Visited this place about a week ago. Even though it's supposed to be pretty tourist-y, but since its re-opening after its lengthy renovations, I'd wanted to sit there and enjoy the view, and hopefully, the food tood.
We sat at the bar as it looks pretty cool ... all lit up from under the crackly glass top and all. Our waiter/bar keeper wasn't too attentive. We sat for a good few minutes before he tore away from folding napkins to ask if we would like to order some drinks.
We started with an organic baby arugula salad with tangerines. I was amazed by how small the dish was. There were about 5 sections of tangerines scattered in there. Not arranged, membrane still attached. The baby arugula was such as minute amount and not very fresh either. For $11, I expected much better.
We also shared some fries with truffle oil. It was tasty. The truffle oil was pretty subtle as D didn't even taste the difference. Main complain for me? Too greasy.
Along with the fries, we had a macademia crusted halibut with pineapple chutney and something coconut-y. Since the whole dish relyed on the fish itself, we asked for the fish to be cooked to medium rare. It was still a bit raw on the inside, but the end parts were totally dried up and overcooked.
Overall, totally overpriced and underwhelmed. The bar was glaringly bright at night and the food wasn't even close to what they ought to be, compared to the prices they were charging. Will not be back again.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Restaurant Review - Quince
Since I was under the weather around the time of my real birthday, my birthday dinner was delayed until last night. D took me to Quince, a restaurant I've been wanting to try out since a few people had recommended it. Reservation wasn't until 8:30PM, a bit late ... but I usually eat a little on the later side anyway. The chef/owner came from Chez Panesse several years ago, and retained a lot of its philosophy when it comes to preparing food. Locally grown and fresh foods in season is always best.
We decided to order several things and just share them at the table, which turns out quite nicely as we get to try more varieties.
A little dish of bread was served. The waitress warned us that if we partake of more than two plates of them, we wouldn't have enough room for dessert. It was a good thing she warned us ahead of time as the selections were plentiful and good. I'm sure they were all made on the premises. We had a couple of rolls. Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. The crispy parts were flaky and I'm pretty sure it was the result of a light deep frying. There were thin crackers, crispy and thin bread sticks with cheese, also some focaccia, which were perfectly done.
We started out with an asparages and beet salad. There were two different kinds of beets (small ones) sliced in halfs, asparages tips and these tender green sticks scattered on top with a creamy green sauce. Neither of us remember what was in the dish based on the menu's discriptions, but we think the green sauce was a parsley puree and the green sticks were the tender parts of the asparages stalk (no portion of the skin was in evidence). Overall impression, great dish.
We had a fresh anchovies crustini next. D wanted to make sure that the anchovies were fresh and not from the can or packed in jars. Since they were, we tried it out. The anchovies were pretty salty and just a hint of fishyness. But ... it was my first fresh anchovies. Our waitress told us that they are naturally pretty salty and unless they soak them for a while, they will remain pretty salty and chef prefers them as natural as possible. Overall impression, pretty nice and very interesting. A little on the salty side, but well worth the adventure. BTW, the presentation was great.
Our second course was papardelle with short ribs. The pastas were thin with just a hint of chewiness. The short ribs was boneless and presented with just these little shreds and balls of meat. The whole thing was presented with a very interesting sauce that neither of us can identify. All we knew was that it contained a bit of some kind of red wine. Overall impression, very good if only a little salty.
Our final course (yes, we skipped dessert ... too full and nothing really amazed us enough to HAVE to try) was monk fish two ways. We had one ball of monk fish flakes mixed with mashed potatos, coated with bread crumb and deep fried. There were two balls of monk fish, roasted with the bones and then de-boned. It was presented with some kind of white vegetable puree/sauce that was very good. The two roasted balls were just amazing. The meat was sweet and firm and definitely cooked just right.
The restaurant itself was smallish with only about 20 some odd tables, but they have a huge number of wait staff (I spotted at least 8 of them at one glance). I guess the only thing I have to complain about is the noise and the rediculous amount of staff. They seem to be around asking if everything was ok more often than I'd like. Maybe I'm just not too used to the attention, but it makes conversation a little more difficult.
Oh, did I forget the bathroom? It was tiny, but small touches like having real terrycloth towels rolled up on the counter for drying one's hands was avery elegant touch. I can't wait to go back there for another treat.
We decided to order several things and just share them at the table, which turns out quite nicely as we get to try more varieties.
A little dish of bread was served. The waitress warned us that if we partake of more than two plates of them, we wouldn't have enough room for dessert. It was a good thing she warned us ahead of time as the selections were plentiful and good. I'm sure they were all made on the premises. We had a couple of rolls. Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. The crispy parts were flaky and I'm pretty sure it was the result of a light deep frying. There were thin crackers, crispy and thin bread sticks with cheese, also some focaccia, which were perfectly done.
We started out with an asparages and beet salad. There were two different kinds of beets (small ones) sliced in halfs, asparages tips and these tender green sticks scattered on top with a creamy green sauce. Neither of us remember what was in the dish based on the menu's discriptions, but we think the green sauce was a parsley puree and the green sticks were the tender parts of the asparages stalk (no portion of the skin was in evidence). Overall impression, great dish.
We had a fresh anchovies crustini next. D wanted to make sure that the anchovies were fresh and not from the can or packed in jars. Since they were, we tried it out. The anchovies were pretty salty and just a hint of fishyness. But ... it was my first fresh anchovies. Our waitress told us that they are naturally pretty salty and unless they soak them for a while, they will remain pretty salty and chef prefers them as natural as possible. Overall impression, pretty nice and very interesting. A little on the salty side, but well worth the adventure. BTW, the presentation was great.
Our second course was papardelle with short ribs. The pastas were thin with just a hint of chewiness. The short ribs was boneless and presented with just these little shreds and balls of meat. The whole thing was presented with a very interesting sauce that neither of us can identify. All we knew was that it contained a bit of some kind of red wine. Overall impression, very good if only a little salty.
Our final course (yes, we skipped dessert ... too full and nothing really amazed us enough to HAVE to try) was monk fish two ways. We had one ball of monk fish flakes mixed with mashed potatos, coated with bread crumb and deep fried. There were two balls of monk fish, roasted with the bones and then de-boned. It was presented with some kind of white vegetable puree/sauce that was very good. The two roasted balls were just amazing. The meat was sweet and firm and definitely cooked just right.
The restaurant itself was smallish with only about 20 some odd tables, but they have a huge number of wait staff (I spotted at least 8 of them at one glance). I guess the only thing I have to complain about is the noise and the rediculous amount of staff. They seem to be around asking if everything was ok more often than I'd like. Maybe I'm just not too used to the attention, but it makes conversation a little more difficult.
Oh, did I forget the bathroom? It was tiny, but small touches like having real terrycloth towels rolled up on the counter for drying one's hands was avery elegant touch. I can't wait to go back there for another treat.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)