Hui-yu Y.
Yelp
- Romantic for Valentine's -
Food: 4 stars
Service: 4 stars
Price: 3 stars
Ambiance: 5 stars
Overall: 4 stars
We came here for the first time for the Valentine's dinner, and everything was good but the portion is on the smaller side (compared to regular portions, not fine dining portions). Upon entry, they checked my reservation and took us to a nice "half" booth that was super cozy. However, it's in the back and you don't really get a view. It's also quite dark out, so there's not much to see in the first place.
For Valentine's Day, they have a set menu and you can choose your starter, soup/salad, entree, and dessert. Here are the list of what we ate:
- amuse-bouche: spicy tuna tartlet: my husband said: "Tuna is tuna, but the crust is too thick."
- starters:
1. salmon gravlax rose: the presentation is beautiful, but we didn't realize the salmon is also raw. It was tender and had a hint of beet.
2. crab and cream croquettes: this one was delicious. The sauce was a bit sweet, but the croquettes were hot and full of crab meat at each bite.
- soup/salad:
clam chowder: this one is more standard, and I think it's hard to mess up clam chowder.
- entrees:
1. lobster pasta: delicious pasta, but the portion is small. They do come with tons of lobster meat and a nice half-cooked egg for mixing.
2. duck a l'orange: The duck meat was juicy and tender, and the braised veggies were not overly cooked. The sauce has a hint of ginger, which may not be everyone's cup of tea though.
- desserts:
1. lemon & ricotta cheesecake: It's great, but the texture is more crumbly than regular cheesecake (it's not as dense as NY cheesecake). I also like how it's more sour due to the lemon.
2. Washington apple tart: This is delicious, but it's also a safe choice. It comes with vanilla ice cream in a small dip dish, and it melts quickly.
I enjoyed our meal, but it felt a bit rushed as the waiter removed our plates quite quickly after we finished our food. Don't get me wrong, he's a great worker and works hard, but I just felt a bit rushed. The restaurant also gave us a gift voucher to come back and use to get some cocktails, a piece of rose, and two chocolates to enjoy at home.
We ate for around an hour, but the valet parking was expensive. I read reviews that it was $15+tax, but it's $20+tax now, and I believe they added a tip as well since they took $25 for parking. It's less of an issue, but I wish they could just say $25 instead of $20 plus tip LOL.
The course menu was $125 per person, but they didn't add any duck maintenance fee or tip in advance. I saw a lot of people complain about the 5% duck maintenance fee in the reviews, so I wonder if they already added it to the price.