Updated review from Saturday, October 6, 2012
OK, so another really disappointing meal on Maui. I've been to Spago five times over numerous visits to the Island and the food, drink and service have always been top notch, until this time.
So we had a cocktail at the lobby lounge and listened to some live music and a little Hawaiian dancing, entertaining, if a bit loud.
We were sat promptly at the exact time of our dinner reservation, good so far. Server buzzed by looking for a cocktail order, but since we already had one pre-dinner and were looking to do the tasting menu said no, but asked about the tasting menus, since they are not noted on the menu. Server said yeah, we have two, seven and nine course, but didn't know what they were, she'd have to go check with the chef (why didn't she know what was being served when she arrived at our table??). She comes back and reads off the tasting menu selections for the seven course meal (um, guess we'll have that). We order wine, a half-bottle of red for one, a glass of white for another, and two of us having the wine pairings with the tasting menu. The red wine appears and is poured quickly. The white wine does not appear, for about 10 minutes. The first course of the tasting menu is the ahi cones (a bit over-rated at this time, but they are a signature dish). But not, out comes the second course of the tasting menu, the ahi ceviche. Why???
So we eat the ceviche, with the first course wine pairing, so much for matching food to wine. Food is served by some food runners (they really don't know much other than to put food down and track down the server if there is a problem). I flag the server down, finally, and ask where the first course was. She doesn't know, I ask her to find out. So then comes the second course wine, with spiel about how it matches well with what should have been our second course, and then out comes the first course, but now as the second course.
OK, kinda a messy start, but not the end of the world.
Then the third course food comes out, nearly instantly (probably on time if we hadn't had to go back for the make up course). Oddly, there is no wine in the wine pairing glass for this course. I ask the food server, "what wine is supposed to be in this glass now?" He doesn't know, but at least gets the server to come over, finally, wine and food, but now the table is full of glasses and things are a little rushed. I also asked her to pace the courses better, I hate being rushed through a meal, particularly one that is supposed to be fine dining. Third course is very tasty.
Rest of dinner the service mostly evens out. Or I'm less picky after the wine pairings (note on wine pairings, they are mostly pedestrian choices, and in the $15 to $30 range retail, while heavy pours, not terribly worth it, although the wine list is likewise overpriced).
Near the end of the meal, a manager of some sort came by to ask how everything was. I said the service was a little rough, he asked no follow up questions, and seemed to be looking for a quick, "great" from us so he could move on. All he said is he'll follow up with the server, right.
The remaining courses were fine. Not much that rose to the level of memorable, other than three of the courses were ahi (I do like ahi, but in a seven course meal three becomes a little one note).
So, overally, probably three stars this trip. The place looks great. The food is good, if a little under-whelming, the wine pairings very uninspired, and the service is a confused mess (they are very pleasant and friendly, while running around like circus clowns, but still, at these prices, you should expect great execution).
Would I return. That is a tough one. For the meal and service I just had, no. Based on prior meals, yes, but you really are only as good as the last meal you served. So disappointing. And seeing that my previous review was four stars, now down to three, the trend is NOT good.
They also added an 18% gratuity to our bill automatically. For a party of four this always really annoys me. It generally leads to lackluster service, which is exactly what we received. There is NO reason for a restaurant of this caliber to add an automatic gratuity for a party size of six or under. None, they are encouraging poor service. Also, if a restaurant has the hubris to add that level of gratuity automatically (we ususally tip 20% to 25% for fine dining), then I leave no more. I guess they think that is sufficient. read more