Pellana - Peabody

My normal review for Pellanas fabulous restaurant with excellent food, superb service, and a refreshingly old lib atmosphere. Only room for improvement, based on numerous previous experiences, is a revival of the classic Pellanas salad, with the usual embellishments. Perhaps last night was an oversight. No matter, as we will return soon.

I was seated near the kitchen doorway, so constant traffic. I will say the passing staff were as unobtrusive as could be, but it was hard to ignore, plus felt less private for what I'd hoped to be an intimate dinner for two. The sirloin strip was tasty, but it definitely was NOT $75 tasty (including add-on bearnaise). As is the custom in high end steakhouses, everything is a la carts. The bone-in sirloin also tasted great, but did have some annoying gristly bits to cut around. Wedge salad was good but nothing special. Crème brûlée was a bit runny but tasted good. Clams casino had wonderful flavor, but overdone and a bit chewy. The waiter was very knowledgeable and professional. I never felt rushed, everything was served at a relaxed pace yet I never felt like I was waiting for anything. Service was really top notch. Martinis and wine were great. Waiter knew his stuff and made great wine recommendations. Prices were where you'd expect in a high end steakhouse. Decor is an exact duplicate of any Capital Grille. Not a bad thing, just a bit uninspired. Menu is also almost an exact duplicate, from the seafood tower to the lobster mac and cheese. Again, not a bad thing. I just wished they'd offered a special or two, maybe a couple of apps that were uniquely Pellana. Bottom line: this was a really good dinner. The decor and menu were both really good, yet nothing unique or inspired. The food was very good. But I would expect exceptional at this price point. We got 2 sirloins, shared an app, shared a salad, shared a dessert. We each had a martini and a glass of wine. Total with a 20% tip, the total was $370. If the total had been $250, I might have called this exceptional. At $300, I would have said it was very good and a decent value. At $370, I think they need to step up their game. The service was first class, and that always makes for a very enjoyable experience.

We had requested a nice quiet table to celebrate our 40th anniversary, which hostess acknowledged when we arrived, and we were seated in a corner table. A couple of minutes later, a large party of 8 were seated close by, which ended the quiet table placement. Our server Roberto was pleasant enough, but seemed to be spread too thin, covering too many tables, including the large party who had 2-3 cocktails, while we shared a glass of wine. We kind of felt a bit neglected, disappointing for a “high end” restaurant. For dinner, my wife chose the barrel cut filet mignon, along with a lobster tail. I ordered the bone-in sirloin, also with a lobster tail. When dinner arrived, the lobster arrived in the shell, which made taking it out of the shell a bit messy. The tail my wife got was especially difficult to extract, and contained 1/2 the meat that mine had. We notified Roberto, and he did bring us a replacement tail, but it was frustrating to deal with. Also, my wife found her filet somewhat over salted. The sides of mashed potato and roasted mushrooms were wonderful, as was my sirloin. Roberto brought us 2 complementary vanilla ice creams with Happy Anniversary chocolates, which was a lovely touch to end our meal.

We had dinner at Pellana's to celebrate a special occasion (2 birthdays to celebrate); both my husband and my son love steak. Food was very good; steaks were excellent. For the price, this is a restaurant which will only be for special occasions for our family but definitely plan to return in the future!

Jim S. was an excellent server. He knew the menu very well and made suggestions. I had the Halibut. Jim offered me a choice between Blackened or Pan Seared with crumbs. I had the Pan Seared. The cut of Halibut was flakey , moist and very flavorful. I had the Crab Cake and it was moist and all crab. My friend had the Bone-in Sirloin, medium rare. It was very tough to cut. We were surprised for a high end steakhouse. The Lobster Mash was loaded with Lobster and large enough for two to share. The cut of Sirloin was the big disappointment. Wait staff, atmosphere and menu was excellent.