As my day out with the siblings turned to early evening, we headed to our main destination. Pinella is definitely one of the better places you could go and thus we had a reservation. It's located on the riverbank and has a marvelous location and views. It's also very nice on the inside and the building has history, which our waiter didn't hesitate to share.
On to the food. I always order the steak when at a place like this, but was torn today between the usual safe bet versus the Zander, which seemed delicious. With help from our waitress my brother and I settled on the red meat with red wine combo and my sisters on the fish and white wine. We ate ridiculously well and the presentation and service were top notch, although our wait times were also quite long (we had many apologies for that during the evening). Apparently there was something going on that night which was causing delays with our orders. I would say the food more than made up for it, but tonight my steak plate was a bit on the mild side. The meat was cooked perfectly and there was nothing really wrong with sides, but it was just missing that something. That something which makes you sigh happily while chewing. My safe bet felt suddenly a little too safe. The appetizers, desserts and the fish my sisters ordered all had that five-star quality which made this all the more baffling. Together with with the fact the wait times were stretching three hours, I've decided on four stars for the whole experience with strong suspicion that lacking the minor fumbles, nothing less than five would have been in order.
Note: My brother contests my view regarding the steak and claims his was also a five star affair.
I will order the Zander next time. read more