I have eaten at the David Duncan House many times over the years; we went there for many lunches and dinners. Since I moved I haven't been there that often but last week I was treating a girlfriend to a birthday dinner, I wanted something upscale so I booked a table at David Duncan.
I ordered the Crab cakes ($18.00) the colour should have been my first clue, very dark and very crunchy. I have no doubt they came right out of the freezer in the deep fry. They were so over-cooked that they did not taste like crab, they were tasteless.
I ordered the Prime Rib medium rare with gravy on the side. First of all my Prime Rib arrived covered in gravy so I sent it back. My guest had ordered her Prime Rib medium well with gravy but didn't get any gravy.
At first we thought the waitress had switched the plates but she insisted we had the right orders. So my plate went back into the kitchen and I'm sure they just ran it under hot water to remove the gravy. When she bough back my plate she finally brought the gravy for my guest. Also it was not busy it was a very quite night there. When I tried my Prime Rib (medium rate) it was well done and my guest's cut was very pink.
I nibbled at the meat and then just put it aside, The Yorkshire pudding was cold not cool but cold.
When she finally came back to the table I showed her my meat and since there was not so much as a hit of pink it definitely was not Medium Rare, I also said the Yorkshire was cold. She mumbled something and walked off.
I wasn't looking for a freebie I just wanted to treat a dear friend to a special evening. My guest ate some of her meat (too pink for her) so the waitress asked if she wanted to take it home and she said no, so I said you can put it in the same container as mine for the dogs.
She did bring over one piece of Cheesecake because she heard me toast my friend's birthday.
This is not the David Duncan House I remember, I don't mind pricey when the food it good but it wasn't good nor was it as ordered; and they did nothing to try and correct the various problems. Also for an 'upscale' restaurant the wine glasses were small, both the red and the white wine was served in the same glass...something you'd buy at a dollar store.
It will be a long time before I venture back there. I feel that there heydays might be long gone.