Gaslight Brasserie du Coin

I think when most people think "French" they think stodgy and high-brow. But Gaslight is very casual so don't go there expecting 5-star service. And being in the South-end, you as a customer will get snooty treatment, especially FROM THE WAITSTAFF. It is a predominantly gay neighborhood, so take that however you will. And as a straight famle, I defintely received some cati-ness from the gay male staff. I think I will request a famle server next time. But seems like the waitstaff as a whole is above doing certain thinks such as picking up a dropped fork, perhaps they expect the bussers to do the "low" stuff. But I will come back for the ambience and some, not all, of the food.
I have been to both brunch and dinner. The later I went with 6 other people and had a chance to try 4 different dishes and 3 apps.
Appetizers - we had escargots, fondue, and mussels, they were all on the oily side so you MUST have wine at this point, the acidity kills the oil. The fondue was lovely, a little salty tho but I think that's natural for guyere when melted.
Main - If you have to have steak, ask for little salt because both the bar steak and steak frites including fries is caked in salt. This shouldn't be a problem if you're pairing wine but remember a great piece of meat does not need much enhancement. The meat was dry, charred on the outside but somehow very bloody on the inside, even both were requested medium. I think they need to turned down the flame a notch. Honestly, I've had better beef at Texas Roadhouse.
I personally ordered the braised lamb. Although the flavor was spot on, it was not what I expected in texture - my fault for not clarifing the cut of meat. The highlight was the cod. It came in wine sauce that had a lemony after taste, very complex and flavorful. The cod was perfectly cooked and there were mussels in the sauce for that extra seafood taste.
Desert we had a couple of tarts and cakes. I have always liked their creme brulee, the texture of the vanilla bean crunch with the candied sugar is spot on, not too sweet and light. I'm not a big desert person but my friend is, she said it was good but not great. I thought it was great honestly.
All in all, it was a good group experience. Put the shotty service aside, half of our main courses were great. Good bread (we got 2 loaves) and good whipped butter. Have a glass of wine with your meal. Not to sound repetitive, but French and Italian food needs the wine, it is a part of the meal.
You have to be in a mood to go there. I think what Gaslight succeeds in creating is the french cafe ambience, loud and bustling charm. You're treated just like how you would be treated in France, I guess.
It's a good place for groups. Okay for dates, not good to bring business client to, like the guy who wrote the below review.
If service it important to you and it should be to a certain extent, you should seek out a 5-star restaurant (try Radius or No. 9). But Gaslight is casual dining and take into account, it's in the South End.

Ive been to Gaslight several times and have had a questionable experience (with slow waitstaff on the floor) only once. The outdoor patio is fantastic in the warm months. Brunch is my favorite there, though, and the adorable and friendly bartenders usually cause the bar to be my seat of choice. The drinks are amazing. The food is without exception good, sometimes incredible (the cuban in particular) and the atmosphere is simply stunning on a brightly lit weekend morning.

I don't understand the hype over this place - it's very loud and uncomfortable (oh yes I get it's suppose to be a french brasserie but I want to be a bit more comfortable when dishing out money for so-so food), service is not consistent, house wine is terrible, and food is just ok. Nothing terribly wrong with it but nothing to write about either.

Nice design. Food just OK. Shockingly bad service.

Waitress did not come to take order for 15 -20 minutes. Busboy poured water into glasses with pitcher lip touching glass rim (unappetizing, and a health code violation). The server hit the wine bottle and it fell on the floor, spilling wine on the floor -- and he just picked it up and put it back on the table as if nothing happened! No replacement, nothing.

I've read the other reviews for Gaslight with great interest, before and after my experience there, and I wonder if a dined at a completely different restaurant! I thus feel quite compelled to write about my extremely wonderful, positive dining experience.

I took my sister to Gaslight for a celebratory birthday brunch on Easter weekend. Our experience was extremely memorable - in a very good way! First, our waiter was fantastic - attentive, and conscientious but not overbearing or hovering. Our meals were superb - we both enjoyed the beet salad to start, and I had the moules frites, while my sister had Gaslight's brilliant take on French onion soup. The mussels were among the best I have ever tasted - and while the frites were slightly overdone they were still very delicious! Dessert was also wonderful - the creme brulee was unbelievable.

My sister has spent time in France and Gaslight truly remindeded her of the brasseries in Southern France. Every detail was perfect, and my sister's birthday was made even more special by the entire staff at Gaslight. Perhaps it was because we chose to have brunch on a quiet, sunny, Saturday afternoon on a holiday weekend (the dining room was fairly empty) that our experience was so wonderful? I did attend the opening last Fall, and I'll admit that at that time the space was loud and overwhelming; however, as I've not yet dined there for dinner I can not comment as to the evening atmosphere. But I can not find a single negative regarding my recent brunch experience, and would recommend others to give it a try. I will definitely try dinner the next time!

