Marc Aka Max H.
Yelp
Let's start with the service: it was annoying. Our server, Joe, was well informed about the menu and made suggestions, but bottom line, he was obnoxious. Why, because he became way too familiar in his demeanor than any waiter at a restaurant like this should have been. A group of 6, 4 of whom were Puerto Rican, he continued to refer to everyone at the table as "mi familia", which was, by my assessment, way too informal and disrespectful. While I doubt he intended to be disrespectful, that was how he came across. Additionally, he described some of the dishes as if the 4 Puerto Ricans at the table had never heard of them before, which wasn't, obviously, the case. Also, he seemed to be upselling the dishes to order, emphasizing the size of the portions (yes, he was correct - other than the entrees, everything else was small.
And to the ambiance, it is an extremely attractive restaurant, well lit and designed and decorated. On a Saturday night with a 6:15 reservation, it was packed by 7:15 and very noisy. Clearly the majority of the diners were dressed to impress and it was also evident many were on dates.
Food, which is the most important to review, was mixed. We started with a negative experience. All of the "starters", otherwise known as appetizers, were minuscule in size and were served barely warm to cold. Whether it was a problem with the kitchen or the food was sitting too long, I don't know. And did I say the portion size was small? And it was especially for their pricing. The biggest insult was the pork belly. At $22, it was a rip-off.
When I mentioned to two of the several managerial staff who passed by the table and asked how everything was, that the starters weee cold or barely warm, the response was "I'll let the kitchen k ow and we will make sure your main dishes are hot." Considering that these dishes amounted to close to $175, adjusting how much we were charged, or offering one free dessert, would have been appropriate. Oh, let me not forget the bread service - while tasty, it was also a rip off.
Our main dishes did come out hot. My whole local snapper was well prepared but smothered in some type of curry sauce. It drew the attention of my tongue and taste buds away from the fish to that sauce. The dish was barely eatable and I left half uneaten. The bronzino was excellent. The pork chop was also well prepared, as was the short ribs. Again, over-priced. The desserts were excellent, although minuscule in size.
We ordered a nice Sauvignon blanc labeled with name of the operating company which runs the hotel and also is the developer of The Wave Hotel and many of the other projects which make up the Lake Nona Land Development company. The waiters recommendations of wines were all priced above $100 a bottle.
Would I return or recommend BACAN?, Based on that dinner, a hard NO. The impression of my husband and I was that this was a restaurant appealing to the large local Puerto Rican community of folks who want to go to a "fancy local restaurant" with a vibe of "Chichi". The performance of the waiter and the kitchen did not come anywhere near that vibe. Our check with one bottle of inexpensive wine and one liquor drink was ~$650 with a mandated 20% tip. A waste of money.