Atmosphere:
- there was a live violinist! he was awesome and played some upbeat classical music as well as some soothing, romantic ones
- clean, spacious, nicely decorated
- somewhat busy that night (Friday 7 pm - 8:30 pm) and seems to be popular with an older crowd.
- noise level: moderate, lively
Service:
We had a decent waitress. I noticed that the servers wait until customers are finished eating their current dish before serving the next dish. This is nice touch since many servers often serve the food too early and interrupt the customers while they're trying to finish up their soups/salads/appetizers, but the entrees end up being served cold. This happened on to me on two separate visits with two different waitresses.
Food:
Mussels appetizer (photo included)
Somewhat citrus-y, but lacked flavor overall. It wasn't overcooked or under-cooked, and the portions (~ 6 mussels) were decent.
Borscht (photo included)
This soup was actually really delicious. It basically tasted like tomato soup with sour cream and a lot of veggies. My Russian bf said it was pretty good as well. I would definitely order this again.
Lamb rack (photo included)
As I mentioned earlier, the server may have waited until we were finished with our soup/appetizer to bring out our entrees so the meals weren't served hot/warm. The lamb rack came with a side of asparagus and mashed potatoes - both were tasty, but the lamb rack lacked flavor in my opinion. My bf enjoyed it, however. The only positive thing about the lamb was that it wasn't dry.
Lobster ravioli (photo included)
Despite being served cold, this dish was quite palatable. I really enjoyed the stuffing since I could actually taste a lot of lobster meat.
Overall, I had a nice dining experience. The live music is probably the best aspect of this restaurant. The dishes are a bit pricey and I haven't been wowed by any of their dishes, but I'd like to come back and try some of their drinks and maybe take a free salsa lesson (free lessons are on Friday 8:30 - 9:00 pm).