A couple of weekends ago, several local bloggers were invited to Oak Long Bar + Kitchen to see what brunch at this historic, yet fabulously updated central Boston landmark was all about.
We gathered around a few gorgeous tables and sunk into elegantly comfortable couches and cushy director-style chairs and within minutes felt like perhaps we’d never leave. The setting is stunning, comfortable, and surprisingly filled with natural light. It takes you out of the city for a moment even though you are a stone’s throw from Copley Square. Just two sips in to my Red Oak cocktail of grapefruit, vodka and brachetto I had already planned my return visits for brunch with my daughter after her dance class, drinks with friends at the bar one evening, a lunch date with my girlfriend and dinner date with my husband here.
For brunch we had a little of everything, and not one dish failed to impress.
I loved my flatbread with egg and Porchetta. The charcuterie and cheese board was truly impressive and delicious. I could nibble on that board and have a glass of wine at the bar for dinner any night if the week.
The lobster Bloody Mary was one of the special libations that we could not resist ordering. It was a playful New England rendition if a classic brunch cocktail.
Despite the fact that I use it quite often, I am not a part of the Kale propaganda team. I do enjoy a good fall salad though, so I wanted to try the baby kale salad. It was beautiful, had an assortment of kales and was indeed delicious topped with blackberries, candied walnuts, and a tasty vinaigrette.
The breakfast Mac and cheese was a popular item among the bloggers and it was the perfect ice cold morning to tuck into a hot skillet of comfort food.
The bread that came at the beginning if the meal was warm and a knob of honey butter melted into the center. When you bit into the warm bread, salt crystals crunched as your teeth sunk into the mie (soft inside ) and the sweetness of the butter made the flavours of the herbs sprinkled on top really come to life on your palate.
I will come again for the food and linger just a little or a lot for the atmosphere and feeling you get just being in the space tucked away in the middle of the city. Somewhere grandiose yet somehow comforting and welcoming: elegant, historic hotel meets farmhouse inn.
