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| - A client gave me a $250 gift card to Mastro's or else we never would have gone someplace like this. I read all the Yelp reviews and quickly got very nervous. People either loved or hated Ocean Club. Filter out the ones that complain about the noise though - they were obviously sitting in the lounge, which was super loud. We sat in the dining room and it was restaurant-quiet the entire time. But even after filtering out the noise complaints and the people who obviously had an axe to grind with a particular server, the remaining bad reviews were about the food. This concerned me greatly. If you're going to pay that much, the food better be delicious and cooked to perfection. I can tell you that our entire was just that.
Our reservation was at 5pm which is when the dining room opens. Everyone was super friendly and professional starting with the check-in people. We got a nice table by one of the huge windows and a view of the other shops. The trees outside had christmas lights which turned on at 5:30 and then about 6pm they opened the windows.
Our server was attentive, professional & courteous. I cannot stress how incredible the service was. Our waiter walked us through the menu and instantly many of the questions that had been bugging me were answered. They started us with a bread basket which had normal rolls, garlic toast wedges and pretzel bread. I could have eaten an entire dinner of just the pretzel bread. We love shrimp cocktail and even though Mastro's is famous for it's Seafood Tower, there was no way the two of us could eat that AND have dinner so we just got the $23 shrimp cocktail...which was the coolest thing ever. 4 tasty, mammoth shrimp as big as my hand with spicy, but not-too-spicy cocktail sauce, served over dry ice so the smoke filtered over the table. My wife got the $8 Small Chopped Salad which she loved and I got the $12 Boston Clam Chowder which was as good or better than any clam chowder I've ever had. We came for the seafood but my wife wanted a steak. Our waiter suggested getting the Filet Oscar-style, stuffed with Dungeness Crab and Bearnaise sauce. Even though the prices seemed astronomical, this was our anniversary and my wife happily agreed. The 8oz Filet was $51 and the Dungeness Crab topping was another $32. That's $83 for one steak. We couldn't believe it....until she tasted it. It was cooked perfectly with huge chunks of crab in and over it. I was almost wishing I had gotten the same thing until I dug into my 1lb King Crab Legs for $67. Ever so briefly, I was a little dissapointed when they came out and saw there were only 2 legs. Then I saw how massive they were. Delicious with a hint of sweetness I've never tasted in crab legs before.
The sides are a-la-cart, and come in 2 sizes - Small or Family. Our waiter suggested the small sizes for us, which I kind of doubted but was proven wrong. It was nice that he didn't try to get us to order more than we needed as a few other reviewers experienced. We got the $20 Lobster Mashed Potatoes which are their signature side, and well worth it. The lobster was wonderful and not at all chewy like other reviewers experienced. We also got the $8 Gorgonzolla Mac & Cheese which came out on a skillet and perfectly baked. The last side was the $7 Grilled Asparagus. Everything was amazing.
My wife got Diet Coke and they bring it out in the little 12oz bottles. She went through 4 of them at $5 a piece and we couldn't have cared less. The wait staff was incredibly attentive. Drinks never got more than halfway finished before being refilled.
Our waiter told us he had a complimentary chocolate cake for us but we told him we also had to try the $16 Warm Butter Cake which was huge, with an equally huge scoop of vanilla ice cream and caramel drizzle. We must have spent a good 30 minutes on the butter cake alone.
For a full dinner you've got to prepare yourself for at least a 2 hour dining experience. Possibly longer with alcohol and coffee. We were there 2 hours and honestly it flew by. Our water told us it would be 25 minutes between soup/salad and entree and it was, but it didn't feel like it at all.
The bill came to $295.39 with the comped chocolate cake and after the $250 gift card, $45.39. We always tip at least 20% no matter where we go so we added a $65 tip for a total of $110.39. That's just under what we routinely spend on our anniversary dinner at The Salt Cellar. So for us, in this instance, it worked out perfect.
So I'm forced to ask myself if I would feel the same way with a $350 bill. It's hard to answer that, because I would never pay $300+ for a dinner for 2. And if I wanted to, my wife would have a very hard time with it. So - no, I do not think it was worth $350 for a normal dinner. But that's not the point, it wasn't a normal dinner. It was a very special occasion dinner. Will we do it again next year? Probably not. Maybe for our 25th anniversary though.
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