Wishing I could give 2.5 or 2.75 stars. Our first visit in quite some time was last night (a Friday) and nothing was downright bad, but it wasn't good either. The "meh" on the 2-star rating describes the experience accurately.
We arrived about 6pm with a hankerin' for prime rib, which is not as easy to come by it used to be. We try to eat healthy so were looking forward to this splurge. The first thing I noticed upon walking into the dining room was it has a slightly damp or mildewy odor, as if a dehumidifer is needed. However the room was clean and all empty tables (which were the majority upon arrival) were set up neatly. We were seated and began reviewing the menu.
Our waitress arrived quickly. She was young and seemed nervous, bordering on frightened, and clearly inexperienced although she was trying. She announced one special, a ribeye steak entree. We inquired about prime rib which she said was available, then we ordered a glass of wine and a soda which were delivered promptly.
A few minutes later we ordered an appetizer of grilled shrimp with garlic bread and two prime rib dinners, medium rare. We were offered a choice of garden or Caesar salad, no other options. So far, so good. Less than five minutes later our salads were delivered. I noted to the hubby that the shrimp should've come first, and in his ever easy-going style he just shrugged.
Romaine lettuce was fresh and crisp, there was a reasonable amount of cheese and fewer croutons than I would like, but I tend to be a crouton maniac. That's all the good parts of the salad although as stated earlier, it wasn't actually bad. It was served in a practically frozen bowl, and the lettuce had clearly just come out of the fridge, plus there was so little dressing they might not have bothered at all. We agreed that the overall sensation of this salad was 'cold.' Meh.
Midway through the salads the shrimp appeared. It definitely did not look or taste grilled, it was probably sauteed. Having said that, for me it was the highlight of the meal. A plate was presented with 2 mid-sized pieces of garlic bread and a lemon wedge next to a ramekin containing 4 mid-sized shrimp, a few halved cherry tomatoes and some basil leaves. The shrimp were nicely cooked to firmness and served hot in a tasty scampi-style sauce. The tomatoes and basil had been added last minute so they held their form but were also hot and slathered in the garlic sauce. We both enjoyed this dish.
Too bad the timing was all off, especially when the waitress had only one other table. We certainly would have preferred to have the appetizer first, then a little respite, then the salad. Instead we set our salads aside half eaten, polished off the shrimp and went back to our salads. Meh.
One bite back into salad and the entrees arrive, literally no more than 20 minutes after our order. The prime ribs were decent sized and appeared to be well marbled but not too fatty. They were both cooked as ordered, with a bit of a brown sauce drizzled over and a small cup containing more sauce on the side. Baked potatoes were properly prepared (but really, how can they screw up a baked potato? If they can, I don't want to know!) and the vegetable of the day, 'ratatouille,' which was a medley of sauteed zuchinni, yellow squash and tomatoes. Everything was hot but sadly, that's about the best we could say for the entrees. So sad, we really want to like this place. MEH.
Cutting into my rib revealed more fat than had appeared, which is not that surprising with this cut of beef. In retrospect I think if I'd flipped the whole slab over on my plate, the other side would've shown mostly fat. I don't mind cutting off the fat as long as there is still plenty of beef left (after all you're paying for the beef!) but this cut was very difficult to cut through. I ended up sawing off large chunks of fat and beef to set aside since I couldn't cut through to separate the two. Too much waste; thankful it was only $20. MEH!
The baked potato came with 2 pats of foil-wrapped butter. We would've liked sour cream and perhaps horseradish for the ribs, but our waitress had seemingly disappeared. She eventually came by to check on us when we were past halfway through the ribs, and we asked for horseradish sauce. She said "she'd ask the kitchen if they can do that" and came back a few minutes later with a small dish of straight horseradish. We were OK with that and it had a nice kick that helped clear my sinuses and made the beef a bit more enjoyable - for what little was left.
Meanwhile a group of 3 ladies were seated behind the hubby. Their bubbly waitress recited SIX specials, including soup, apps, entree and veggie options. MEH MEH MEH!
I've run out of character space (thanks Yelp) but tried to make this point: Sam's Bistro place has great potential but needs to work out a lot of issues. Hope they do. read more