TLDR: Hilariously bad. Service was poor and the food was even worse. Was served a hockey puck for a burger and ribs drier than jerky.
Food: middling flavors with disastrous execution.
Service: inattentive and unapologetic.
Vibe: tries to be both industrial and rocker, ends up as neither. The ambiance was, like the food and service, lacking.
Review:
This was, without doubt, the WORST dining experience I have ever had. That is not hyperbole. I am not exaggerating for effect. Everything, from the service to the food, was so genuinely awful that I'm laughing just thinking about it.
Things got off to a rocky start the moment we stepped inside. We had a reservation for the countertop so we could see the chef at work, but the restaurant was clearly not on the same page. All of the counter spots were already taken, and the server had erroneously thought we had a booking for a regular table. When I showed him our reservation, which read "kitchen counter", he offered no apology. So we stuck it out in the dining room. Fine, not the end of the world, I thought.
We ordered their tasting menu for one, as well as their dry-aged burger, the latter which came highly recommended. Somehow, it was not until after we ordered that we found out that what was featured on the tasting menu for one was different than if it was ordered for two people. I guess explaining that to guests was too much to ask. We should have taken the hint that this was an unserious establishment, but decided to give the food a chance to speak for itself.
The first two courses, the carrots and cucumbers, weren't bad. But neither were they very good. The choice of ingredients were more interesting than they were harmonious. The lamb moussaka that followed was flavorful, but was so utterly drowned in salt that my wife could not eat it. Rather than send back what was a rather small portion, I ate the rest, hoping the next dish would offer redemption.
Nope. The BBQ chicken was an equal miss. Again, the flavor was fine, but the meat itself was overcooked and dry. My wife would later say the best bite she had at this place was the coleslaw on the side. Wow.
Next were the ribs, served with a basal and berry salad. I wish I could have infused all of the moisture from those berries into the ribs, because just like the chicken, this thing was dry and barren to the bone.
And then came the burger. Oh my god, the burger. This was the most horrifyingly dry burger I have ever had the displeasure of sinking my teeth into. Not just in a restaurant, but anywhere... ever! The most novice dad at any backyard cookout could make less lifeless patties than this. Even the water-boiled burgers from the elementary school cafeteria were A5 wagyu compared to this bite of the Sahara I had to choke down. How on earth could anybody, let alone a professional chef, let this mummified carcass of a once proud bovine leave the kitchen? Dry aged beef? No, this was just DRY.
When I told the waiter this "thing" was inedible, I asked him to take it back and said "thank you" out of politeness. He responded with a simple "you're welcome" and walked away. Again, no apology for serving up a leather sole and trying to pass it off as meat. No condolences for my palate having to suffer its texture. Just... "you're welcome."
The final dish would have been dessert, but at that point, we had enough. We paid the bill and left before any more culinary torture could be inflicted. An extremely disappointing (to put it lightly) end to what was otherwise a great time in Victoria. read more