The Boston College Club

Being an Alum of Boston College, I have always wanted to eat dinner at the Boston College Club. Unfortunately, it's quite expensive to become a member and, at this point in my life, I don't feel the urge to pay monthly dues to private dining clubs. So, imagine my delight when I saw that the BC Club was participating in Restaurant Week! I called to make reservations and to confirm that you did not need to be a member to dine there for the special menu. The woman was very nice on the phone and confirmed that I was indeed eligible to eat there during Restaurant Week! Whoo-hoo! We were on our way! (For Boston, For Boston, we sing our proud refrain!).

Four of us (two BC alums, one BC grad student, and 1 Clark U. graduate) arrived at 100 Federal street a few minutes earlier then expected. We couldn't believe it. Was this where the BC Club was located?! The famous building that slants IN towards the bottom? I've always joked that this building is held up by suspension support..."suspension of disbelief" (my crude attempt at architectural humor). We entered into the lobby and were asked to supply ID's. I showed mine and my name was checked off a list. The bars that blocked us from the rest of the lobby swished to the side and we made our way to the elevator.

The club is on the 36th floor (there are only 38 floors to the building) and I was very excited to see that the Club even had it's own labeled elevator button. We were living large now!

After our ears had popped a few times from going so fast and high up, the elevator doors opened and we walked down a nice hallway to the front desk of the club. We told the woman we had reservations but were a bit early. She told us that that was fine and we could have drinks in the lounge or at our table if we wanted. We glanced over to the lounge and it was beautiful. The view was absolutely incredible but since we were hungry we thought the table would be best and made our way down the right hallway that showcased members private wine selections under lock & key (very cool).

We got to the host stand where we were greeted by name and escorted to our table in the Harbour Dining Room. The room was quite large and very tastefully decorated. The chairs were wood and upholstery with pictures of ships on the back. The walls were covered in damask wallpaper and one whole side of the restaurant was glass. We were seated at a table right by the window. To the left was a view of Back Bay, straight ahead, Cambridge, and to the left, the harbor. I didn't feel comfortable taking pictures but I tried to sneak one of the view.

Our table was set with Boston College china. Not tacky china but really eloquent looking china with scroll work and Boston College written around the rim. One of the walls was covered in a mural that I recognized to be a Zuber Cie mural. Zuber Cie specializes in hand painted murals (which I have an affinity towards and why I recognized the company) and I was excited I finally got to see one in real life. The restaurant week menus were already on the plates ready to go. We could choose from a few options.

For appetizers we could get crab cakes or a tomato mozzarella salad. I got the salad which was divine. Small slices of tomato were laid on top of fresh basil and arugula, followed by a slice of mozzarella and then repeated again to make something that resembled a sandwich without the bread. The top was drizzled in a balsamic vinegar and salt, that tasted like it was dipped in a bit of sugar, was gingerly sprinkled on top. It was the best tomato mozzarella dish I've ever had. Everyone else who got the crab cakes agreed that they were just as fantastic; nice and plump they looked delicious.

For the main course, we could choose from grilled tenderloin, chicken Marsala, or salmon. Between everyone at the table, we got each one. We had four waiters at this point come to our table with silver-domed plates. They set them down in synchronization and did the reveal at the same time which was really something we hadn't expected and a lot of fun. I had the chicken Marsala which was very good. It was smothered in mushrooms (which I don't usually eat but found these to be quiet good). The steak, I hear though, was the dish to beat. It looked and tasted great. It was thick and juicy, cooked just right and underneath was a potato gratin that looked awesome.

For dessert, we tried the apple crisp, strawberry shortcake, and lemon budino. All of our desserts were just perfect. The apple crisp was the best Adam's ever tasted. The lemon budino was light and refreshing and my strawberry shortcake was a neat variation on the traditional dessert with strawberries drizzled in between two powdered biscuit cookies.

The service at the club was great the whole evening. Our water glasses were constantly refilled, we ordered a bottle of Grgich Zinfandel (apparently, a good choice and a house favorite) and our glasses were topped off whenever we needed them to be. The mixed drinks were also very good. I had a dark and stormy with my dessert which I had been dying to try and it was really delicious.

We left the BC club totally satisfied with the food, service, and atmosphere. If you can manage to get in, the BC club is a fine dining experience not to be missed.