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| - Over the past year or so I've noticed a gradual decline at Sardine. Not sure what the problem is, but they went from consistently great food and great service to inconsistent and overpriced food and mediocre to poor service. I still love to indulge in the oyster happy hour in Sardine's bright, welcoming bar. But my last attempts at dinner and brunch left a bad taste in my mouth. My boyfriend and I came in for dinner on a slow weeknight in the spring- we were ushered to a table in a bar, and nobody acknowledged us after that despite our efforts at waving someone down. We sat for nearly 20 minutes before heading elsewhere.
Went with an old friend for brunch on Sunday- my omelet (spinach, chevre, bacon, and roasted tomatoes) was fantastically fluffy and tasted perfect. The "frites" that accompanied the omelet were limp- overly soggy to the point of being wet and overly salty to the point of being inedible. I've had this problem with their frites probably every time I've ordered something that comes with them, so I suppose I should know better by now. Their bloody mary is among the best in Madison (although my first one had a giant chip on the rim, it happens, and it was replaced).
Probably would have been four stars instead of three- I was just shocked at the service. My friend noticed that our server didn't smile once, and barely spoke. Sunday brunch is legendary in the service industry for being a killer hangover shift so maybe that was it, but he failed to mention the specials- we had to ask a table nearby- and didn't check on us once. In fact, in the hour and forty five minutes we were there, our coffee was only refreshed once and water was not refilled at all! Not what I'm used to in a place where quality service is clearly built into the price. (i.e. $17 for two crab cakes and a side salad on the brunch menu) Sardine is going to need to step up its game if it's going to survive the slew of new upscale joints in downtown Madison.
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