The Gallery Restaurant, W Hotel Boston - Dinner

Whenever I go to visit my family in New Hampshire, I try to spend a few days in Boston first to acclimate.  And whenever I do that, I stay at the W hotel, a perfect location for me to walk to the office (a rather long walk, but a beautiful one through Boston Common, the cobblestone streets of Beacon Hill, and across the Charles), and also a great location to the Back Bay in my leisure time.

The W Hotel has a single restaurant, The Gallery, along with a bar/lounge area (that is *quite* the scene, particularly on Friday and Saturday nights.  They have a DJ on weekends, live music other nights, they really have made it a destination, not just for hotel guests).  Anyway, back to the restaurant. I've visited the Gallery before for breakfast, which is really quite good, the bread pudding french toast in particular I HIGHLY recommend.  I've also visited to check out one of their seasonal themed concepts - the Veuve Clicquot Ski Chalet, which was shockingly fun, silly as it was, and we enjoyed, in addition to the Veuve obviously, a lovely cast iron skillet baked bread pudding.

This year, I decided to finally check out The Gallery for dinner options, as I wasn't doing work related dinners out, and I just wanted something simple to enjoy in my room (I opted for takeout, but dine-in, or room service, were both also options).  I was tempted by several offerings on this year's seasonal themed concept (a beer garden, complete with all the appropriate fried goodies like beer battered cheese curd, fried calamari, duck fat fries, etc), along with jumbo pretzels with beer cheese, brats, and the like), but I decided to stick with the regular menu, and opted for starters (or, "Bites" from the Lounge menu), along with something sweet to finish the meal.

Maple Bourbon Brussels Sprouts. $12.

"Black pepper, bourbon."

I love brussels sprouts.  Yup, I do.  I like them raw and shaved in salads.  I like them roasted.  I like them roasted and then grilled (my fav way these days, I roast up a big batch, then throw them into my panini press with onions and roast butternut squash while I prep a salad and dump the grilled veggies on top - perfect fall salad!).  Of course I like them super crispy and basically fried.  Ok, I don't love them mushy and boiled, but, brussels sprouts and I are regular friends.

And yup, I certainly like bourbon.  So when I saw maple bourbon brussels sprouts on the menu, I had to order.  

As I expected, the sprouts were halved and basically fried, with some crispy leaves broken off.  They had great color on them.  I didn't taste bourbon, but I certainly tasted maple - the trended a touch too sweet for me, but I suspect that for those who are slightly averse to bitter veggies, this would make them more appealing.

Overall, this dish let me down a bit because it was rather greasy (ok, really greasy) and sweeter than I wanted, but the sprouts were cooked well, not too mushy, not underdone.  It also just didn't feel complete, like a complimentary dipping sauce was needed, perhaps just because I found them so sweet, but I wanted a creamy or cooling sauce alongside.  I've had much better similar dishes elsewhere.

This dish is featured on the Lounge and in-room dining menus only, not the main restaurant.  The portion was large, definitely not something I wanted to finish alone in one sitting, but I polished it off over a few days, throwing leftovers into salads.

***.

Fried Buffalo Cauliflower. $14.

"Housemade ranch aioli."

Next up: fried buffalo cauliflower.  NOW we were really talking my language.  I love buffalo anything, and buffalo cauliflower is often a favorite of mine.  Also something you never quite know what to expect - will it be battered?  Will it be panko or tempura coated?  Will it be tossed in sauce, or have it to dunk?  Will there be blue cheese involved?

This was a slightly different twist from other versions I've had, very large pieces of cauliflower, actually tempura battered (I suspect the same beer battering they use for the fried cheese curds on the Beer Garden menu?).  and not tossed in buffalo sauce.  That said, I did ask to have the ranch on the side, so maybe they put the buffalo sauce on the side too?  Does it normally come just drizzled with both sauces?  Or are they normally dipping sauces?  Or is it normally tossed in buffalo?  Who knows.

