Sibling Rivalry

Sunday, January 7, 2007

Overall Rating: Sick Meals (82 out of 100)

525 Tremont Street
Boston, MA 02116
View Map
Phone: 617-859-4805

Located in the South End, Sibling Rivalry is a modern American restaurant that features the dueling cuisine of brothers David and Bob Kinkead. For each menu category, Chef David and Chef Bob serve up a first course or main course. The winter menu includes selections in the following categories: arugula; duck; mushrooms & artichokes; tuna; veal; leeks; cabbage, bacon, & potatoes; tomatoes; lamb; and shellfish. Specials are also available.

Sibling Rivalry's food is among the sickest. However, the service was not so sick. When exquisite cuisine meets haphazard service, it is a travesty.



Our History at Sibling Rivalry
Our fourth visit to Sibling Rivalry was on a Friday night at 8:45pm.

Appetizers
Sibling Rivalry's arugula salad is one of the best salads we've had. This $11 treat includes roasted beets, haricots verts, walnuts, sherry-shallot vinaigrette, and goat cheese fondue. The beats were fresh and flavorful.

We also sampled pan-seared scallops, one of the evening's special offerings, for $14. The dish consists of two scallops wrapped in ham with house-made Boston baked beans and griddled brown bread.

Other notable options included hand-rolled pappardelle with artichokes & portobollo mushrooms and pumpkin ravioli with duck confit.

The average price for a first course is $12.

Rating: 9.5

Main Dishes
Pepper crusted saddle of Vermont venison ($27) was another of the evening's specials. Tender, juicy, and tasty venison was wonderfully complemented by spinach gnocchi that simply melted in our mouths.

In addition, we enjoyed a pan-seared, thinly-sliced rare tuna steak ($26) with a long tempura string bean and miniature pork wontons. Think sushi without the rice. The serving size was a bit dainty, but the dish was fantastic.

The average main course is $28.

No matter what you order, you can't go wrong.

Rating: 9.4

Drinks
Sibling Rivalry serves perfect martinis, priced at $11. We tried the Down Under - vodka with smashed kiwi and simple syrup. During the summer, Sibling Rivalry mixes a fresh watermelon martini that is not to be missed.

Sibling Rivalry presents a diverse wine collection that caters to many palates and wallets. A handful of whites are priced in the $34-$39 range. There are also a handful of reasonably-priced reds, starting at $29.

Rating: 8.6

Service
We arrived on time for our 8:45pm reservation. The restaurant was "running behind", so we were directed to the overflowing bar area. The next time we heard from someone was 9:20pm, and we were given the option of a table in the bar area, or waiting "a few more minutes" for a table in one of the two main dining areas. Ten minutes later, we were seated at an inappropriately-positioned table in a hallway that joins the bar and the main entrance. A one-to-two foot pole divided the bar area from the table.

After waiting over 35 minutes for a table - and waiting an extra 10 minutes to not sit in the bar area - we were stunned.

So, several minutes later, we were moved to one of the main dining areas. For our 8:45pm reservation, we sat down at 9:37pm.

For our troubles, we were served a complimentary bottle of Brut Durgent - a nice gesture, but coming off New Year's, champagne was not on our hit list.

Our waitress was professional, but she seemed to be in her own little world.

In the visits we've made to Sibling Rivalry, we've never been seated on time.

Rating: 5

Ambiance
Sibling Rivalry includes three rooms. There are two main dining areas - one with a view of the open kitchen - and a bar area. The restaurant is always busy; there's a buzz in the air. It's a sick place to dine or have drinks.

The only caveat is the tables shockingly assembled in the hallway. In making a reservation, note that you do not want to sit in this irrelevant area.

Patio dining is available in the summertime.

Rating: 8.4

Et Cetera

Trivia: Chef Bob authored a seafood cookbook, Kinkead's Cookbook

Parking: Valet is available for $16.

Menu: Visit Sibling Rivalry's web site to view this season's menu.

Reservations: Sibling Rivalry is on OpenTable.

Dress: Sibling Rivalry presents an elegant yet casual dining environment.

Labels: American, Sibling-Rivalry, Sick-Meals, South-End

posted by The King of Sick Meals @ 12:37 AM