Review: Gaslight Brasserie du Coin, South End

I visited Gaslight Brasserie this weekend with a group of friends to celebrate two of my dearest friends' birthdays. The French bistro-style food was quite delicious, though I would have appreciated a bit better service and accessibility. Gaslight is in the South End, but all of the way down almost to Boston Medical Center. It isn't very close to any T station, which doesn't make it very easy to reach.

I loved the styling and atmosphere of the restaurant. There is a large bar and then a separate dining room, where we sat at a long dark wood table. It is quite dark inside, but I think it set the mood. I can imagine it would be a good place to go for a romantic date. I was happy to find that their wine list was reasonably priced, but it sure took a while to get it. We did have a couple members of our party arrive slightly late, but our waitress took very long time to take our drink orders, and oddly, didn't take them all at the same time. For the entire time we were there, she seems very disengaged and uninterested. It did look like they were possibly understaffed, but the waitress seemed to avoid us at times. My vegetarian friend asked her very early on about what the chef could make for her, and the waitress didn't really answer her. From reading a few other reviews on Yelp, it seems as though the service has been a constant issue. But, we were having fun on our own, and luckily weren't in a hurry, so we could mostly ignore the bothersome service.

The food, on the other hand, was wonderfully French. We started with cheese plates for the table, and I am such a sucker for bread and cheese. The plates featured a brie, a goat cheese, and an incredibly creamy blue cheese, with both an apricot and fig spread. They gave us 3 warm, fresh baguettes wrapped in paper, just like you would get on the street in France. There is little better than fresh crusty bread with goat cheese and fig.

Almost everyone at our table ordered steak frites - either the traditional with Bearnaise sauce, or what I chose - the bar steak. The bar steak was a strip steak covered with caramelized shallots and a mustard cream sauce, served with delicious skinny french fries. The sauce was incredible and not too rich or thick with cream. I haven't always been a big steak eater but I am happy to be introducing it back into my life more. Turns out you just need to eat properly cooked and seasoned meat. Everyone was pleased with their meals, it seemed, even the vegetarian, who made an easy meal of side dishes, including some really delicious roasted parsnips that I tasted.

We were pretty full for dessert but they did bring us a couple dishes with candles so we could wish our friends a happy birthday. The chocolate lava cake was just fine for me, but the cherry clafoutis was much richer. I would go back to Gaslight again, but probably not with a big group. I would much prefer dinner at the wine bar.

Gaslight Brasserie du Coin
560 Harrison Ave.
Boston, MA 02228