Janina C.
Yelp
I decided to celebrate my birthday dinner here on a rainy Saturday evening after browsing online and hearing rave reviews about the place and getting excited over the menu. Walking in, the ambience did not disappoint. It looked cozy from the outside, and walking in the gentle lighting along with the beautifully decorated restaurant, I was excited for a lovely time. Unfortunately, it was not a lovely time. The negative review has everything to do with the service, and not the delicious food.
We were seated fairly quickly, but once the host handed us our menu, no one acknowledged us for the next 15 minutes, not even to offer us waters. The awkward part was many waiters passed our tables to other groups, some even made eye contact with us, but none offered assistance or even assured us someone is coming. We had to flag down someone bussing to ask if we can get help. When the manager came, not even a hello how are you guys, or offer of drinks, but just a straight "so what can I get you?" The interaction definitely could've been warmer. But we placed all our orders, from appetizers to entrees, then finished with can we just have some waters, which he finally acknowledged that he was just about to ask. Our waiter finally came and repeated our orders, and he halfheartedly said sorry about the wait before rushing to another table. The rest of the dinner felt as great as that intro, we just felt rushed and not that we weren't welcomed, just that we weren't prioritized. Our waiter kept stopping by to ask how our food was, but we barely had time to respond before he moved onto his bigger table.
We ordered the Mac and cheese balls and falafels for appetizers, I ordered the rib eye butchers board and hubby got the lamb chops. Perfectly seasoned and super tender meats. There were absolutely no leftovers. The food was excellent, easily a 10/10 on all dishes. That's why it is so disappointing to not have the service complement the exceptional food for a 5 star experience.
I get it, we're a small group vs. bigger groups being served. But if we were assured we were going to be taken care of, then absolutely we would've been happy to wait for good food. I was excited to try a birthday dessert, but I didn't even want to see the menu by then because I just wanted to leave. It definitely soured the night in that moment. And it's so disappointing, I really wanted to like this place because the food is an excellent, even amazing experience. But service can make or break that experience, just like it did here.