The restaurant thinks a lot of their chicken pot pie ($17.50). I don't. The chef has done what chefs do: he has made a lovely puff-pastry shell for the top crust, and rather too much of it. But the boned dark- and white-meat chicken, the carrots, peas, and mushrooms are sort of glued together more than stewed, and the stew inside is the glory of chicken pot pie.
Seafood here is very good, including an order of seared sea scallops with grilled asparagus ($26.95). You're supposed to get five, yet I counted six. The asparagus is as much steamed and peeled as roasted or grilled, but welcome. "Orange fennel beurre blanc" underneath? Maybe it was, but it wasn't very distinctive.
Wine, as one might expect from a California-based chain, is mostly American, and the by-the-glass selection is good but predictable. A 2005 Kenwood cabernet sauvignon ($8.95) had smoothed to pure black-raspberry fruit, and was very nice, but perhaps not a good match for steak. A 2006 Graffigna malbec ($10.95), only six months younger — April vintages in Argentina — had a lot more of the typical cabernet structure. A 2007 Ruffino Chianti ($8.50) was actually the burliest red on the table, perhaps because it was from a just-opened bottle. On the white side, 2007 Placido pinot grigio ($7.50) is all fruit and little spice. A really wonderful option is Samuel Adams Noble Pils ($5.95), the new seasonal release, with even more hop aroma than the original Sam on an otherwise rather light lager. It was very fine with steak or seafood.
Desserts are notably huge, with the exception of a normal-size crème brûlée ($6.95). The key lime pie ($7.75) feeds two to four, and gives up nothing on tart flavor or crunchy crust. It's a best buy. Brownie pie ($7.75) is your dose of chocolate, with somewhat inferior icy vanilla ice cream our night, but truly fabulous pecans.
Service at Daily Grill is very smooth and positive, though dining alone on a second visit I had quite a few inquiries as to how everything was. What, they never before saw a man come in alone at dinner time and eat a steak with a glass of beer? The room is quite evocative of chophouses and even railroad dining cars without a lot of effort: dark wood and maple veneer tables, booths with etched glass, a lot of small framed pictures of '40s, '50s, and '60s celebrities, some seated at restaurant tables. The floor, iconic steak-house red and black, is nothing more than vinyl tile. There are TV sets only the bar, and the room isn't as loud as some.
Although there is a lot of faint praise for the excesses Daily Grill avoids, the sum of it is distinct praise. This company has kept it simple, kept it moderate in price, and kept to what people want: familiar forms of steak, chicken, and seafood done correctly; comfort food in comfortable treatments; and desserts so big you feel 10 years old again. They are welcome in Boston, and we'd welcome a few in surrounding towns, I suspect.
Robert Nadeau can be reached at robtnadeau@aol.com.
