As an introduction, neither I nor my spouse consider ourselves foodies. Im not sure there is a common consensus on the term. We are empty nesters who dine out at least once a week. We have enjoyed meals at Shulas, McCormick and Shmicks, Sullivans, Ruths Chris, but Roys is our favorite. We appreciate great food and great service. We generally do not dress to the nines for dinner, just business casual.
We dined at Victoria and Alberts for the first time last week. We were celebrating our 28th wedding anniversary. I dutifully read the advice offered here about the dress code, the food choices, the wine pairings, etc.
Well, in one word disappointing. On many levels.
We arrived and were seated exactly at our reservation time. Then we sat and looked around the room for a while. It was at least five minutes (no big deal in TRW but I expected more here) before a server introduced herself. I think we were offered a choice of water and told our other server would return with menus.
I had done extensive research (like any other disser) and knew about the amuse bouche and the selections, etc.
OK, first let down of the night. Our other server described the courses and pushed the wine pairings. We both were inclined to do the pairings, just for the experience. We always have wine with dinner. We always order a bottle (or two; they cork it so you can take it home). Our daughter is a sommelier who recommends wine based on our palates. Based on older menus available online, she advised us that the choices were mixed, but we would like the variety. (We are no experts but we do swirl, sniff, and sip).
We both ordered the pairings, which seemed to me to lower our service level right away. Our male server seemed to be trying to stop rolling his eyes every time he was at our table.
The famed amuse bouch everyone raves about? Well, the four bites were good, but there was no theme. We had a panna cotta (another experience of poor service when clearing the dishes this is the one flavor we couldnt place. We asked about it and he literally dripped, its a panna cotta to which I responded yes, I know, but the flavor escapes me. Cauliflower. And exit.
The others were ahi tuna, mini lobster roll and a slice of beef with no explanation of the selections or why they were served together.
Im running on so Ill tell you my husband and I ordered different dishes for every course. Most were fantastic. I ordered the Australian Kobe beef for a $35 up charge. It was terrible. Full of sinew. The oxtail jus was the best part. I would have sent it back but by this point I truly believe the V & A staff and kitchen could give a crap about me and my husband.
We both had the soufflés for dessert. Me, chocolate; DH, grand marnier. I had such high hopes. Way back in the 80s there was a fantastic restaurant in Trump Castle an excellent French restaurant. Oh the soufflés! Ive been trying to find that taste for twenty years. Sadly, this 5 star restaurant fell far short. I feel sad for all of you who believe this is the best of the best.
I will always go back to WDW, but V & As was a sad disappointment.
We dined at Victoria and Alberts for the first time last week. We were celebrating our 28th wedding anniversary. I dutifully read the advice offered here about the dress code, the food choices, the wine pairings, etc.
Well, in one word disappointing. On many levels.
We arrived and were seated exactly at our reservation time. Then we sat and looked around the room for a while. It was at least five minutes (no big deal in TRW but I expected more here) before a server introduced herself. I think we were offered a choice of water and told our other server would return with menus.
I had done extensive research (like any other disser) and knew about the amuse bouche and the selections, etc.
OK, first let down of the night. Our other server described the courses and pushed the wine pairings. We both were inclined to do the pairings, just for the experience. We always have wine with dinner. We always order a bottle (or two; they cork it so you can take it home). Our daughter is a sommelier who recommends wine based on our palates. Based on older menus available online, she advised us that the choices were mixed, but we would like the variety. (We are no experts but we do swirl, sniff, and sip).
We both ordered the pairings, which seemed to me to lower our service level right away. Our male server seemed to be trying to stop rolling his eyes every time he was at our table.
The famed amuse bouch everyone raves about? Well, the four bites were good, but there was no theme. We had a panna cotta (another experience of poor service when clearing the dishes this is the one flavor we couldnt place. We asked about it and he literally dripped, its a panna cotta to which I responded yes, I know, but the flavor escapes me. Cauliflower. And exit.
The others were ahi tuna, mini lobster roll and a slice of beef with no explanation of the selections or why they were served together.
Im running on so Ill tell you my husband and I ordered different dishes for every course. Most were fantastic. I ordered the Australian Kobe beef for a $35 up charge. It was terrible. Full of sinew. The oxtail jus was the best part. I would have sent it back but by this point I truly believe the V & A staff and kitchen could give a crap about me and my husband.
We both had the soufflés for dessert. Me, chocolate; DH, grand marnier. I had such high hopes. Way back in the 80s there was a fantastic restaurant in Trump Castle an excellent French restaurant. Oh the soufflés! Ive been trying to find that taste for twenty years. Sadly, this 5 star restaurant fell far short. I feel sad for all of you who believe this is the best of the best.
I will always go back to WDW, but V & As was a sad disappointment.
). I had the Kobe as well and it was superb. I *do* hope you said something to the staff there, because I'm sure they would be appalled by that kind of behavior, and wine pairing is not uncommon, so if that is how that server responded to you, chances are he will not be there long. It's too bad you had such a bad time, but for anyone reading this, please do not exclude V&A's from your consideration because of one or two bad reviews, not every meal of every service of every day is going to be perfect, people and restaurants make mistakes - the best thing you can do is speak up!
