gwensgoofy
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jan 6, 2008
- Messages
- 238
My husband and I dined here this past Monday. The food was absolutely fantastic, but the service just wasn't as good as we expected it to be. Please don't think I'm bashing the restaurant, I just think we may have hit it on an off night, or our expectations were too high going in.
When we arrived we were seated at the table closest to the entrance, which was not fully set. The person who seated us appeared to be nervous, and may have been training, as the woman who was working with him came over within 5 minutes and asked if we would like to be moved, or if not, they would set the table quickly. When we were moved, we sat for almost 10 minutes with no one coming over to greet us.
We had 2 men serving us. I am horrible with remembering names. The first was efficient, but seemed like he was either distracted or rushed. He never described any of the butters or breads, but put them on the table and rushed off. We heard from the other servers' presentation to another table what flavors of butter and bread we were receiving. We loved our wine pairings, and asked the server some questions about the riesling, but he didn't know the answers and never offered to send someone over who knew the answers.The second server spoke so quietly, but was friendly. He was always present when the courses would arrive, and would review again what was ordered, and how it was prepared.
I left the table to visit the restroom, and when I returned, my napkin had been removed. However, no one ever brought another to me, and I needed to flag a server down (not ours) to get one after waiting. The server that was at the next table was amazing, and so interactive with his table, but ours appeared to be so rushed and distracted. The cheese course, dessert and coffee were just fantastic.
I was only disappointed in one thing in reference to the food. I explained during the phone call with V&A a week prior, that my husband did not eat scallops. I hoped he would be offered other options during that portion of his dinner. My menu listed 3 options for this course: scallop, cuttlefish, or a choice to upgrade with abalone. My husband's menu offered only the cuttlefish and the upgrade. I was surprised, with advance notice, that he wasn't offered something in place of the scallop, but was only offered the cuttlefish or the upgrade.
Our server brought the check, and a wonderful plate containing caramels and cookies. My husband signed the charge and we relaxed and enjoyed our coffee. The server never returned to the table. We finished our coffee and waited a bit, as I saw the tables around us receiving a small bag containing what I had read contained a small loaf of bread. Our server would walk towards our table, see us sitting there, and walk away. Maybe you don't receive the bread if you've used TIW? I know we hadn't dawdled too much, as our reservations were for 615 and we left the restaurant by 830.
The food was exquisite, but I didn't think our service was as good as I'd read about. It wasn't a horrible experience, just not what I had hoped. It wasn't the smooth, polished service for which the restaurant is known. Maybe I set my expectations too high after waiting 5 years to do this. We will defintely return, as I'm sure our experience was an aberration.
When we arrived we were seated at the table closest to the entrance, which was not fully set. The person who seated us appeared to be nervous, and may have been training, as the woman who was working with him came over within 5 minutes and asked if we would like to be moved, or if not, they would set the table quickly. When we were moved, we sat for almost 10 minutes with no one coming over to greet us.
We had 2 men serving us. I am horrible with remembering names. The first was efficient, but seemed like he was either distracted or rushed. He never described any of the butters or breads, but put them on the table and rushed off. We heard from the other servers' presentation to another table what flavors of butter and bread we were receiving. We loved our wine pairings, and asked the server some questions about the riesling, but he didn't know the answers and never offered to send someone over who knew the answers.The second server spoke so quietly, but was friendly. He was always present when the courses would arrive, and would review again what was ordered, and how it was prepared.
I left the table to visit the restroom, and when I returned, my napkin had been removed. However, no one ever brought another to me, and I needed to flag a server down (not ours) to get one after waiting. The server that was at the next table was amazing, and so interactive with his table, but ours appeared to be so rushed and distracted. The cheese course, dessert and coffee were just fantastic.
I was only disappointed in one thing in reference to the food. I explained during the phone call with V&A a week prior, that my husband did not eat scallops. I hoped he would be offered other options during that portion of his dinner. My menu listed 3 options for this course: scallop, cuttlefish, or a choice to upgrade with abalone. My husband's menu offered only the cuttlefish and the upgrade. I was surprised, with advance notice, that he wasn't offered something in place of the scallop, but was only offered the cuttlefish or the upgrade.
Our server brought the check, and a wonderful plate containing caramels and cookies. My husband signed the charge and we relaxed and enjoyed our coffee. The server never returned to the table. We finished our coffee and waited a bit, as I saw the tables around us receiving a small bag containing what I had read contained a small loaf of bread. Our server would walk towards our table, see us sitting there, and walk away. Maybe you don't receive the bread if you've used TIW? I know we hadn't dawdled too much, as our reservations were for 615 and we left the restaurant by 830.
The food was exquisite, but I didn't think our service was as good as I'd read about. It wasn't a horrible experience, just not what I had hoped. It wasn't the smooth, polished service for which the restaurant is known. Maybe I set my expectations too high after waiting 5 years to do this. We will defintely return, as I'm sure our experience was an aberration.