Jen B.
Yelp
Prime Table has been an absolute star of Stockton for years, but lately the experience and quality of food is consistently slipping each visit. Tonight was just too many misses for me, especially when paying over $200 for 2 dinners. Here's how it went:
Drinks.
- Service started off good, but by the time dinner hit the table we had empty glasses several times and had to ask for a soda twice. The bartender appeared inexperienced and the drinks tasted like it as well. Didn't enjoy hearing her constantly complain to her coworkers either.
Food was disappointing.
- My filet had a sizeable chunk of fat on one side. It was cooked less than the medium I asked for. And worse, it was served lukewarm. The point of a pricey filet is in the quality and leanness of the cut. My steak wasn't even warm enough for the garlic butter to melt, despite being warned about the "hot plate" as it was set in front of me. (Applebees delivers a better steak, one that is warm and can melt butter properly, for less than 1/3rd the price!)
- Broccoli was doused in so much salt I could feel and hear the crunching of the kosher salt, even 45 minutes later.
- "Roasted king trumpet mushrooms" are on the menu. What was served was very few slices of king trumpet and a bunch of oyster mushrooms and chopped up bits of god knows what kind of mushrooms. It legitimately looked like scraps and I should've taken a photo to show you. For years you'd actually get all king trumpet mushrooms, sliced and cooked beautifully. Such a disappointment to see another great dish ruined and now also misrepresented.
- Thank god for the mashed potatoes which were both warm and tasty as they've always been. I hope these remain unchanged.
Service/Staff:
- Staff who filled water and gave bread were prompt, friendly and started the night off in a good way.
- We were effectively trapped at the restaurant for what felt like an extra half hour, waiting for our MIA server to materialize so we could pay and leave. If I had cash in my wallet, I would have dropped it on the table and left, I was so tired of waiting for the check. And it's not like the restaurant was busy, so did she go on lunch and not say anything?
- The bartender constantly looked at our table, but never summoned our server or checked in, continuing instead to pay attention to a guy who worked there, twirling keys and chatting.
- The hostess who was wearing what looked to be your weird aunt's 25 year old sweater kept walking around and puttering behind the bar. I don't normally pay attention to what people are wearing, but this was so odd and stuck out.
In closing, I miss when Prime Table was reliably and consistently amazing. The kind of place I couldn't stop talking about. The filets used to be cooked beautifully and so tender, they nearly melted in your mouth each and every visit. The king trumpet mushrooms used to be king trumpet mushrooms. The broccoli used to be unassumingly delicious -- maybe with less salt and about a minute less cook time, they could have been great tonight. The service used to be professional, prompt, and well paced. All in all, a shell of what was once an incredible dining experience.