Punch Bowl

If you're looking for a solid on-property restaurant or are just in the Brookline area, you have to give Punch Bowl a try! Punch Bowl is located on the lobby level of the Hilton Garden Inn. It is in the Brookline area, close by all the world renowned medical institutions. Punch Bowl is known for "contemporary New England" dining. On their mid-day and dinner menu, you will find something for everyone! They utilize fresh, local ingredients and even offer a phenomenal raw bar! We decided to stop in for an early dinner at Punch Bowl. We stopped in before the dinner menu. They do offer a "mid-day" menu that is a bit scaled down version of their main menu. Their raw bar has a solid and impressive selection for an on-site restaurant! You'll find raw oysters, raw clams, jumbo shrimp, and caviar. If you want a little of everything, they do offer seafood towers. The best part about their raw bar: $1.25 oysters until 6PM daily! They also have an impressive craft cocktail program! There is a solid selection of craft cocktails & craft beer. The offerings are unique and equally delicious. The pours are generous and the unique cocktails are mixed to perfection! Aside from the raw bar, they offer a solid selection of contemporary New England cuisine. You'll find fresh lobster rolls, clam chowder, popovers, fish and chips, swordfish kebabs, and house made pizzas. If you're looking for more American-style options, they have you covered. They have a solid selection of fresh salads, expansive charcuterie boards, nachos, chicken wings, roasted chicken, sirloin steak, hamburgers, and chicken sandwiches. They also offer a solid selection of fresh sides. The portion size is generous. If you have the young ones in tow, they do offer a kid's menu! They also offer a small dessert menu for those with a sweet tooth like myself. We decided to start off with the raw-bar! I am a huge oyster fan and I am highly selective in where I choose to consume raw oysters. I decided to start off with half a dozen oysters. At $1.25 a piece, that's an awesome deal when everything else around us is going UP in price! The oysters were cleaned perfectly and there were no issues with any "grit" or bits of shell. The oysters were incredibly fresh and presented beautifully in a hammered-copper serving platter. The oysters were incredibly fresh and delicious, not overly "briney". Appearance and size was on-point. For $1.25 a piece, they were incredible and I'd absolutely suggest them for happy hour! They were so good I decided to order a second round! Next, we decided to order the clam chowder and some fresh-baked bread and house-made butter. The clam chowder was easily one of the better that I've had in New England. It was filled with chunks of clams, vegetable, and potato. The soup wasn't overly heavy or overly thin, it was just right. It was a generous portion for the price. The fresh-baked bread and house-made butter was so good I also ordered a second round to the table! Beverages were incredible as well. Mixed to perfection and a generous pour. We each ordered the "La Morra Mora". It is a mix of citrus vodka, cassis, fresh lemon/lime, sprite, simple syrup, and muddled blackberries. It was mixed perfectly and we both were tempted to order another! Their entire craft-cocktail selection is incredibly unique and I look forward to working my way thru the menu! The only downside is the service could be a touch more attentive. It can sometimes be tough to snag your waiter to order more food/drinks. However, the kitchen is efficient in getting food out quickly and piping hot! If you're staying on property, I'd absolutely recommend it to guests. The menu offers local flavors, along with upscale classics that everyone will love. The menu truly offers something for everyone. I also find the prices extremely reasonable for the level of quality, freshness, ingredients, portion size, and flavor. You would end up spending more ordering in fast food on a food delivery app. If you're at the hotel, it's certainly worth stopping down for a bite. You can also bring your meal back up to your room. I'd also suggest this spot to locals in and around the Brookline area! The menu selection is phenomenal, as are the craft-cocktails. You won't be disappointed!

I arrived at the restaurant around 5 PM, eager to explore their cocktail menu and wine selection. Although they don't have happy hour, I was impressed by their extensive list of red and white wines, as well as their specialty wines. To start, I ordered their Cup of Calm Chowder and Calamari. The chowder was soothing and comforting, while the calamari was incredibly fresh and delicious. I did notice that the seafood selection was a bit limited, but the overall menu was still impressive.I chose to sit at the bar, which was very spacious and could easily accommodate groups. The vibe was cozy and welcoming, with comfortable seating options at the bar. The service was impeccable - my food arrived promptly after ordering, and the bartender was both friendly and engaging. We had a great conversation while I enjoyed my appetizers.Overall, I had a wonderful experience at this restaurant and would definitely recommend it to others.

