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| - This was the one fancy restaurant I had planned for our trip to Pittsburgh and my buddy made all the arrangements for everyone. Pros first.. cons later.
Reservations are highly recommended! FYI, we were seated immediately upon our arrival.
So here goes with the pros:
If I could make a comparison, I'd say this is the Pittsburgh version of Atlanta's Sun Dial in the sense that you get an AMAZING view of downtown (minus the nauseating rotation). Luck was on our side and we got the best table in the house. Often times, a corner table wouldn't be considered ideal, but it is when you've got floor to ceiling windows that open up to two phenomenally beautiful (and almost completely different) views right as the sun was setting, the sky began to darken, and the buildings were beginning to light up.
To start, the gentlemen all ordered stiff drinks while we waited for our complimentary bread basket. One of my friends went ahead and ordered a wine for his entree and asked the waitress for a good pairing. She then brought out a couple of tastings for him until he found one he liked.
We ordered the combination appetizer (not available on the menu - ask for it!) with jumbo Cajun shrimp, crab cake, and Ichiban (tuna, salmon, and swordfish grilled on a skewer). It was unanimous that the crab cake was the star, for it was almost completely jumbo lump crab and no filler. A hint of lemon would be my only suggestion for it.
As for entrees, we had a TOUGH time choosing. All their fish are caught fresh and flown in the same day and the menu offerings are slightly different depending on what is caught. If there's a fish they don't have that day, their menu will reflect so with an "NA" but they like to leave it on in case you want to come back to try it in the future. The preparation options below each fish choice are their recommendations, but you can actually choose any preparation with any fish at no additional cost except for the "oscar" option.
-Enter.. my strawberry prep Chilean Sea Bass -- Chargrilled, finished with fresh peppered strawberries in a red wine sauce. The men were jealous, yes.. jealous of my fruity concoction and voted it best dish at the table.
-Beau ordered the Swordfish Oscar and it was perfect for him. Swordfish is very dense and it was nicely grilled, so it had a very woody / manly taste to it hahaha.
-You can never go wrong with surf and turf (also not on the menu, so you should ask for it): filet mignon, a large lobster tail, and cheddar whipped potatoes. My friend said all the food was great but the filet mignon was best of all and cooked to the perfect medium rare.
-Parmesan Chilean Sea Bass was the last of 'em. My friend enjoyed it, but all the cheese is very filling and he couldn't finish his meal, especially with the sides we chose.
-Sides are meant to share here, so we went with the lobster mac and cheese and the seasonal vegetables.
We shared two desserts - a lavender crème brulee and a white chocolate macadamia mousse. I'd skip on the crème brulee unless they have a different flavor. The lavender seriously made it feel like we were eating an air freshener. The mousse looked unappealing because it looked like two mounds of mashed potatoes. But looks can be deceiving, as I learned through the entire dessert round. Heaven.. in.. your.. mouth. Seriously! You must order it.
The presentation for everything was very appealing and well thought out. Portion sizes were very generous, with our fish entrees taking up most of our dinner plates. You will not leave here hungry, folks.
Service was wonderful. Our waitress was incredibly patient, explained the menu, offered her personal suggestions, and answered all the questions we had. Our drinks were refilled quickly, under the watchful eyes of the water guys. The manager even came over personally to ask how our dinner was and if there was anything they could do to make our dining experience even better (to which we said no).
They offer valet service for a fee. I'm not sure what it was because we opted to park one street over for free.
After all that's said and done.. what could I possibly have to say that is less than radiant?
- My buddy told me he got a LOT of grief for changing the reservation from 3 people to 4. I understand how it might be a hassle to change a reservation from 4 to 5 since all the tables sat 2 and were pushed together to accommodate more.
-We were promised our complimentary bread basket but it took a very long time for it to arrive; even the waitress thought so, too. We were starving and drinking on empty stomachs.
-You ride an elevator up to the restaurant and there's a bit of a wait, since there's a small limit as to how many people can be inside at one time. Going down was much quicker.
Perfect for a romantic evening or when you're in your fancy schmancy mood and want to get dressed up to eat something delicious. Hey, anywhere they use a comb brush to clean the table is entitled to using the term "fancy schmancy" okay?
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