Marta D.
Yelp
Go for the drinks and view; everything else will leave you disappointed.
We decided to have an impromptu lunch/early dinner date at Tenfold Rooftop last week and, aside from the view, the drinks, and a LITTLE bit of the service, we were left disappointed. Before I delve too deep, the staff did comp the entire bill (minus cocktails), but we still paid the original bill, giving what was comped to the server as a tip (because it wasn't her fault the food was such a letdown).
Tenfold is on the rooftop of the Kimpton Hotel near La Villita. We were able to find public parking, but I believe they offer valet service (and may even validate parking). You enter the building and head towards a bank of elevators where a downstairs host checks you in. Once on the tenth floor, you pass another host station where you're walked into the bar proper. At the time of our arrival, work was being done on a door, and there was no host. The bartender checked us in and seated us.
The view is beautiful, overlooking Hemisfair and the Tower of the Americas. We went on a perfect day, though the breeze occasionally pick up our napkins. We were immediately given water and introduced to our server, whom I'll refer to as M. After M took our cocktail order, we decided on the 10x tour, which is a omakase-style flight of some of their menu items. That turned out to be a waste of money and calories.
The drinks were superb. Dancing in the Rain and Lost in the Jungle are well-balanced and thoughtfully crafted. Definitely order those.
M overexplained every dish. We sat for minutes at a time listening to her tell us everything in a dish. The odd thing was that the final dish --a peanut butter dessert --wasn't described to us, even though there was a high risk of patrons having peanut allergies. She was an amazing server with a great personality, but I think she can scale back the explanation considerably.
The 10X Tour highlights were the Grilled Octopus, Smoky Chorizo Oysters, and Korean BBQ Wagyu Skewers. The octopus was perfectly tender and grilled with just the right amount of char. The Beef Skewers were tender and had a well-balanced gochujang glaze. The oysters combined with the chorizo were on the verge of being too salty, but the dish as a whole worked together nicely.
If you're keeping count, that's only 3/10 of the dishes that were enjoyable on this "tour."
The Baja Bass ceviche is actually Basa, according to M. BIG difference in price and quality of fish. That aside, the leche de tigre it was cured in lacked flavor. Most of the dishes we tried lacked proper seasoning; at the very least, salt would've worked wonders. The Tiger Shrimp Aguachile wasn't "cooked" long enough (or with enough acid), so we received it in an inedible state. When I asked the chef if it was made to order and served immediately, he said yes. When I told him it either lacked enough acid to properly cure it or that it needed to cure longer, he said it cures for almost 24 hours. That's not the right answer for seafood. Fish can only stand to cure in acids or marinades for 20 minutes before it becomes too rubbery to be enjoyable. I left it with him and asked for it to be replaced with something else.
The Salmon Tataki was good, but it came without the shaved truffle you see in everyone else's pictures. The Mezze Platter was served with English muffins cut to look like pita or naan, but the red pepper hummus was average. The worst thing I've eaten this year was Tenfold's Chicken Tinga Rellenos. They need to remove it from the planet. The "tinga" filling tasted like what I imagine wood putty tastes like. Chalky, flavorless, an assault on the taste buds. Even the server agreed that it should be removed from the menu. We declined to eat the Asador du Chouriso because the "wow factor" flame setup they served it on was for show, not for safe food handling. The sausage's interior was raw. The dessert was just okay. It's not on the menu, but it had a peanut butter flavor. The chips should be replaced with a drizzle of peanut butter because they screwed up the textural experience.
So, Tenfold is a bar with a pretty view and abysmal food. Go for pre- or after-dinner drinks. Just don't go to eat good food.
