Finale was once my all time favorite dessert place! Whenever we pass by Finale, we will definitely get a piece of their tiramisu and another of their yummy desserts. I’m not sure if I’ve been there to have lunch before but I remember sitting down for some coffee and desserts at Finale’s locations in Cambridge and Natick (unfortunately, closed now). Service was impeccable. Desserts were to die for.
My recent visit to Finale in Cambridge was a little disappointing. I brought my out of town guests to my favorite dessert place for lunch. Having not been there for a sit down lunch on a weekday, I wasn’t sure how their system worked. Instead of sitting down in the dining room, and have the wait staff take your order, etc…… patrons were asked to order (and pay) lunch from their dessert takeout counter. You will then be given a number to be taken to the dining area and placed at the edge of your table for the wait staff to see. Once your food is ready, the wait staff will bring the food over.
Apparently, you would also have to request and take your own drink from the bar (just a few steps from the cashier (where you ordered lunch) and bring it to your table! Our drinks weren’t topped up, so we had to bring our empty glasses to have the bar tender fill it up for us!
Oh yea, upon finishing my lunch… I waited..and waited..and waited (since the wait staff did not remove the “number” from me) for someone to bring out my dessert which I had ordered and paid for earlier. My dessert never came even though the empty plates were cleared. I asked the wait staff only to be told that I would have to get it myself from the dessert takeout counter…….. I definitely wasn’t too pleased with the dining experience and the service. Perhaps they minimize their service during weekday lunch hours?
Now that I’ve shared with you my dining experience……..let me share with you what we had for lunch. Derrick ordered a Roast Beef Sandwich (Bottom left) @ $6.99. The roast beef sandwich is served with horseradish mayonnaise, cheddar cheese, arugula and roasted red peppers on foccacia bread. I think Audrey went for a Turkey Club Sandwich and Salad Combo (Bottom Right) $8.19. Smoked Turkey served with Gruyere Cheese, Tomato, Lettuce, Bacon and Mustard Mayo on Foccacia bread. I forgot if they liked what they ordered.
I ordered a Chicken Salad Sandwich (Bottom Left) @ $6.19. Poached chicken mixed with pecans, grapes, onion, celery and mayo served with lettuce on multigrain bread. This was good. In fact I enjoyed it very much that I replicated it at home the next day!!
And of course, following my regular tradition…I just had to order their Tiramisu (Bottom Right) @ $5.99, I think. The tiramisu wasn’t great. It did not taste like the yummy tiramisu I’ve had in the past. The outer decorative layer was tough and chewy (perhaps stale?). Coffee flavors were hardly noticeable. It tasted like vanilla cream with cocoa powder on the top. And I don’t think they put liquor in their tiramisu. My friends who tasted the tiramisu also agreed it definitely did not taste like one. What was supposed to be the highlight of my lunch was surely a disappointment! Boo!
I would probably drag the husband out for a date night and perhaps share a tiramisu @ Finale’s one weekend. It would be nice to be able to see how their service would be and if the tiramisu would taste better than my last visit!
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