Brian T.
Yelp
PART II
So the first course was MEH!
The sauce had no taste. Neither my wife nor I can tell you what was in it.
The Black Bass had not taste whatsoever. It wasn't good-it wasn't bad-just tasteless.
I understand the plates at a tasting are small but I'd bet anything there was less than three ounces of fish in total between the two plates. There really wasn't enough to even taste the pieces were so small. The only word that comes to mind is underwhelmed.
As we're finishing this course we're visited by a pleasant young man in a chef's coat. He introduces himself as Michael and tells us he's our cook for the evening. Michael is a outgoing and we learn where he lives, what his favorite go to restaurant is east of the river and that his favorite restaurant for a special dinner is Ruth's Chris in Newington. We agree on his top pick. As he gets up to leave, I ask: "Isn't normal to inquire if your party has any food allergies or things they won't eat?"
"Ah yes," he replies. I tell him beets and cilantro are a hard no for me. That information in hand, Mike departs.
Next up an older gentleman appears. Clearly, he is a man in charge. No hello. No how are you this evening? First and only thing out of his mouth is: "Your gift certificate does not include wine." He angrily grabs my empty champagne flute glass, eyes the one in my wife's hand, thankfully didn't grab it away from her, bundles off with all the untouched wine glasses on the table and disappears. To say he was brusque to the point of rudeness is not hyperbole.
My wife just said: "Wow! That is one angry man."
Dinner proceeded apace. The salad was unremarkable-so unremarkable I can't tell you what was in it.
The salad was followed by duck. I'm not a fan of duck, my wife is. She orders it often. She pronounced it the best she's ever had. I'll go with her pronouncement and endorse it as the best I've ever had as well. It was the high point of the food servings.
Fish was next. The halibut was ever so lightly overcooked rendering it dry. Take 60 seconds of the time cooked and it would have been perfectly cooked. The fish was also paired with some type of carbohydrate that had the consistency of a bread pudding and contained raw pistachios. It tasted "off" and that aside just didn't pare well with the halibut.
Dessert was baked Alaska. It was ok. It sorta reminded me of a Dairy Queen ice cream birthday cake that someone took a blow torch to. Overall, the food servings, duck aside, was a total disappointment. We were also surprised that given the time of year and the abundance of local fresh vegetables and fruit locally, that the menu didn't reflect that local abundance,
Service was barely better than the food. Our waiter delivered the food. Other than that, he was MIA. He did a workmanlike job as a server. When I say Keko was MIA. I mean he barely spoke, even when asked a direct question and demonstrated zero evidence of cordiality or hospitality. The only two individuals who did was our bus boy, who despite a language barrier went out of his way to make us feel welcomed and appreciated as customers. The other of course was our Chef Michael.
Other than those two people no one on the staff displayed any attempt to exhibit even a modicum of hospitality or a thank you for coming in. Whoever it was that treated us so rudely over Max's self inflected wine kerfuffle-should not be dealing with customers. His behavior was inexcusable and was offensive enough that I doubt we will patronize Max Downtown in the future based on his behavior.
The evening end with my wife ordering a coffee with cream. Keko delivered the coffee and a bill of over $52.00. The bill included a coffee, an iced tea, tax, and a mandatory 20% built in charge for a tip.
The rating is a 1. The food and its presentation deserved no more than a two while service rates a zero rating.
