The Bruce - Fine Dining Restaurant

Terrible food.

Worst meal I have ever eatten, take my advice and dine at another of Cambridge's fine restaurants.

I recently dined at The Bruce and was very much looking forward to an enjoyable evening as I have fond memories of numerous prior visits, sadly much has changed.
I brought my father in law to The Bruce for his 50th birthday with the intention of dinner and a round of golf on the golf simulator I had seen advertised. We arrived and waited for around 5 minutes before anyone came and greeted us and even then we were told Just a moment. Strange we were forced to wait when I could see a group of wait staff huddled around a table in the bar area. We should have left then but I hoped the rest of the evening would be more enjoyable. After we were finally greeted (properly) I asked the waitress about the possibility of dining in the golf simulator room to which she politely replied uhh... I dunno... its probably in use We should have left then...

We decided to sit in the lounge area which seemed to anger the group of staff that had been previously occupying the area. We were given menus and left alone.... No features? No special wine to offer? Strange... We should have left then...

We decided on a bottle of red wine, hoping our meal could salvage the evening I ordered the Calamari and 8oz Beef Tenderloin while my father in law chose the House Salad and Grilled Salmon. I have always recommended the food at The Bruce to friends and colleagues as it has always been phenomenal. Again, much has changed... We had to ask for a basket of bread again our waitress looked annoyed, but promptly brought us a basket of bread... which still had a chill to it. Our appetizers took a very long time which would have been understandable if there were more people dining in the restaurant, however aside from the two of us there were only a handful of other people in the place. My father in law had no complaints about his salad but my Calamari was severely overcooked, so much so that I barely ate any of it. Our waitress cleared our table without any question as to why she was taking away a nearly full order of Calamari...

Our main courses finally arrived, I ordered my Tenderloin Medium Rare and it was closer to Medium Well... my father in law's Salmon looked as if half of it got stuck to the grill and covered in sauce in an effort to hide the carnage. Our waitress did not come back to our table once to check on our meal. I contemplated having my steak redone but did not wish to wait all night for a new one. We finished our meals, paid the bill and left.

All in all this experience left a very sour taste in my mouth. From the moment we set foot in The Bruce it felt as if we were a burden on its staff. In an industry based around customer service this place has gotten it completely backward. As far as the food all I can say is this is not how I remembered it and will no longer recommend it to my acquaintances.

I met Chef Dean. He made us the most amazing steaks. Go for his food. Its worth the trip.

DO NOT attend Mothers Day brunch in the future! Worst food EVER, i felt like i was eating in my high school cafeteria.. except that food would have been better. It was $25 a plate, i think i ate 2 sausage links and headed straight for the desert table. Had it been $5 a plate.. it still would have been too expensive

We ate here once 2 years ago. Food good, too expensive and portions small

The MOST unattentive service!! Waited for our drinks at the beginning. Large gaps between courses. Waited 40 minutes after clearing our table to be asked about coffee and dessert. Never were. Asked for bill(that came in 2 minutes) and went to a competitors for dessert. Nothing like finishing what was to be a wonderful meal,elsewhere!!
As you can well imagine it hurts to drop $$$ and then have such a disappointing meal. Nothing good to recommed to others about The Bruce Restaurant. Sad too, when the Matradee (at the door) doesn't even inquiry about your meal. Definitely, not a warm inviting place to return to.