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2010-01-11
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Came here for a friend's birthday lunch today. In total there was 8 of us. Environment: The place is pretty nice and kind of has a well lit 'wine celler' feel. When you first walk in you notice the dining area is in the middle and surrounded by a gourmet market. Chairs were comfortable and not too cramped. I think quite perfect for a lunch/brunch place. Service: Overall waiters were knowledgeable and very friendly. I think there was a slight lag (about 10-15 minutes) between courses which I thou
Environment: The place is pretty nice and kind of has a well lit 'wine celler' feel. When you first walk in you notice the dining area is in the middle and surrounded by a gourmet market. Chairs were comfortable and not too cramped. I think quite perfect for a lunch/brunch place.
Service: Overall waiters were knowledgeable and very friendly. I think there was a slight lag (about 10-15 minutes) between courses which I thought was a tad long but outside of that service were good.
Food wise you can either order straight off their menu (we did this) or you can choose any meat/seafood/vegetable from their counter and they will suggest to you a way to prepare it. We ended up sharing 3 appetizers and each ordered a main.
Cured Ham with Arugula Salad - I liked this quite a lot. The cured ham was very flavorful and it was a nice contrast between the bitterness of the arugula. Refreshing start.
Squid Ink Pasta - This was also quite good as well. Pasta was done al dente and the squid was cook well. I noticed some of the larger pieces of squid was a little underdone but maybe I am picky. Not that easy wiping off the squid ink off your mouth afterwards...haha.
Tomato Salad - Tomatoes (3 kinds) were nice and fresh but I would say the other parts of the salad were a little boring. Not bad I guess.
Sea Bass with Tomato Relish - My friends ordered this and I was quite surprised when they served up a whole fish. Sea bass itself was cooked quite perfectly (the meat came off the bone cleanly) but I thought the tomato sauce/relish was a little strange paired with the sea bass. It didn't taste bad by any means but just thought it would not be my top choice sauce wise. Still a decent dish.
David Blackmore M9+ Grade BBQ Wagyu Skirt Steak - After seeing the fish my first impression of this dish was "Wah...the portion is kind of small" but I guess getting wagyu steak for $140 is somewhat reasonable. The steak itself was quite tender and flavorful. The balsamic vinaigrette sauce was quite nice and much better than using the mustard they gave me later (the mustard totally overpowered the flavor of the beef). It also came with a side salad of arugula and crispy pancetta. Not bad but I didn't care for it too much. Overall a pretty good dish but the salad can be improved (even mash potatoes or fries would have been better in my opinion).
We didn't order any dessert in the end mainly because we all ate my friend's birthday cake. In the end I found the meal pretty good but there are some areas food wise they could improve. Was definitely a little different eating in a gourmet market.
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