Today is the first Friday in Lent and so here we go again.....no meat. Sandi has never been to this restaurant so I told her it is time she try it as I don't recall ever being disappointed in any way in the past.
Their menu has changed and now they have joined the bandwagon on the "Small Plates", in other words: appetizers. We both did not have a real lunch so we decided to order 2 entrees to split. We picked the Sugar Cane Skewered Shrimps, Sea Scallop & Grade "A" Ahi with Coconut Sticky Rice, Wasabi Infused Sesame Seeds, Stir Fried Vegetables and Hawaiian Curry Sauce. The second entree was the Panko Crusted Crab Stuffed Shrimp Sesame Seaweed Salad, Julienne Carrots, Wasabi, Nori, Sauteed Pea Shoots, Curry-Coconut Sauce.
Our server, a very social gentleman asked us what we would like to drink. I ordered a glass of Prosecco for Sandi and a German Riesling for me. Her Prosecco arrived and shortly after that he presented me with bottle which resembled beer. At first, I gave it the benefit of the doubt; I thought I was really out of touch that they now have white wine served in little beer bottles. It turned out it was someone else's order. Oh well, honest mistake. I placed our order and informed him that we were ordering the 2 entrees and splitting them.
The first order came; the Skewered Shrimps, Scallops and Ahi. This was delivered by another server who also brought us 2 small plates so we could divide the items. We were puzzled because only one entree came. Our server didn't ask us if we wanted one entree at a time. Oh well...this was their way of doing things. The Ahi was raw inside. I understand some people like it this way. We are not one of them and I think they should inform people if this is the way they serve it so as not to surprise anyone. We sent it back and though it was more cooked outside, the inside was still raw. We reminded ourselves of the Lenten season so we sacrificed and ate it anyway. We finished our first course and we looked for our server who looked busy but was busier socializing. I mentioned to Sandi that it would be funny if he came and asked us if we would want dessert. Well, the other server did come by and asked if we wanted coffee. I told him we were waiting for our other entree. Our regular server who shall remain anonymous for the purpose of this blog, was busy massaging a customer's back (at the bar) accidentally glanced my way. He came by and I asked about our other entree. He acted like he knew all along that it was coming. While waiting, Sandi asked if I was still hungry. She was willing to just pay and go home! After another 5 minutes, our 2nd entree arrived. The Panko Crusted Crab stuffed shrimps were delicious. I am glad I asked for an extra order of Coconut Sticky Rice which came with the previous entree. These should REALLY be served with that rice. Without the rice, is like eating corned beef without the cabbage or hamburger without the bun!
All in all the food was good but the poor service did take away from dining pleasure. To top it off, we were seated behind the bar and the one lady kept fluffing her hair and we were afraid her hair would land on our food. Our server came by to ask about dessert. Yes, we wanted to see the menu. Well, another 5 minutes went by before we got it. The brioche bread pudding with caramel sauce sounded divine. We could not get our server's attention. Another 5-7 minutes went by. We finally decided to just leave. Not so fast....we had to wait to have eye contact with Mr. Personality which we finally did. We gave our credit cards and left asap.
We were disappointed to say the least. I always said that good food alone does not insure a pleasant dining experience. You have to have good service wherein the customer is given importance, after all, they are ultimately the ones that will spread the word....good or bad.
Note: At the bottom of our check were the different calculations for 15%,18%,20%,22% for tip. Needless to say, the server got less than 15% and that was being generous.
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