Have you ever had service so bad that they tell you one of the owners wants to come over and talk to you... but then said owner never shows up?
It was a comedy of errors.
Before I get too far, I want to say the food was delicious. They are a 3 week old restaurant and some hiccups are to be expected... but this service was bad bad.
To start things off, we made a note that we planned to have the omakase. Our mind was set to sit at one of the best new sushi bars and be served whatever the chef wanted to serve us. Our waitress acknowledged this when she sat down at the sushi bar... then she admitted she didn't know what that meant. After a return from the kitchen she told us that "we won't have that until August 1st".
OK fine... if the chef isn't prepped to make selections, then I know how to navigate a menu... but first, drinks.
The sommelier, Alec I believe, was fantastic. He was knowledgeable, charismatic, helpful and polite. He suggested both a Japanese whisky that was great and a sake that sounded amazing (though it came after we ate the last of our food, and was the wrong bottle... but I'll get back to that).
So our first round of drinks came promptly as Alec left. Then came the menu presentation...
I wanted to be wowed. When you're spending a few hundred dollars on dinner, your expectations are a little high. This is when I should have lowered them. Every description was the same... it was all either decadent, savory and delicious. We went in with expectations of being taken on a culinary tour of the chefs tasting menu, and this person couldn't differentiate dishes on the standard menu.
So we placed our food order all at once, to be coursed out as you'd expect... but that's not what happened.
Four plates of sushi were delivered all at once, plus a bonus fifth plate, "a special gift from me to you" from our waitress... a seemingly nice gesture at the moment. It was a lot of food, there wasn't room for all the plates. One of the servers asked if they should take one back to the kitchen... it was awkward, it is a new kitchen and they are figuring out timing, but it was a bit annoying. Especially because they never picked up the plates. I was also annoyed because the sake I'd ordered to "match our sushi perfectly" still hadn't been delivered. We finally finished the plates of sushi and still no drink.
Then we waited 15-20 minutes... probably the right amount of time if our sushi plates would have been sequenced at all. Then it was time for one of our favorites, black miso cod, from the starter menu. It was fantastic: flaky, sweet, tender, perfectly cooked. Again, the waitress proclaimed, this is my gift to you" as she started to explain the dish. My wife said, "but we ordered this, you already brought us an extra sushi" to the shock of our server... "oh, you did... never mind" As we both enjoyed that first bite of cod,our main course was delivered.
At this point my drink still hadn't arrived, so I walked to the bar. The bar tender didn't have an order, what seemed to be a manager was in ear-shot. I didn't make a big deal about things, I just asked if they had my drink. The waitress came back pointing blame in other directions... a convoluted mix up that was between the bar and Alec, but definitely not her fault. As I finished my last bite of food, she delivered the half bottle of sake now 30-40 minutes after I initially ordered (side note, it was the wrong bottle... luckily it was half the price)
She apologized profusely and said that one of the owners wanted to stop by to talk to us. I thanked her and gave her my credit card. When she came back several minutes later she asked if I had a chance to visit with the owner, I informed her that they never came by. I signed and we left.
Exhale.
We skipped dessert, deciding we'd end the night right a block away at Del Frisco's for a night cap. The hospitality as we walked through those doors was contagious. Everyone welcomed us, they smiled, and at least two people said "enjoy your time" on our walk to the upstairs bar. The drinks were great, the bartender was friendly, and the staff seemed happy to be there. Guests felt like guests.
This is when we were reminded that a good and happy and hospitable staff comes from great training and management. Del Friscos is world class. I hope some of this can rub off on their new neighbors.
I want Musume to do well. The food is excellent... but the service in week three is not worth the price. At all. read more