After reading the reviews here and being a huge fan of fusion cuisine, I had some very high expectations from Seino. However, it turned out to be quite a less than mediocre experience. The dining room was full that evening (very noisy), and there was no music plus very bright lighting, so it certainly wasn't a romantic environment. The waiter seemed pleasant enough, but was alone and expected to look after over 30 diners that evening. Needless to say, the service was not prompt at all - we arrived at 19:45 and did not end up leaving until far past midnight.
All of this could be forgiven, though, if the food was of any sort of quality whatsoever. The 5 course menu changes every week, from what we understand and our menu seemed to be based on a Belgian, more than French fusion. We started with 3 amuse-bouches, one was a oyster that seemed not that fresh in an extremely bitter sake jelly which basically dominated the entire course. Our 2nd course was a salmon terraine (also in a miso-based jelly, so if you are a fan of jellied food, this may be your place) which contained quite hard and barely cooked vegetables inside, so it was quite difficult to eat. At this point in time in the meal, I started to notice that the portion sizes were certainly not evenly dispersed amongst the guests. Though I am a petite woman, it somehow doesn't seem to warrant that my portion sizes were about 1/4 of the size of my larger neighbors. The 3rd dish of the bonito didn't also seem that fresh and was a sub-par cut (i.e. contained dark portions of meat and clearly was the end of the fish). The veal tongue, though, was a gross disappointment. Though it had been marinated/cooked for 8 hours, it still retained its tongue-like quality (the texture was stringy and tough) and was also a poor cut as well, containing the muscle and fat that attached the tongue to the rest of the calf. Dessert was un-inspired and difficult to eat, as it was simply a bowl of chocolate ice cream with a fig, which hadn't been cut properly, thereby rendering it almost impossible to eat with the spoon they provided.
When I went to use the toilets, the stairs that led down to them were absolutely filthy and slippery. The toilets were also not the cleanest, and were quite cold and inhospitable. I caught a whiff from the kitchen on my way back up and it really didn't smell quite right either. That's why I wasn't surprised when I had gastro problems the next morning.
The only outstanding feature was the wine we selected. Which, by the end of the evening, became very warm, as all of the ice cubes had melted, given the fact that we had nearly spent 5 hours in this sub-par establishment.
Not an experience to be repeated. Ever. read more
