Lea C.
Yelp
The bf and I came here on our way to a show last night, and as far as the food was concerned, I was impressed. The service however, left a lot to be desired.
We made reservations for 6:00 because the show was at 8:00. It was a little tight, but we usually don't need 2 hours for dinner. When we got to our seats, the restaurant was almost empty, despite there allegedly being a private event going on. The location of the restaurant is a little bizarre given that you have to walk through a cafeteria to get to the dining room. Once inside, the view is amazing, and the room is beautifully appointed. I could do without the PVC faux lizard skin placemats (though they have the side benefit of keeping my silverware on the table in the event of clumsiness). I also wish someone who runs that joint had run the menu through spell-check (you misspelled several things, one of which is "caesar").
Our first waitress was very nice and took our drink order. We told her we were on our way to the theatre, so that the staff knows we're on a time crunch. It took about 15 minutes to get those drinks, and in between that time another waiter literally came over when he saw us looking around and took our order. The pre fixe menu was bizarre in that it was probably the most expensive way to eat dinner there. The drinks were good when we finally got them---one was a jazzed up version of a Shirley Temple, and the other was a strong whiskey-based concoction.
The table bread was amazing. It was something akin to focaccia and had salt and pepper crust with a kick of garlic. I typically don't eat the bread, but this was delicious, and the olive oil serving alongside was very good quality. I decided to go with appetizers instead of an entree, and had the polenta fries with truffled fonduta and chives and the duck wings with jalapeño honey and bok choy.
The polenta fries were light and delicious. I typically hate polenta in almost every form, and I was surprised I liked these so much. The truffle fonduta unfortunately had broken by the time it got to my table and was so thin I could barely dip the polenta into it. It also made a very light dish feel heavy, which I didn't particularly enjoy. The flavor of the fonduta was good though if a bit on the bland side. I love chives and was disappointed to see them sprinkled as a garnish---I really wish they had been an ingredient in the polenta fries, which would have been fantastic herbed.
The duck wings were out of this world. They were all drumsticks, and appeared to be fried (I really wish they had been seared and baked or broiled, but I'll take it) and were juicy and well-seasoned, even a tad on the salty side. The thin sauce on the plate was absolutely delicious and I would have done shots of it had they been offered. The baby bok choy was also probably the best I have ever had in my life. It was perfectly cooked, had tons of flavor, and appeared to have been stir-fried in minced garlic and ginger which was yummy all by itself.
The bf got smoked mozzarella sticks with pesto and tomato crema, a caesar salad, and three-cheese ravioli. They were huge and had a really thick breading. The only thing "smoked" about the mozzarella sticks was the large piece of smoked meat inside them, but they were definitely good. The meat was too much for me, but the bf was a huge fan (no surprise there). Also, there was no hint of cream in the tomato sauce---it was just regular old tomato sauce. Both the sauces were delicious though, despite the misnomers.
The salad was fabulous. It was the lightest caesar salad I've ever tasted, which I really appreciate. And it was huge. However, is a caesar salad ever worth $15? Probably not. Organic romaine: $1:50; shaved parmesan $1; croutons, $0.20; garlic, $0.20; free-range egg, $0.50; dijon mustard, $0.25; lemon, $0.50; olive oil, $1; anchovy, $1. So...yeah, that's annoying. But if you can get over that, it's a good version.
The bf said the ravioli was meh. It came in an amalgamation of sauces, one of which looked a bit like basil cream, and he didn't really touch them. He said they were pretty bland and way too al dente (he's Italian, he should know).
We shared dessert, a syrup-soaked tiny chocolate cake base with raspberry mousse on the top and raspberry coulis on the plate. It was good, but really small. And we had to rush through it to get out of the place on time.
I made sure the check came at the same time, and despite my mentioning to everyone who waited on us that we were on our way to the theatre, the pre-theatre discount Blu had been advertising was nowhere on my bill. I had to bust out my calculator and make a note on the bill so that I wouldn't have to argue with someone forever. That got worked out fairly quickly though, so it wasn't that big a deal in the end.
The service was consistently slow, but the food was good enough that I'd definitely go back, if only for the duck wings.