Restaurant Review… Sunday Visit to Church, Fenway…

I don’t think I have ever read such mixed reviews on a restaurant in my blogger life.  Church runs hot and cold on yelp and other review sites.  People truly love it or hate it and they do it with a passion one way or the other.  While I don’t necessarily listen to what others have to say and always like to form my own opinions, I did keep forgetting about Church and taking a trip over to Fenway to try it out for myself until this past Sunday.  

I caught up with an old friend for a day of brunching, shopping, wine and dinner that started at 11.30am and ended at 10pm.  Don’t you love days like this?  I made a reservation for Church as I had heard there can be a wait and drove over to Fenway in the slushy, cold weather.  Not being totally familiar with that area, I did drive around for a little bit looking for an old church.  I just assumed that is what it must be.  I couldn't have been more wrong.  


While the exterior of Church is somewhat non-descript with large windows and a tall black and white sign with the name, we walked into quite a trendy space with dark wood and big leather sofas in a spacious environment.  The bar runs along the side wall and seats around 30 people.  Very roomy and casually welcoming.  

Upon arrival, Church was really quiet with no wait.  We were greeted by an extremely friendly and smiley host and escorted to a tiny table along the window. 

Looking around you can see the religious side with gothic paintings and gargoyles, dimly lit red lights that I am sure could add to the dark ambiance in the evenings, however, even with these decorative additions, Church did remind me of just a regular, inviting bar. 

The brunch menu was simple and short with the standard three eggs any style to intriguing looking options such as in the Toad in the Hole French Toast, Flammchuken Flatbread and Huevos Rancheros.  All around $9-$14.

While we were thinking about our options we did take a look at their ridiculously fun looking cocktail menu with offerings of the Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.  As it was brunch and I was driving I declined on cocktail brunch hour but I would have loved to try Greed and Gluttony… hmm?

Definitely not a Seven Deadly Sin

We put in our order including coffee and orange juice.  Coffee was lovely and strong and bottomless, just to my liking.

I ordered the French Style Omelet as I was looking for something a little simpler.  A light fluffy omelet filled with savory shallots and earthy mushrooms with a generous helping of gooey fontina.  However, as lovely as my omelet was, the home fries that came with it were fantastic. 

French Style Omelet –
Fine Herbs, Shallots, Roasted Mushrooms, Fontina - $9

My friend, Catherine ordered the Huevos Rancheros and this is what she had to say about it.  “Tasty but tortilla was a little chewy/tough even to cut through (I don’t know if it’s supposed to be that way).  It would be very messy indeed if you tried to wrap it up and eat it by hand. I was expecting more food for a brunch.  I like a volume of food at brunch, different things. I probably should have ordered a side.  Overall, very tasty though.”

Huevos Rancheros del Diablo –
Grilled Tortillas, Black Beans, Chorizo, Pico de Gallo, Pepper Jack - $9

Catherine did make very nice work of finishing my home fries, which she obviously liked as much as I did.  She even admitted she did have entrée envy.

We were eyeing up the Toad in the Hole French Toast, which arrived at a few other tables close to us.  It looked super.

So, overall I thought quite decent.  Service was good and attentive.  I enjoyed my dish and there are definitely many other things I would try on the brunch menu. I would absolutely go back.

I took a look at their website and noticed they have live music every night at Club Church starting at 9pm.  It would be interesting to see if this is mostly for the 20-something crowd as opposed to the 30 or 40-something.  Photos on their site definitely lean towards the younger, hip crowd so maybe I will stick with brunch or early dinner. 

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