My boyfriend and I are a quite food lovers and I used to be a server in a five star restaurant in Boston for several years. I know what people expect from fine dining. Mantra is known to be the one of the finest restaurants worth trying in Boston.... Let me tell you! It was the worst food I've ever had in all the fine restaurants I have gone to so far. We ordered two appetizers, soft shell crab and seared scallops. The soft shell crab had way too much breading. I couldn't taste the crab at all. The scallop was overcooked so there was no juice in them which is crucial for the flavor of scallops. Sauce was too bland. Our entree was even more pathetic. The veal tenderloin that we ordered was too dry and again the sauce didn't bring out the flavor of the meat. The stuffed pork tenderloin had tastless stuffing that I wasn't able to tell what they were and the white asparagus on the side was so hard I had a hard time chewing. Then the service was as bad as you get in Chinatown. Our server didn't even know if the seasonal appetizer on the menu was available, didn't bring out the wine menu until we asked for it ( it was 15min after we were seated), got our drink order wrong, and then took away our entree even though I still had much food left in my plate. If we pay 20 something dollar for an appetizer and close to 40 for entree, we would definitely anticipate the food quality and service to be at a much higher level. But unfortunately their food quality and service didn't even deserve one star. I highly recommened to NOT waste your money at Matra and go elsewhere. You'll tahnk me for it.
Pros: Ambiance was really nice. Very nicely decorated.
Cons: Food, serivice, attention to detail, shall I go on?
more