Mediocrity at its best! I don't intend to write a scathing review here, but talk about disappointment and the most hum-drum dinner! For the glitz, glam, hype, and location, I figured Beatrix would hit the 4-star mark automatically. And while you could argue my experience might have been influenced by high expectations... no, this was legit boring: food, ambiance, service.
We were a party of four sitting at an eight-top that was amendable for sharing. No big deal. There was a movable mini-wall to separate the other party next to us. Now our issue with the server was not her personality, but lack of knowledge.
For their specialty fruit juice cocktails, you can add a shot to "spike" these non-alcoholic drinks for $5. She didn't know exactly what vodka brand was their standard shot and didn't know if it cost more if you wanted premium stuff like Grey Goose. Part of me said to myself, "Well, it's only been a week since they opened," but part of me said, "No. No. You need to be on top of your game from day 1." So I'm half-forgiving...
For round two of drinks, she didn't know what "neat" meant in "whiskey neat" when our friend ordered it. It came out on the rocks, and when the bill came at the end of the meal, that "whiskey neat" was $21. (See below.)
The fresh juice cocktails which look appetizing on paper were not exciting. I'm pretty sure Trader Joe's makes better fruit juices. My watermelon & strawberry cooler with vodka tasted like a drink I'd make at a house party. And yes, it's "fresh juice" but come on, take out the watermelon seeds. I sincerely hope it wasn't placed there to make it look "all natural." My boyfriend ordered a blackberry & lychee lemonade with vodka. Also banal.
The food: I really hope their first 30 days is a trial run deciding what works and doesn't work. We ordered kennebec fries with the soft poached egg mayo for a starter. The fries were... fries. It was barely enough for two people. The mayo was pretty good though; a slight lemon essence. All of us agreed there was no purpose for that poached egg in the middle of the fries. Did they put that there just to make it more exciting since a lot of people like eggs? It didn't contribute to the flavors anyway. We ordered the quinoa cakes. Boy those quinoa cakes were so small I'm pretty sure a child would still be starved after downing those. These weren't "starters." These were hors d'oeuvres for a supermodels' party. The grape tomatoes were practically the same size as these cakes.
The chicken n pudding was probably my favorite of the three dishes. I liked the quiche-like leek bread pudding and the chicken was nicely fried, seasoned well, and boneless! I do wish the portion was larger. The poached farm egg & truffled pasta was cream sauce overkill. The brown butter asparagus was lovely, but that brown butter combined with the massive amount of thin parmesan shavings just made me feel gross after three bites. Flavors-wise it was good, but it was just too rich: egg yolk, cheese, cream sauce, brown butter, dense pasta... ooof! The chili & chocolate glazed salmon was alright. We agreed the salmon was a tad overcooked. The flavors were fine... the chocolate was very subtle. And while the presentation encouraged taco-making, the tortillas (again with their "food accessories") were out of place.
Desserts: there's a pastry and coffee bar. The pastries (though some looked good like the honey bran muffin and lemon sugar cookies) looked like something I could get at Panera. All desserts on the menu are gluten-free. We ordered the flour-less chocolate cake and chia seed pudding. I was ABSOLUTELY ready for this chia seed pudding after seeing a beautifully photographed presentation from the Yelp photos. When it came out, it looked nothing like the lovely photo. Instead, it looked like salsa verde with the texture of a poorly made tapioca pudding. It was just not very nice to look at... and the flavors didn't make up for its unappetizing presentation. I felt duped! The cake was fine and they used good quality chocolate. We also heard the table next to us complain about the cinnamon roll being dry which says something about their pastries lying out all day.
The bill: As you read earlier, they did not warn our friend of the $21 whiskey neat price. When he raised concerns to the server, she said "Maybe because it's not on the rocks that's why it's more expensive?" It's the same portion of whiskey whether or not it's on ice. Again, nice server, but that was absurd. They rightfully adjusted the cost knowing that was a bit obscene and mispriced.
Beatrix is wonderfully appointed (nice browns and tans on the furniture... green ferns... unique lighting...) and they opened the windows last night since its summer. But it was a little too chilly for them to do that. In sum, I hope others who try Beatrix find it more *positively* memorable than we did. read more