February 19th, 2006
Bambara
Should eating make you feel good now or later? Sometimes, the answer is clear to me, such as when I am gobbling a cheese-laden deep dish pizza at Uno's, and I know that the immediate pleasure is so worth the uncomfortable brick-in-my stomach sensation I will have two hours later.
Yesterday at Bambara, and today as well, I am not so sure. My friend Lewis and I took our dear pal Erma out to eat last night to celebrate her birthday. As Erma lives in Houston, she requested that we eat straight-shooting American food as she is regularly inundated with ethnic and Tex-Mex cuisine. So, we went to Bambara, a stylish, New American restaurant in the Hotel Marlowe. It had the makings of a great dining experience: attentive waitstaff, elegant menu, and, of course, exceptional company. Unfortunately, two out of three did not seem to live up to expectation.
Although our chatty but incomprehensible waiter took and delivered our drink orders promptly, he failed to serve us water even after we requested it twice. Forty-five minutes into our meal a spacey hostess with a silver pitcher wandered over to our table and asked if we wanted sparkling or tap. Who are you I wanted to ask but didn't. She wasn't bothered by our dry empty glasses, and laughed heartily when we said for the second time we'd like tap water; 'Good,' she said, 'cause I only have tap with me. ' Compounding my annoyance was the rapid-fire speed in which the courses were served. Someone should tell Bambara's busboys that no one likes to slurp down caviar.
The food seemed to redeem the meal. All of us ordered the February tasting menu, where for $45 we received an appertif, salad, entree, and dessert. The dishes' presentation was lovely, with three oysters served parallel on ice with a garnish of caviar, a salad of wild greens bordered by figs and sprinkled with pine nuts, and roast venison on a bed of sweet potato puree and asparagus. Dessert, a fudgy chocolate dome with almond ice cream, was overpoweringly rich and a challenge to finish (don't worry, I did).
So, we ate well, drank much (eventually), despite the service gaffes. All seemed well with the world until about 11:30pm on the T going home when I began to experience an unfriendly rumbling in my belly. For the rest of the night my stomach was considerably sour. I have no substantial proof pointing toward one particular culprit (and, indeed, I did imbibe three glasses of wine), but my gut feeling says something wasn't right with the venison. Although I requested the meat medium-rare, I did think it was a bit too pink and fleshy, but I ate it all the same because it tasted fine. Or so I thought.
Thus concludes my iffy review of Bambara. All things considered, it's good not great, and for similar prices you could easily find better service in a more T-accessible location. And maybe avoid a stomachache.
The Info
Bambara
25 Edwin H. Land Blvd., Cambridge
www.bambara-cambridge.com