Review of Burlington's Cafe Escadrille Mediocre

Café Escadrille is a function hall/restaurant combination located in Burlington, Massachusetts. I had the opportunity to attend a holiday party in the function hall portion of the restaurant, quite recently. This was my first time there.

Our function initially began with a cocktail hour, complete with cold and hot hors d'oeuvres and an open bar. The wait-staff, which mingled with the crowd, was attentive, polite and always had a full plate of yummy food to tempt us with. Their hot hors d'oeuvres were exceptional, except for the chicken with peanut sauce. Initially, when the server with this hors d'oeuvre came by, the chicken itself looked rubbery. Upon taste, the texture was in fact rubbery and the taste bland. With regards to the hors d'oeuvres, this was the only disappointment. The cocktail hour was held in the main reception area in the Café Escradille and in an additional room where they had the cold appetizers laid out tastefully. The only other disappointment that occurred during the cocktail hour was the difficulty that one had in procuring a drink. My husband and I are New Hampshire residents. As such, we have New Hampshire drivers' licenses. This restaurant is located in Burlington, Massachusetts. While not on the New Hampshire/Massachusetts border, it should not be unusual to see New Hampshire identification cards at a function such as this. It is not so far as to make New Hampshire licenses unusual, by any stretch of the imagination. However, we had to procure alternative sources of proof of our age, which could have really been inconvenient had we not brought our passports with us.

The dinner itself was a sit-down dinner in a function hall. My husband said it best when he stated that the dinner "was like a wedding except without the bride, groom and all the other stuff," meaning the dances and other customs that one associates with a traditional wedding. The wait-staff was not as attentive during the sit-down dinner as I would have liked. The salad was slimey, as if it had been refrigerated for some time before it was served to us. I had the filet mignon for dinner. The greens were fresh and very good, as were the potatoes that were served. However, the meat was fatty and lukewarm at its warmest. The meat left much to be desired. The atmosphere was very good though and I enjoyed the cake and coffee.

All in all, my experience at Café Escadrille was a mediocre one and left some to be desired.