Gaslight might just be the worst restaurant in Boston.

I took clients their last night and was appalled at the food. The steak was fatty and overdone (frankly, burned) and the fries were overcooked frozen McDonald’s style. The salmon looked even worse. The service was well below what you’d expect and it’s likely the good waitstaff have moved on. Avoid at all costs.

My wife and I went to Gaslight even after reading the reviews below and our experience was a very positive one.
Plenty of parking in the neighborhood and the decor/setting was pretty cool. More NYC than Boston.
The service was attentive and friendly, if not polished.
We started with a fresh, warm, whole baguette and had the escargots, garlic and mussels soup and the haricots verts - all of which were very good.
We enjoyed the lamb and the braised pork (with lentils) as entrees and those were excellent.
We finished off with the molten chocolate cake, which was tasty enough to satisfy our sweet tooth but not so heavy as to bloat us.
I recommend Gaslight for those who are looking for a very good meal for reasonable prices.

My girlfriend and I were looking forward to trying out a relatively new restaurant around town, particularly a place getting a lot of buzz. In any event, while the food wasn't bad, not great but certainly not bad, the service is horrible. First, they were out of several appetizers and entrees on the menu. Second, they never brought us bread. Third, I orders steak and frites for an entree and they never bothered to bring a steak knife. Fourth, they never refilled our water glasses and failed to ask my girlfriend if she would like another diet coke. Fifth, my girlfriend accidently dropped her knife, they wait staff just sort of looked and didn't bother to do anything. Finally, even when I complained to a manager, the manager never came back to ask how we were doing and nothing was taken off the bill. I would not recommend Gaslight under any circumstances and for a place that has been open since August, they should have worked all of these kinks out by now. In any case, if you do want steak and frites, go to Eastern Standard, Franklin Cafe or Blue on Highland in Needham.

I went (with some trepidation) to Gaslight with my partner and two friends for a post-Christmas holiday meal. The only misstep that I could detect in the entire authentic, delicious, and relaxing experience was the lack of a coat check! Our server was friendly and efficient, our cozy booth was private and comfortable, and the food was superb. I highly recommend the signature cocktail Fleur de Lis made wit violet liqueur. Having spent many years hiking around France and Belgium staying in hostels and pensions so that I could afford to eat in the more expensive brasseries, I will say that the food here is exactly on target. Yeah it is predictable (tart tatin, etc) but that is the whole point of a brasserie. To avoid falling into my common trap of ordering from my safety zone, I simply gave the menu to our waitress and asked her to choose for me - and received a dish I would never have ordered: a luscious saffron brothed pan-seared cod with black mussels and caramelized baby onions. To all those who miss the tiny chef-owned bistros of Pernety in the higher-numbered working class arrondissements - please go here...

This place had a lot of initial buzz but then you go to the place and it is not in a very nice section and it is next to a gym. The parking is nice but I guess this is a trade off. When we arrived we had to wait although there were obvious tables available.
So we went to the bar and it took 10 minutes before we could get a bartenders attention. Does the manager train these people?
We had a few appetizers and the Steak Tartare was very good but the others were mediocre at best. We were finally seated and our waitress was not all that attentive. We ordered Steak and a special of the night which was fish and some others. The steak was cold and a manager came over at some point to apologize but she did not seem sincere. The place was too noisy.
Overall I think that it is not worth going to and that was my last trip there. Next time I will go back to Radius even though it is more expensive. You get what you pay for I guess.

I was very excited to try this restaurant, a french restaurant with reasonable prices. I was sorely disappointed. First, we had reservations but were 15 mins late. When i called in to let the host know that we were going to be late, he was a little apprehensive about holding the table for us which led me to believe that the restaurant was packed. When we walked in, the restaurant was more than half empty (strike one). We sat down, ordered a $40 bottle of wine. Wine was not very good (strike 2). We ordered escargots for or appetizer, I had duck confit for my entree and my fiancee had the lamb for his. The escargots was quite gross -visually and flavor wise and texture wise. It was gross! (strike 3). My duck confit was poorly put together, overly salty (and I love salt) with very little meat. It looked and tasted like day old microwaved duck. (strike 4) My fiancee's lamb was surprisingly fairly good compared to everything else. The creme brulee was decent and so was the chocolate molten cake. Only thing is, there was very little molten in the cake, it should be called chocolate cake. All in all a bad food experience for over $100. Will never go back again.

So disappointing. Such bad food. The place looks nice, until you realize that it is a TGI Fridays dressed up as a "fancy" bistro. The place is huge, there are highchairs everywhere--very family friendly as the kids will love this food even if you don't. Maybe your next kiddie birthday venue?

Nice atmosphere--bland food. No, actually really awful food. A chain restaurant pretending to be more, and that is the worst thing about the place, worse than the bad food. Embarrassing. I am ashamed to ever have set foot in the place, and that I thought it would be good speaks of my equally embarrassing naivete.