The service was so bad I thought I was on a hidden camera show like 'Boiling Point' or something. It absolutely pains me to not give it one star, but I will give it two stars for the consideration that I probably just had a really bad waiter combined with a bad experience initially with the hostess. And as much as I'd still love to give it one star, I will give it a second star because the food looked great, the Lychee martini was awesome, and the ambience was great (well aside from being seated next to the restroom). But from someone who travels 100+ nights a year and dines at many hotel restaurants, this one had a completely subpar service experience from the hostess to the waiter to the manager.
I was looking forward to trying this place out because it looks awesome on Yelp, and the clerk at the front desk at the hotel it is in had told me about the Magical Dining deal they had going on. It sounded great. I was supposed to meet up with someone around 8 for dinner, so I popped by around 6:30 p.m. I inquired about the menu, but was kind of told that they were full and to come back after 8:30 because that usually is a good time. I kind of thought that it was rude that she didn't even offer to put me on a wait list or try to make a reservation, so I just went about on my way. I looked up on Open Table, and ended up making a reservation which was open for 9:45 p.m., and it had turned out it was just going to be myself.
I arrived at 9:45 p.m. and was asked to wait because the table wasn't ready, which really was not a big deal. I waited till 10:04 p.m. (thanks open table for the time stamp of when I was seated), and was seated on a 2-top table right next to the restroom. Over the course of the next several minutes there were two parties of two seated to my right. After about ten minutes of being unacknowledged a waiter came up and asked if I had questions about the menu. He was a slouchy HIspanic dude with a messy goatee, and not very friendly at all. I told him I knew what I want, and gave him my order plus I ordered a Lychee Martini. He left, then a different waiter came to take the order of the two couples next to me.
My martini finally came, and it actually was very good. In the meantime, my slouchy waiter had never come back as I sat there and had watched the couple next two me finish their soup, two plates of bread, and half way through their calamari appetizier (which looked and smelled AWESOME). The waiter to the right was a tall younger dude with a shaved head and he was such a great waiter and had checked back with his customers multiple times. However, there I was just sitting there coming up on 10:30 p.m. with not a peep back from my waiter nor any lobster bisque which I had ordered.
Finally, at 10:24 p.m., to be exact... I got up and went to the abandoned hostess stand to wait for someone to give me the check to pay for my drink. I asked for the manager solely to express what a lousy experience I had in hopes they could improve their service, and while waiting the slouchy waiter came up and obliviously asked me if there was a problem? I let him know I was tired of waiting, and he cluelessly spouted back saying "no one brought out your soup?" and then proceeded to say "ok that's cool" after I let him know I didn't want to stick around after making it clear I had been sitting there for 20+ minutes waiting. He quickly tried to adjust my check before the manager came up to the front.
And, of course, right at the tail end of this conversation with the slouchy waiter, the manager finally comes and spends several minutes conversing with him instead of coming up to me to so much as introduce himself. At that point, I simply signed my check, paid for my $17 Lychee martini and tipped the horrible waiter $3.
I stopped by the hotel desk to express what a miserable experience I had, then the restaurant manager comes up and dismissively apoligzes and tells me not to worry about the cost of my drink - and I flat out told them my experience and that I prefer to pay for my drink and would rather they focus on improving their service.
I would have loved to have tried the food from what I had heard about the place, but after this experience I would never consider stepping foot in this restaurant again. read more