Dan W.
Yelp
Solid four stars here. wonderful meal, great flavors, and great service. Bartending needs some work, and that's the only reason this wasn't a 5. i don't hand out 5's lightly. You gotta change me, you have to want it. and last night, everything was on except the bar.
we had a wonderful meal, view, and ambiance all on point. I had the ribeye set 1 medium rare. She had the chicories and sole both delicious. apps were a house salad and octopus, wow.. both on point. loved the dried fruit on the salad, and the dressing was delicious.
the $42 bowl of ramen was the best ramen I've ever had in humboldt and one of the best I've had, period. but honestly expecting folks to eat ramen with a fork and spoon is kind of lacking in sensitivity, as it's difficult and messy, but we got it done none the less. get some chopsticks, folks.. seriously... That's some good ramen... it requires chopsticks...
our waiter was exceptional and understood our issue with the bar it was over the proper use of egg whites. I had classic negronis, and they were good but half fills with a huge ice cube, which watered down substantially within a few minutes. They were pricey, but they did the trick. her order a whiskey sour, one of her favorite drinks, as we will travel just to get a good egg white drink, but none the less to no avail after 3 tries the Bartender just simply refused to shake the drink.
you see, an egg white drink (sours n fizzes) are renown for their flavor and their delicious froth. the frothieness is created by the careful balance of the egg whites and the proper technique of shaking to make a luscious foam that floats on the top of the drink for the user to sip at... It's exquisite when done right. but it requires a fair amount of shaking. Most whiskey sours are shaken and strained twice to achieve this mastery of liquid alchemy...
the first sour came in a glass full of small ice chunks and was shaken for no more than 5 seconds. we listen for it, you see. it's the sound of pleasant relief to hear your drink being shaken and knowing that your favorite drink is soon to touch your lips. but it was less than 5 seconds couldn't have been more than 10 shakes of the lambs tail.
she actually said something to the waiter who acknowledged yes that's odd your sour came in a glass full of ice, and strangely, there is not much froth. I'll have him give it a good shake this next time. thank you, we said...
but to no avail, 2nd comes out no ice and no froth. I listened to the shake, and yet again, it was no more than last time. he asked how it was, and we told our waiter, "Great flavor again, no ice, but not much froth." He agreed and said, "Don't worry, he'll nail it on round 3. but honestly, on the third, he shook it even less than the 2 before, and this one came out the same with not much froth at all...
there was a specialty gin fizz on the menu, I'd be surprised if the customers were happy with that one either.. you see, 5 stars really come down to how much your team wants it. your host wanted it, the waiter wanted it, and the chefs wanted it.. and hats off to all of them... but your bartender didn't want it.
if I have to repeatedly ask you to froth my drink, you should just do it. for the over $300 this meal costs you should just do it. for the love of the job, and for posterity, man just shakes the drink. for that, you lost the repeat business as well. we'd have been perfectly content as it was our anniversary if the drink was right. my negronis were good, but not great. it was a bar thing for me. and it will be a while before I come back. noble efforts by the rest of the staff. cheers..
