| rev:text
| - Tried Leña for the first time with 4 friends on a Saturday night. I have no desire to return.
Awkward, inconsistent service, and mediocre, bland food. I gave two stars only because I felt that one would be too mean.
I'll start with the positives:
*The design of the restaurant is beautiful and I love the art deco inspiration. The colour combinations are gorgeous.
*I was greeted by the hostess immediately upon entering.
*I liked that when my cocktail was brought to me, I was told of its history and the region in Spain (Basque) where it was/is a popular drink .(As an aside: It was basically wine and pop--not much different than what I would get as a child at all our Italian family weddings---ohhh the memories).
*Our server's personality seemed to eventually warm-up for initially being rude and cold, though he still seemed confused much of the time.
*They can bill by individual guest which when dining with a group, is nice.
The unfortunate aspects:
*The tables are placed close together. I had to be very careful that my bum didn't graze the food on the table of the couple seated next to our group.
*There were 5 of us and we were provided with only 2 menus. Like, just two our of five people were given menus! Not sure if they were short on menus but cammaaan! Being seated at the end, I couldn't see what was written so I asked for another menu. The server gave me a lengthy and perplexed look like what I had asked for was unreasonable. He then, in the most passive-aggressive way, brought me a dinner menu, AND a bound wine list, AND a bound cocktail list AND the separate desert menu (because as he snarkily said, "some people prefer to eat dessert while the others have their entrée"). His tone came off as a mixture of being obnoxious and patronizing and was really just plain rude. I didn't appreciate this especially since providing a menu to each guest is pretty standard. I didn't think it was unreasonable for me to ask for another.
*We started with 4 small sharing plates. Two of which we chose were no longer available. The kitchen should have communicated this to the front-of-house staff. And, if they did, our server should have let us know in advance. Not usually a big deal to be told that something is no longer available but this just contributed to the lousy experience.
*The meal was *very* oddly timed. There were a number of gaps in service.
*Our appetizers (these were different that the small sharing plates) came out with our entrées. Not sure why they're called "appetizers" if they arrive with the entrée.
*There were quality checks when we had the small sharing plates but no quality checks during the rest of the meal.
*We asked what ice cream and sorbet flavours were available. Our server said he would ask--and he didn't return for quite some time (yet he spent a lot of time gabbing with the table next to us). When he finally returned he guessed at the flavours then brought over another server to let us know what they were. So, he never actually asked.
*Our server came when food was delivered but didn't return afterwards and so I wasn't ever asked if I wanted another cocktail.
*Small detail and maybe I'm just being picky, but the 6th place setting should have been removed (as there were only 5 of us) and one guest who wasn't drinking wine should have had her wine glass removed. This is an O & B restaurant and these little things should be standard.
*Our dinner plates were not cleared for some time.
*Taste and palettes are subjective so I take opinions on flabour with a grain of salt (no pun intended) but this food was bland. SO BLAND. When one thinks of Spanish and South American food they usually think of major flavour but Leña lacked this massively. I was seriously disappointed.
*The restaurant was cold. Two in our group ate with their coats on and I was close to putting mine on too.
I feel there were two big misses: the food (which completely lacked flavour), and the service which was inconsistent. Not sure if our server was inexperienced, nervous or just having an off-night. Sometimes great service can compensate for disappointing food, and there were ample opportunities to do that here, but they fell short.
My advice: Go for a drink, sit at the bar and take in the pretty decor, but skip the meal.
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