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| - I was definitely curious about going to dinner last night at La Maquette after reading that it would likely be empty - it being a Tuesday night and all. Walking up to the restaurant and seeing only a teenager sitting in the front window eating ice cream didn't really do much to assuage my concerns about what would become of my mother's birthday dinner. To give some context, my mother picked La Maquette for her birthday dinner because she had held successful business dinners at the restaurant about a decade ago, and had recently scooped up a groupon-type coupon for the place.
The host at the front door was friendly, attentive, and helpful - she wanted to seat us where ever we would be comfortable in the busier second-floor dining room.
Fine, fine, it all started out well, the waitstaff was satisfactory at the beginning of the meal.
About the food - it was fine as well - I had the pear and onion tart to start before enjoying the beef stew (very yummy but a little odd since it is served with broken lasagna noodles mixed in). However, none of my food was more than warm - and it certainly isn't difficult to get stew to the table hot!
My mother sent back her lamb because neither it nor the sides were even close to warm. She was only more frustrated when the now warm dish was returned with well-done lamb when she had originally requested medium-rare. In the end she went ahead and ate it because my father and I had finished before her plate had even been returned (not sure what the appropriate etiquette is but my mother encouraged us to eat before our meals were cold as well).
The last straw was when the waitstaff disappeared never to be seen again after they had cleared our dishes. We sat for about an hour chatting and waiting for any indication that the cheque would be coming soon. Unfortunately the waitstaff never returned to our side of the dinning room (just outside the lovely solarium) so my father followed one of the waitstaff into the back area to request the bill.
In the end, no tip was left as per the birthday girl's wishes.
When my mother spoke to the owner to explain why, an apology was made, but no offer was made to adjust the bill or make amends.
Yummy though it was, we won't be back
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