Winterlicious Review - Don't bother with the Winterlicious lunch menu, not worth the money or time.
My friend and I were excited to try Adega and figured we'd stop by for Winterlicious. Worst decision ever.
SERVICE
I arrived early and was seated relatively quickly but I had to wait for my friend. The waiter kept coming by to the table and asked if my friend arrived. I told him she will be here in 15 minutes (ie: the actual time of the booking) and that we'd need some time before ordering. My friend sat down, barely had a sip of water or even time to look at the menu and the waiter was looming over our shoulders trying to see what we would like to order. No walkthrough of the menu or recommendations when I asked what he would suggest off the Winterlicious menu.
FOOD
I've never been so upset to want to send food back to the kitchen. Sloppy presentation and bland food. I even mentioned it to the waiter. We were both starving and upset after the lunch.
We got:
Seafood Bisque with Dungeness Crab Aioli [flavourless, watery, lukewarm]
Beef Carpaccio with Spicy St. Jorge Cheese [the best dish we had]
Linguine with Tiger Shrimp in a Chipotle Pepper Tomato Sauce [4-5 pieces of shrimp, slightly undercooked linguine - didn't finish the dish]
Mushroom Risotto with Porcini-Truffle Butter & Parmesan (vegetarian) [smelled great but tasted like mushy porridge, and I felt like they added water cause it was not silky or creamy. Flavourless and sloppy presentation - didn't finish the dish]
Trio of Seasonal Tarts [couldn't care less about the dessert, dry tarts so it was really difficult to chew]
Mixed Sorbet (vegetarian)
I really hope this was just an one off experience because I've heard nothing but wonderful comments about this restaurant. If you are planning on doing a horrible job or can't source good ingredients to work for the Winterlicious pricing, don't bother participating in because it's just going to tarnish your brand.