Sunday Gospel Brunch at the House of Blues

When I originally saw ads for the Gospel Brunch at the House of Blues, I thought it was a kind of a lame, half-hearted marketing attempt to distinguish their brunch from every other brunch in town. However, when J.Scrib invited me to join her there this weekend, my curiosity got the best of me, and I decided to join her—and I’m glad I did, because my initial doubts were allayed.

At first I wondered if anyone would be at this thing—who eats brunch on Landsdowne Street!?—but when I approached the HOB that Sunday morning at 11:30 (when the “first seating” began), passing the Phish trucks unloading at Fenway, I saw a large group of people milling around—not waiting to glimpse Trey Anastasio, but rather to be let into the House of Blues. When we collected our tickets from will-call, a sign read “Gospel Brunch—sold out.” Wow, more people than I thought!

At around 11:40, they started letting people in to the main, venue part of the HOB. The tables were set up “family style” – long tables with white tablecloths—and the food was set up buffet style—long tables, with TONS of food.

We threw our stuff down and headed to said buffet, which was predominantly Southern-style brunch items, with more traditional foods thrown in. As you can see, I pretty much helped myself to everything!!! (Don't judge, it was all for journalistic integrity...hehe)

Clockwise from top left: cinnamon bagel, scrambled eggs, belgian waffle with fresh strawberries, fried chicken, "dirty" rice, cheesy grits, shredded homefries. While the eggs were cold (a common problem at buffet lines), everything else was delicious. I especially loved those homefries!

After eating came some entertainment-- our "spiritual leader" entered through the back of the hall, dramatically playing a trombone to announce his entrance. He goofed around with the little kids there, pretend playing into their ear, standing on tables, etc. He was fun, and I felt a little bit like I was in Disney World. This Disney theme continued throughout the morning/afternoon.On stage, he introduced the band (which of course I'm blanking on the name-- J.Scrib, help me out?!?) a soulful trio singing some gospel tunes.

Before the performance was over, we of course had to stop by the dessert station (I know, more food!?). Clockwise from top left: chocolate croissant, banana bread bread pudding, fresh strawberries and melon.

Now I usually am a sucker for a chocolate croissant, but this banana bread bread pudding was SO, SO good that I barely even touched the croissant! Hands down, best part of the brunch.

For the music side of things, I'm sure J.Scrib will have a more accurate account of the afternoon, but I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it! It was just good, honest, feel-like-a-kid-again FUN. Our "spiritual leader" had us all clapping along, singing, dancing, and generally "feeling the joy" in the room. This was the closest Dish Gal has been to church in a long time! ;)

I'd definitely recommend the brunch for anyone with kids-- it's definitely a great family affair, good for old and young alike. Little kids danced in the aisles, kids-at-heart sang along.

I would not recommend this brunch if you are "too cool for school." You know who you are...

But really, go for the banana bread bread pudding. Because that's definitely something to praise the Lord about ;)