Rachel H.
Yelp
Ambiance - A+!!!
Loved the Friday night live music!
Service - A+!!
Our server was on her first or second day of training, but her trainer was close at hand, and they both did a great job! All concerns, like the need for a menu with larger print and a watered down tasting cocktail, were quickly rectified!
Food - B+
Not gonna lie, the very original, and creative menu drew us in to select this restaurant, but we were actually a bit surprised with how bland more than half our dishes were! Kind of disappointing. I love cooking and enjoying complex dishes, so if you're a nerd like I am, here's our party's collective two cents:
1) Goat Cheese Jar: Chevre mousse / San Marzano tomato jam / basil pesto / crostini. My favorite of the night! Tomato jam could have been flavored a bit more, but it did work well with the creaminess of the cheese, the brightness of the pesto, and the crunch of the crostini!
2) Grilled Fish Tacos (3): Grilled Barramundi / Nixtamal Corn Tortillas / Chipotle Smoked Cashew Salsa / Shredded Cabbage / Avocado / Micro Cilantro. General feedback, they were a bit boring! :( The sauce and the seasoning on the fish were the biggest let downs / areas for improvement here. But the fresh ingredients were top notch!
3) Shrimp Tostones: Smashed avocado / plantains / mojo onions / queso fresco / Cajun shrimp / micro cilantro. Again, needs some flavor improvement! The avocados just need some salt and pepper. Plantains were a bit tough to cut through. Queso fresco looks nice, but it doesn't add any flavor. An astounding dish? No. But did we finish it? Of course!! It was still tasty, just not impressive.
4) Ginger Pork & Crispy Rice: Ginger roasted pork / crispy sushi rice cake / Thai peanut sauce / maple-soy glaze / carrot / scallion / baby arugula / white miso viniagrette. SO DELICIOUS! Loved the balance of salty to sweet.
5) Ricotta Gnocchi Bolognese: Hand-rolled ricotta gnocchi / San Marzano tomatoes /pork / beef / sherry / mire poix / asiago. I was so excited to try this dish! However, it came out on the colder side, and it was as if they ran out of salt in the kitchen! The tomato sauce was so bland! Definitely at least some salt, fresh, garlic, pepper, something! This was one that we didn't finish.
6) Cast Iron Snickerdoodle: Cinnamon sugar cookie / bourbon vanilla ice cream / dulce de leche. It was delicious! But again, kind of boring! :( couldn't taste any bourbon and the carmel had very little flavor - it basically just added more sweetness. Cookies were warm though!
If you've read this far, you must care as much about your food experience as I do. lol!! Welcome!
Please Atmosphere - continue managing your beautiful space with your excellent people!!! But maybe take the time to make your dishes consistently A+!