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| - I wanted to like this place better but I was left wanting.
My girlfriends and I were going to do a night out and chose this as our destination. Before we arrived we reviewed the menu on their website and identified what looked good. Additionally I looked though different reviews here to identify what seemed to be the most popular dishes and what I wanted to eat. We got there through the pouring rain and were surprised to see that the teeny, tiny parking lot has valet parking. Why? I really don't understand the need for valet parking when the parking lot is that small. Anyway, upon entering I noticed the place is super cute.
We had a reservation and we were on time, but we still waited a few minutes for our table to open up, which is normally fine except there really isn't a convenient place for more than about 2 people to wait for their table in the lobby area. So we stood for about 10 minutes doing an awkward shuffle-dance with other people who were coming and going.
Eventually we're seated and greeted by an outgoing and friendly waiter. Things immediately went South we when looked at the menus only to discover that almost none of the things listed on their online menu, or even mentioned in the various yelp reviews, were still offered! I was looking forward to having a pineapple mojito, which our waiter said they didn't offer (despite the fact I saw a clear-as-day photo of one in their Yelp reviews) instead he insisted that the Plantation Tea was what I saw but it definitely wasn't the same drink, not even close. My friend ordered an apple cocktail, which wasn't even listed on the menu. We ordered the baked goat cheese appetizer to share, which came out lukewarm, and had a bland, goopy texture that lacked any real depth or zing. Sadly I see that most people rave about it, so I can only assume ours was a bad batch..? We didn't even finish it, it was that blah.
The only entrée that I was really looking forward to on the menu was the seafood cioppino, but the waiter said that was one of the things that had just been removed from the menu so it wasn't available either. Instead I had to go with my distant second choice, a Hangar Steak. Which at $25 was cooked perfectly, but it was small. Additionally it was served on a bed of bitter roasted root vegetables and grainy lukewarm mashed potatoes, very disappointing. My friend had wanted the pumpkin soup (no longer offered) but ordered the Forbidden Rice Bowl instead, which she really liked a lot.
We ended our night by ordering a carrot cheesecake that was offered on the new menu the waiter returned to tell us that, sadly, it wasn't available that night either. (This experience was starting to resemble the Monty Python 'Cheese Shop' skit.) Instead our waiter, who I will mention was as patient as a saint with our growing disappointment over the random menu changes and item unavailability, brought us out a Sticky Toffee Pudding, on the house, instead. It was passable, but I guess it was just pre-destined to fall flat after all the lukewarm, overpriced disappointment we'd been served that night. I guess you could say we were just feeling a little bit grumpy at that point over not getting a single thing that we were looking forward to. Oh well...
Now, *I* probably won't be back, but I don't intend this review to be a black cloud over this restaurant; it has promise, and like I said it is super cute inside and our waiter was very friendly. I just think we our expectations were already set high before we got there and when the dominoes started falling in the wrong direction they kept going in the wrong direction and the smallest negative things, like my bitter root vegetables, tiny steak and the bland appetizer, were amplified.
While I totally understand that menu changes can't be reflected in old Yelp reviews I'd encourage the management to make sure to update their website to reflect menu changes as soon as they happen. That way diners, who are finicky and through enough to review the restaurant's website before they arrive, will know in advance what their dining options are and won't be sorely disappointed to discover everything's been changed in the meantime.
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