Improper Bostonian: Best Hotel Restaurant (2010)
Forbes Travel Guide: Four Star Award
AAA: Four Diamond Award
Boston Magazine: The 50 Best Restaurants, #11 (2009)
Boston Magazine: Best Wedding Brunch (2009)
Boston Globe Magazine: Best in Service (2007)
Wine Spectator: Award of Excellence (2004, 2007)
Improper Bostonian: Boston’s Best Romantic Restaurant (2006)
Conde Nast Traveler: Gold List (2005, 2006, 2007)
Citysearch: Voted #1 Best Waterfront Dining (2005)
Citysearch: Best Wine List (2005, 2006, 2007)
Citysearch: Best Brunch (2005, 2007)
Citysearch: Best Dessert (2005, 2007)
Zagat Boston: “Best of” American (New), Brunch, Décor, Food, Hotel Dining, Service, Views
Gayot: Top Ten Wine Lists in Boston
Gayot: Top Ten Restaurant with a View in Boston
OpenTable: Diners’ Choice Winner for American cuisine, wine list, and scenic view in Boston
Hotel dining attracted attention this year with the arrival of a certain big-name chef. But we're proudly touting Daniel Bruce for his efforts to keep Meritage inside the Boston Harbor Hotel, dedicated to all things New England. The wine-themed menu (dishes fall into categories like light whites and robust reds) changes seasonally. And bar bites, including fried Nantucket scallops, are perfectly sized for grazing travelers.
The Improper Bostonian
“Chef Daniel Bruce is an undersung local hero, turning out vino-enhanced dishes on a menu organized around wine. A brilliant notion if ever there was one.”
Amy Traverso & Jolyon Helterman, Boston Magazine
“If you like your stunning water view to be complemented by exquisitely small dishes and equally exquisite wines, Meritage is your place.”
Alison Arnett, Boston Globe
“The view [of Boston Harbor] from Meritage’s large, southern exposed windows…coexists with superb food efficiently and graciously served in a dining room that is elegant and urbane, yet fresh. Grace and smiles abound. Meritage has taken the Boston dining scene by storm.”
Charles Mokriski, The Improper Bostonian
“Meritage… walks the cutting edge without bleeding a drop.”
Robert Nadeau, The Boston Phoenix
“Set inside the stately Boston Harbor Hotel, Meritage stays focused with its astounding wine list. Chef Daniel Bruce creates scintillating menus to match the cellar's treasures… With the stunning Rowes Wharf as its backdrop, Meritage has, perhaps, the city's finest waterfront view.”
Fodor’s
“Meritage is a paean to the art of food-and-wine pairing – and a testament to chef Daniel Bruce's ambition and talent.”
Gayot
"Chef Bruce is known from coast to coast, and it has nothing to do with the expansive views of the water from his two fine-dining spots at the Boston Harbor Hotel."
Annie Copps, Yankee Magazine
“COCONUT WATER - Given that healthier eating is one of the most widespread trends out there, Daniel Bruce might have stumbled upon his new magic potion.”
Alex Hall, Globe Magazine
"Chef Bruce is known from coast to coast, and it has nothing to do with the expansive views of the water from his two fine-dining spots at the Boston Harbor Hotel."
Annie B. Copps, Yankee Magazine, May/June 2010
"Meritage...walks the cutting edge without bleeding a drop."
Robert Nadeau, The Boston Phoenix
"The view [of Rowes Wharf Marina] from Meritage's large, southern exposed windows...coexists with superb food efficiently and graciously served in a dining room that is elegant and urbane, yet fresh. Grace and smiles abound. Meritage has taken the Boston dining scene by storm."
Charles Mokriski, The Improper Bostonian
Clio? Aujourd'hui? L'Espalier? No. 9 Park? You can argue about who belongs on Boston's best fine dining restaurants. Meritage undeniably makes the cut.
3 1/2 out of 4 Stars
Mat Schaffer, Boston Herald
"A yardstick for great restaurants…"
Robert Nadeau, The Boston Phoenix
Best Wine List, Upscale: "The wine list at Meritage is outstanding...substantial, varied and reasonably priced..."
Boston Magazine, "Best of Boston 2003"
"At Meritage . . . Chef Bruce awed us with his ingenuity with wine-food pairings and culinary razzle-dazzle . . . From the amuses-bouches to the divine desserts, this supurb restaurant . . . with an exquisite — and rare — view of Boston Harbor . . . won't disappoint."
Rachel Strutt, Arrive, May/June 2003
"Bruce knows his wines, and few chefs can match his extraordinary skill with food and wine pairings."
Quarterly Review of Wines
"Meritage takes pairing food and wine to new levels."
Annie Copps, Boston Magazine
"Meritage boasts the most focused food and wine menu in Boston."
Wine & Spirits
"…Bruce's food…as elegant and as generous in spirit as a song…"
Alison Arnett The Boston Globe
"[Meritage is] a restaurant with floor-to-ceiling displays of wine and exceptional food…"
Bon Appetit
"[Meritage] is a warm, elegant space with a gorgeous harbor view and an obvious reverence for wine."
Improper Bostonian
"For lovers of food and wine who like to enjoy discovery on a more self-directed, course-by-course scale, Meritage is the new destination, and well worth a visit."
Martha L. Ballard, Newbury Street & Back Bay Guide
"Without lecturing, the sommelier steers us in the direction of a 'ripe, not too heavy' Bourgogne that complements [the dish of] butter-milk-fried leg of squab. Expertise like this is worth consulting."
Amy Graves & Joe Yonan, Boston Globe