I had a bloody mary (flavor mediocre), shrimp cocktail (4 big fat shrimp), and two pizzas....pepperoni with mushrooms and sausage with tomatoes and onions. Best pizza and crust I've had in the last 30 years. Perfect, crispy crust, not too thick or thin. Honestly, I ate the whole sausage pizza myself. Mom scarffed the pepperoni up, and she's not a big eater.

I just came for breakfast this morning and it was so good! I ordered a veggie omelet with sausage, home fies, and toast. Sounds ordinary, but it wasn't! You could tell the ingedients, especially the sausage, werevery high quality. And the home fries were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Delicious! I usually ignore home fries, but these I ate.The service was really nice. I asked the server what his name was so I could put it on Yelp and his boss would see it, but it turned out he was the general manager and was working so his employees could have Christmas off. How nice is that?? His name is Nick, btw.

Upon arriving, I was promptly directed to our group table. I had the 12 oz NY strip steak. Overall, the food was good but could've been better. For example, the steak was seasoned well with herb butter, with the roasted mushrooms perfectly complementing the steak's flavor. Nevertheless, the steak was slightly overcooked. For dessert, we had the donut holes. While beautifully presented, I did feel that the donut holes tasted a bit burnt, with the frosting being somewhat bland. Overall, I feel that Punch Bowl is one of those restaurants that's decent but takes itself too seriously and attempts to present itself as a Michelin Star restaurant.

Dont do it stay away. Never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever again. I bought my 88 year old Mom for brunch and we were seated for 1hour waiting for our order. Servers serverd all the other tables that arrived after us. Come to find out they never placed our order.The ownership constantly understaffs the restaurant and on previous occasions they always get orders wrong. I have always given the benefit of the doubt but this time i decided to spot and say something.

This is a typical not so good hotel restaurant. That pretty much sums it up. We read the reviews and still went! We were staying in the hotel and were tired and didn't feel like going anywhere. Don't make the same mistake we made. Go the one mile into Brookline Village. There is a ton of great restaurants to choose from.

A rhyming poem for Punch Bowl:Punch Bowl is a phoenix that rose from the COVID quarantine ashes. My second time here since the quarantine. Have we forgotten how to socialize? What if my friends and I have clashes?Not much into cocktails or liquor, so I go for the wine or beer. Takes forever to put in an order. I'm here to eat and drink. Is that not clear?If you sit indoors, you might smell oil. All that frying, maybe switch to the broil?First time I came here, I only had time for the calamari side dish. Second time, I kept with the seafood theme and got the hake fish. Calamari was a nine out of ten. Better than the fact that my surroundings were mostly men. For the hake dish, they overdid it with the salt. But we've all been there, it's not all their fault. After more than 30 min, I had to chase down staff to put in our order, so service was lacking. I don't get it, are you slacking?Once we were done, wait staff was no where to be seen. We needed our check so I had to find wait staff again -- good thing I'm no English Queen. Would I return to Punch Bowl?Yes, and I promise I'm no internet troll.

The service was horrible, for context I am a young man traveling solo to the Boston area for business and staying at the Hilton the restaurant is located in. I wanted to grab an easy dinner after a long day, shortly after being seated I received no service for a period of over 10 minutes, I was able to finally get my order in and while I waited several different servers approached me wanting to know what I wanted for drinks, dinner, and if I was waiting for someone, I was asked each multiple times by several servers after I had already answered each in the beginning. The food was only decent and was not worth the high price point, throughout my dining experience the wait staff lacked any communication with each other whatsoever and until the end I didn't even know who was assigned to me. Wait staff was disrespectful and overall inattentive, I do not recommend!

Really underwhelming $18 continental breakfast with basically cereal, a few bagels, and some scrambled eggs (all bland looking). There's other breakfast places around here, and since Hilton didn't actually include breakfast I preferred to go to those. Same price better quality elsewhere.