I never write negative reviews but what was initially a birthday dinner my family was looking forward to, quickly became an overpriced, lackluster meal.
My family and I chose Casablanca on the River to celebrate my father's 70th birthday dinner. As Miami natives, we had heard great things of the restaurant and thought it would be an excellent place to celebrate my dad who is a seafood lover.
The positives: the appetizer and entrees were very good.
The negatives: the service and the desserts were terrible.
I follow the restaurant on social media. 9 hours prior to our dinner, they posted about a special World Cup menu. 3 hours prior to our reservation, the full $10 World Cup menu was posted.
When we arrived, I asked our server about the specials that were posted. She was confused and asked a coworker. Both said they knew nothing about the menu. Our server went to ask a manager and was told that the menu was for the following week. We were confused because June 19th was specifically written on the menu.
I do not believe in getting loud with people who handle my food, so we ordered and tried to move on with the evening.
We began our drink order. After confirming it was a full bar, we asked for a specialty cocktail that has simple ingredients. They said they couldn't make it. We observed that this restaurant follows the trend of hospitality that does not go the extra step, so we settled on a bottle of Rosé to play it safe.
Dinner arrived and it was good. Not extraordinary, but good. The catch of the day, the snapper, the fish dip, and the shrimp escargot were all very tasty.
We ordered dessert for our dad's birthday: a flan, a key lime pie, and a crema catalana. The flan lacked any caramel flavor, the key lime pie was a cheesecake masquerading as key lime, and the crema catalana was a soup. It was obvious these were preprepared desserts they most likely purchase through a third party vendor. The server did bring out a slice of guava cheesecake, but it was not fully thawed and very thick.
18% gratuity was already added and the server explained that that was not her tip, an inappropriate thing to say. There was no effort for additional tip so none was given. The server did not appreciate that and she had no problem showing it.
As a family of people who work in hospitality, we did not receive any type of service. Our check was over $500, a cost I happily incur when it is merited.
Next to Seaspice, Kiki, and Bagatelle, why would anyone opt to spend their money at this restaurant? The server stated she spoke to a manager earlier but looking around there wasn't a manager in sight. It was clear the property lacks leadership to set the bar of service higher and it showed in the low bar of service received. They just rely on the view to attract business. As stated, it's a view that is offered at several other restaurants within walking distance.
We will not be returning. read more