Anyway.  This was a mixed bag for me.  The tempura batter was decent, it didn't break off, and coated the pieces well, but it was very oily, the pieces didn't really seem like they had been drained.  The batter didn't have a remarkable flavor, but it was fine.  Inside was the cauliflower, which, even though huge hunks, somehow did actually come out perfectly cooked, hot and soft and steamy inside.  The ratio of coating to insides was pretty different from other versions I've had, which I think I liked, as I knew I was eating a vegetable under it all.

The buffalo sauce literally seemed to be just Frank's.  I actually appreciated it on the side, even though I didn't intend that, as it meant it didn't make the fried bits soggy.  And the "housemade ranch aioli"?  Uh ... indistinguishable from generic ranch.  And since I don't generally care for ranch ... I was *very* glad to have it on the side, and very glad I had alternate ranch (from Sweetgreen, who makes a version I do like!), on standby.

Strangely, this item is not on the Lounge menu, not on the Beer Garden menu, and not on the Gallery Restaurant menu ... only found on the in-room dining menu.  I suspect that is a mistake somewhere, but I was able to order it for takeout with no problem.  They do have beer battered fried cheese curds on the Beer Garden menu.

I was glad to try this spin on buffalo cauliflower, but I wouldn't get it again.  ***.

Side of shrimp $9. Sriracha Aioli.

The Lounge, Gallery Restaurant, and in-room dining menus all have salads available, to which you can add chicken, shrimp, steak, or salmon.  I didn't want a salad, but I did want some protein, so I asked for just a side of shrimp.  And some aioli to dunk it in.  I was offered the sriracha aioli that normally comes with the beer battered cheese curds, which I said yes to, although the lemon aioli that goes with the fried calamari was likely a better match.  I didn't want to be even more complicated than I already was, ordering quasi-off menu. 

I had no idea what the portion size would be, nor the prep style, but the 5 shrimp seemed quite reasonable.  They seemed to be ... seared?  Grilled?  I'm not sure exactly.  They were well seasoned, but, like everything, actually fairly oily.  I know the brussels sprouts and obviously fried cauliflower make sense to be oily, but I didn't anticipate the oil here.  But the seasoning was on point, they were properly cleaned, and well cooked, not hammered, nice snap to them.  Better execution that often happens with shrimp, really.
 
The aioli is normally served with the beer battered cheese curds and was ... fine.  Not particularly spicy, but, I still appreciated having a creamy component.  I laughed a bit at the portion of 2 containers for the 5 shrimp though, but it wasn't a problem, I used it as a dip for crudite later.

***, good seasoning and execution, but eh to the oily factor.

Children's Berries & Whipped Cream. $9.

Jet lag, overindulgence, and strange cravings lead me to this.  From the kid's dinner dessert menu, only on the room service menu: berries & whipped cream.  The breakfast menu has several fruit dishes (yogurt and berries, granola with fruit, fruit plate), but the dinner menu is void of all fruit for adults. But kids?  Kids can order 3 desserts: chocolate chip cookies (also not available for adults!), ice cream with chocolate sauce (again, not for adults!), or, berries & whipped cream.  I was seriously craving fruit, and you know I adore whipped cream and add it to everything, so, I was thrilled to see this option.  You know, for the "kids".

So, I, the adult, ordered from in-room dining, but asked to just get it as takeout from the restaurant (sooo much faster, no 22.5% service fee, etc).

I was pleased with the offering - a full takeout bowl with strawberries sliced in half, blackberries, and blueberries.  None was particularly awesome, it was December after all, but were quite fresh, it was totally what I wanted, and I finished it with breakfast the next day and was quite pleased with myself for having such foresight.

And the whipped cream?  Not from a can, and I was beyond thrilled that it came in a large portion, a deli style plastic container, absolutely full of whipped cream.  It was actually a ridiculous amount if you were really feeding these berries and whipped cream to kid, but for me?  Perfect.  I used it with my little fruit snack, I dunked a cookie in it later, and yes, I had some with my breakfast.  It was thick, creamy, and made me very happy.

Overall, nothing particularly remarkable about this dessert exactly, but I was really glad to have it at the time, and for $9, it actually seemed quite reasonable, particularly compared to all other hotel dining options, given that berries are pricey in winter, and, it really was a lot of fresh whipped cream.

*** really, but **** given the time and place.