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Pros:
Very good wait staff and slick atmosphere
Cons:
Unfortunately, the food.
OK, I just got re-taught a lesson I had forgotten. The lesson? In a fancy place with weird stuff on the menu, take the waiters recommendations. Ask his thoughts. We read the menu and made decisions on our own and asked if they were good choices. Of course he's going to say yes, he can't say anything negative about something on the menu. I was intrigued by a number of menu items, curious how they could pull them off. When I saw "Lobster and Prawn Fritters", I had to order them for the wife and I. They also showed a Creamy Seafood Chowder, and I love a good chowder, this one included bay scallops ( a favorite of mine, but the wife has an allergy to scallops, which we had mentioned in passing to the waiter). Wife ordered the rib eye, medium, with the $3 extra for a Substitute Baked Potato. I decided to go outside the box, and try the "Fresh Ahi Tuna Tatiki Salad" I love tatiki (or dadiki, depending on how you phoenticize it). Seared meat, thinly sliced, lightly seasoned. The pure experience of a great ingredient. I especially love it done to Filet, I love rare tenderloin, and this is a great way to do that. But Tuna has a similar aspect that lends itself to this treatment, especially when served right after grilling, cool and smooth inside, warm and flaky outside. Menu promises “Served with butter lettuce and lightly minted wild mushroom salad and a lime vinaigrette and cheese toast”. Few minutes later, a hostess comes over and warns us that the fritters are prepared in the fish station where the scallops are also prep’ed, so there is a chance of cross contamination, not safe for the wife. So we add a caesar salad for her (I'll still have the fritters, yum).Out comes the fresh baked bread, a little sweet and sourdoughish, but nice. Then come the apps. The soup has nice creamy texture, not a lot of seafood in it, the vegetables are cooked nicely, tender but not soggy. But there is no seasoning. I add a generous crank of salt and pepper to get it to a very nice flavor. But chef should have done that before it left the kitchen. The Caesar is OK, but I was disappointed to see brown edges on the ribs of the leaves in the mix. But the fritters, well, I had wondered how they could make a fritter out of something that high in water content, yet still get the fritter to cook through, and not be gooey in the middle. Evidently, you can’t. Even though they were almost black on the outside, on the verge of burnt, the centers were still soft. Not fluffy soft, but doughy, gooey soft. They were heavy, oily and just unpalatable. They immediately offered to make up a fresh batch, but I passed. I didn’t think a second attempt would be any better. . All through the meal, the wait staff were wonderful, constantly trying to make the experience a good one, I can’t fault them there. Its not their fault the kitchen let them down. The entrées arrive, my salad on a frozen plate. This is where I decide I should have asked the waiters recommendation without pre-selecting my meal. I’m sure he would not have mentioned what I ordered. The frozen plate, with 3 spots of wasabi frozen to it, has chilled the tatiki (if it had been freshly prepared, which I am doubtful of), so you don’t get the nice contrast of the warm flaky outside and the cool raw center. The lime vinaigrette is pooled at the bottom of the plate, none of the lettuce is dressed. Arranged around the edge of the plate or nestled into the lettuce are a large pile of pickled ginger, a tablespoon of the “lightly minted wild mushroom salad”, a sliced roma tomato, some sliced zucchini, and some strips of dry nori. And on top, my warm piece of cheese toast (they’ve taken away my bread plate, so I have no where to put the cheese toast off of the frozen plate).From the menu, I was expecting more of a Caribbean take on the tuna, but the wasabi, nori and ginger say Asian. Asian cheese toast? Lime with sushi? OK, I know, fusion, right? Its OK to fuse stuff that matches. This was just confusion. Don’t know how or why this got put together. And the cold, gummy cheese toast on top, well, nuff said.The Rib Eye was cooked very nicely, came with steamed zucchini and some fresh lightly boiled beets and the $3 extra substitute baked potato. Why $3 extra to get a baked potato instead of the included scalloped, mashed or Chop Cut Fries? Better be one damned good baked potato. This one was old, cold, starchy, and overcooked. No crispy salted skin, just a really bad baked potato, for an extra $3. (get it that I’m not happy paying $3 extra for a baked potato on a $33 12 oz steak?)Manager comes over, trying valiantly to make our visit one that we’ll enjoy, offering to buy us dessert or special coffees. I just want to get it over with, really, and politely decline. After he leaves, the wife has overheard the waiter telling the next table about the delicious rumcake, and she wants to try it. So, on the waiters recommend, we give it a shot. First bright spot, we sip our tea, and enjoy the lovely rumcake and vanilla bean gelato and cinnamon cream anglaise. Very nice. I am finally impressed with something that has come out of the kitchen.
