Blue Ribbon Brasserie, Boston, MA USA

Perhaps the worst duck I've ever had came in the from of a club sandwich from Blue Ribbon Brasserie at Boston's TD Garden.

Our first concert in 8 years – my wife was not the biggest live music fan, but I remained convinced it was solely due to her lack of experiences involving this form of entertainment.

For dinner prior, we chose Blue Ribbon Brasserie a new eatery that had recently opened up at The Hotel Commonwealth within the former space that Eastern Standard occupied. Spacious, buzzing, traditional and modern, Blue Ribbon did an excellent job executing on a French-styled bistro, and the happy faces, boisterous conversations, and empty plates surrounding us spoke volumes of the joy patrons extracted from their meals.

Blue Ribbon Brasserie is a creation born in New York City that had emigrated to Boston along with its Blue Ribbon Sushi counterpart, a solid Japanese restaurant just next door. Only a 5 minute walk from the new MGM Music Hall concert venue, this would be the perfect place to dine before our show.

Rachel and I were excited for this date night. Cocktails, raw bar, provincial dishes, and…. what was this, a roasted duck club sandwich?

What was a roasted duck club sandwich doing on the menu of a French Bistro? Completely out of place, I had to order this even if I was dubiously suspect about its potential. Truthfully, I thought highly of the Blue Ribbon franchise, so I let this sense of confidence persuade me to procure it.

We drank, laughed, dined, and enjoyed each other’s company. A wonderful experience.

And then the roasted duck club came.

A quick sidenote: duck is my favorite poultry and one of my top two favorite proteins. I grew up eating it often at home, and I cook it in a variety of ways for my family. I order it as often as I can, and while not as often on the menu as I’d like to see, it’s actually quite easy to cook decently thanks to its rich flavor and fatty skin. As a result, I am highly critical of it when dining out, but fortunately, I am rarely, if ever, disappointed.

This would not be the case tonight. My wife filmed the moment, however, with great excitement:

You may notice that I was so disappointed by the duck that I asked my wife to stop filming (note to self: make sure microphone is actually working on next video). All I could taste was bacon.

Cold and completely flavorless – and when I say flavorless, I truly mean it: no seasoning, no fat, no… I mean, nothing, absolutely nothing. There’s no way you would even know it was duck. It could have been any poultry. It could have been tofu. It was a beyond perplexing and sad moment for me. I was upset.

Everything else about this club sandwich was solid, but someone seriously needs to tell the restaurant how poor of quality their duck is. I’ve had airport club sandwiches that rank below 60 points with better protein than Blue Ribbon Brasserie’s duck club sandwich.

I can, without a doubt, declare that this was the worst duck I’ve ever had. My wife seconded this opinion fact.

Roasted? Yea, right.

I will 100% be back to Blue Ribbon Brasserie, we truly did love it, but gosh, someone either please take that club sandwich off the menu, or reinvent it, because it’s a dish with such promise that is totally let down by what should be a shining star of an ingredient.

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