorite was the corn bread. It had great flavor. I also loved the cranberry nut crisp bread. It was cranberry nut bread sliced very thinly and then toasted on both sides to make it crisp. It was really good.

We ordered three bottles of wine over the course of the evening which we shared with our friends. We liked the 2005 MacRostie Chardonnay (Carneros, CA), $47. We enjoyed the 2004 J.L. Chave "Offerus" Syrah (St. Joseph, France), $75. We ordered a bottle of the 2003 Vietti "Scarrone Vigna Vecchia – Barbera d’Alba" (Italy), $78. We liked them all very much but the Vietti was our favorite wine of the evening. Click on our links above to see our detailed reviews of the wine.

Ken and I both enjoyed a bowl of Lobster Bisque ($15) as our appetizer. The lobster bisque had delicious house made Kobe beef dumplings, mushrooms, scallions and chive oil. It arrived with a great presentation decorated with long strings of chives on top of the Kobe beef dumplings in the center of the bisque. Although it had an excellent presentation with the chives, I would have liked it better without the chives. I thought the chives took away from the lobster bisque which was delicious. I should have just pushed the chives aside instead of eating them.

For dinner I had the Greek Style Bronzini Fillet (sea bass), ($29) with stuffed artichoke, spicy tomato sauce, fried fennel and yogurt. The Bronzini Fillet was served as a beautiful presentation resting on the spicy tomato sauce with the decorative and tasty stuffed artichoke on the side. The Bronzini Fillet was very tender and had slightly spicy seasonings. I tasted a touch of black pepper. The stuffed artichoke was very good. I loved the stuffing. Ken had the Rigatoni Bolognese. He said it was delicious. One of our guests noted that The Metropolitan Club is known for its steaks. Our guest really enjoyed his steak.

We also ordered a few side dishes to accompany our meals. We had broccoli cooked in garlic oil and chilies. It was one of the best broccoli dishes I have ever tasted. We enjoyed fried onion skins or thin onion rings. These were delicious as well. I couldn’t stop eating them. We also had classic creamed mashed potatoes. I thought my own home made mashed potatoes were the best until I tasted these. They were were fantastic, melt in your mouth good! The asparagus side dish was tender and perfectly cooked.

We were all pretty full after dinner so we decided to share a couple of plates of the Bite-sized Cookies and Treats for dessert. This was the perfect ending to a delicious dinner with friends.

We recommend The Metropolitan Club. This establishment is handicap accessible and offers valet parking. Reservations can be made through OpenTable.com. We recommend reservations for a Saturday night. They have very tasty food and a very good wine list. We will be back again for a visit.

Theresa & Ken