Sel de la Terre
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Overall Rating: Sick Potential (72 out of 100)
255 State Street
Boston, MA 02109
View Map
Phone: 617-720-1300
Located in the downtown waterfront right next to the New England Aquarium, Sel de la Terre specializes in southern French cuisine. We entered Sel de la Terre with sick meal expectations. Unfortunately, lukewarm cuisine, subpar service, and uninspiring ambiance left us unfulfilled.
Our History at Sel de la Terre
Our first visit was on a Friday night at 8:00pm.
Appetizers
$11 first courses include baked aged goat cheese salad, a braised bacon tart, flatbread pizza with smoked chicken, sauteed Maine crab cakes, and crispy fried Rhode Island style squid. Smaller plates such as french olives and eggplant-goat cheese puree are available for $5.
The flatbread pizza with smoked chicken was a highlight. Caramelized onions, green olives, feta cheese, and sage packed a compendium of flavor and texture into the cracker-thin pizza. We also ordered the selection of French olives, which were nothing special; mostly, we received tough, green olives.
Rating: 8.3
Main Dishes
Sel de la Terre's $26 main courses include grilled pork tenderloin, barbecued salmon, roasted chicken breast, pistachio and avocado crusted haddock, and roasted swordfish. Black olive rubbed rack of lamb goes for $33.
We tried the haddock as well as the swordfish. The haddock's pistachio and avocado "crust" (it was more of a "smattering") was sick, but the dish was served at a cool temperature, taking much of the air out of what could have been a splendid dish. Included with the haddock were sparse fingerling potatoes, roasted red onion, and a single cherry tomato. The swordfish was lukewarm and chewy, but it was somewhat saved by the accompanying mix of string beans, shell beans, roasted red pepper, and grilled corn nage.
Rosemary pommes frites, sauteed spinach with parmesan, and chickpea frites with spicy aioli are available as side dishes for $6.50.
Rating: 7.1
Drinks
Featured cocktails go for $10 - $13. A bottle of wine starts at $32.
Rating: 7
Service
Our waitress was hard-to-find when we needed her. Meanwhile, staff inappropriately buzzed around our table, eager to clear unfinished appetizers. Then, after concluding our entrees, the table sat in slop.
Rating: 6.6
Ambiance
Sel de la Terre looked like a private study turned into a restaurant, but the atmosphere felt cold, and the Sel de la Terre team seemed lifeless.
Rating: 7
Et Cetera
Trivia: Prior to opening Sel de la Terre in 2000, Chef/Partner Geoff Gardner spent eight years as the sous chef at L'Espalier.
Menu: View the menu on Sel de la Terre's web site
Reservations: Sel de la Terre is on OpenTable
Transportation: Valet is available for $16. The nearest T stop is Aquarium.
Dress: Casual
Hours: Dinner is served daily from 5:00pm until 10:00pm. A late night menu is available Wednesday through Saturday from 10:00pm until 12:30am.
Labels: French, Sel-de-la-Terre-Boston, Sick-Potential, Waterfront
