The Justice

Media Credit: Max Breitstein Matza The Mad Raven's strong points include friendly décor and delicious sweet potato fries, but the service is very spotty and many dishes are unfulfilling.

On one of the rare weeknights a Brandeis workload allows for it, Waltham boasts a wide variety of options to break up the monotony of Aramark. With St. Patrick's Day coming in less than a week, the Mad Raven, an Irish-themed sports pub, seemed like a good idea. We walked in and sat ourselves down at a small booth. At 6 p.m. we were the only college students present in a room of 30- to 40-year-olds, but it still felt comfortable for us.

The setting had a little bit of everything. Four flat screens were tuned to sports, but it wasn't exactly a sports bar. There were St. Patrick's Day decorations and a few other bits of Irish flair, but the decor was not overwhelmingly Irish. The soundtrack was mainly indie music and laid-back in general, balancing out the sports bar element. While boasting a complete menu, the Raven did not exactly feel like a restaurant, even with most of the tables full of people eating. It was full of vintage concert posters and signs from random cities but didn't feel like a T.G.I. Friday's or Applebee's. It felt like the Mad Raven.

The service was disappointing at best. The waitress had a subtle Irish accent, which added to the authentic atmosphere. She was nice, but the service overall was not memorable. When we were asking for dinner suggestions, she gave one to each of us in regard to our stated palates and did not offer much description. The soup took about 15 minutes to come out, which seemed like a long time considering that soups are normally premade and warmed in restaurant kitchens. Our water glasses were not refilled. After the restaurant started getting a little busy (it was almost dead at about 5:45, but by 6:30 was about three-quarters full) we wondered if the waitress had forgotten about us as we looked at our finished plates.



KELSEY'S MEAL

French Onion Soup

Kelsey: At first sight I was impressed by how nice it looked. That a French onion soup was not overflowing surprised me. I was happy that the first sip did not have an overbearing amount of salt-I find that with French onion soup, the salt content often takes away from the soup. On the second sip I realized that while it was not bad soup, it was not especially good either. The reason it did not overflow was because there was not enough cheese. The croutons were too soggy, and there was no excess of onions on the bottom. All $5.95, this was way too expensive for a mediocre-tasting, small bowl of soup. It is listed as an entrée on the lunch menu, but I advise otherwise-this barely filled me up and did not impress me.

Continued...

Page 1 of 4 next >

Article Tools