by Drew Dugue on Austin joint banging out interesting cocktails and state & locally sourced tasty vittles. The Short Skinny: THE GOOD - The interior was nicely done. Right amount of old school kick & attitude. - Wait staff, could have been a little more attentive, but the hostess was hop-to helpful. - I was warned the fernet branca cocktail might be too strange, and if it was, another could be made for me. I was looking forward to trying a digestif, and was therefore open to new experiences. I enjoyed the drink. - Located within walking distance from some of my favorite "after" places. - Seafood chowder = delish. - Lamb chops were perfect. The curry grits nicely done. - Dark chocolate torte, spectacular. THE MEH - There was a bone in seafood chowder, both mine and my companion's. (That'll get you kicked off Top Chef, gang.) - The table we sat at too small for dining (three people at what was really a two top). IN SHORT: - A really good place on its way to being great. Looking forward to going back.
by Neomi Biddinger on are you f-ing kidding me? I cannot believe that in a city filled with interesting people, places and things to eat, that anyone except a tourist bumpkin from the middle of nowhere or someone with their taste buds removed would even give this place one star. If I could I would give it negative stars for wasting my time and money. I kind of had a hunch that this place was gonna suck when it was really easy to get a "table" for 7 people on a Saturday night with 5 days notice. Upon arrival, we checked our coats and the wine we had brought. Trust me when I tell you corkage is reasonable if you want to drink anything that doesn't suck AND cost a fortune - we should have brought more. If you go, stop at the local convenience store and get some Woodbridge or some rank Australian critter wine - even with corkage, you will be ahead of the game. We stood at the bar a good 10 minutes before the one bartender acknowledged us and was able to process our drink order. At 7:30, they opened the door and showed us to our bed with accompanying a small coffee table. The first course took a while to show up and, when it did, was almost inedible. Some concoction of apples and truffle oil with a tomato "gel" and marscapone cheese that you were supposed to stir together to make a cold cheesy tomatoey soup. Nasty. Second course was a shellfish [crab, shrimp, ? - dunno cause when they dropped it off they didn't mention what it was] ravioli in a dark brown, waaaay over salted broth. First, dark brown broth in a shallow bowl when everyone is laying on all white beds - hello? Second, the two lukewarm raviolis where undercooked [not even al dente but raw]. Main course [again dropped off without a description], was vile. Since you can't really see well in the dimly lit room, we all, at first, mistook it for pork. It turned out to actually be duck and, while I am a big fan of duck and firmly believe that it should be served rare, this was closer to raw. I had about two bites before I gave up on it and the bitter but insipid turnip puree it was resting on. I really don't remember dessert as I was in my own world blissfully dreaming of 7-11 burritos that I would be eating on the way home. The entertainment was good but pretty short and certainly not any better than most street performers on Pier 39. The waitstaff was pretentious, hard to flag down and, really, not all that. The dancing afterward was a bit lame - the DJ was in some sort of trance groove for about 45 minutes before he played anything that had a beat and even then it was only OK. The room was nice if you like large warehouse spaces flanked by large white beds. Food minus 1 Decor 1 Service minus 1 Other minus 9 for being a big waste of money and time.
by Evann G. on I should preface this by saying that we ate on the Deck, and it was the last day of the season. So, it was windy and cold and we were one of only a few tables... the staff was perhaps a bit less focused on us than they might have been had we eaten there sometime during the summer. Still, the service was pretty bad. The food, however, was absolutely fantastic. Which is why I'm averaging out to 3 stars. Our experience started out promisingly enough, waiter was nice, windguards made sitting outside extremely manageable, etc etc etc. However, most of the food we ordered? Arrived at the SAME time. We got our drinks and appetizers first, but everything else from bread and butter (which we had to specifically request) to soups and salads to side dishes and entrees... ALL came out simultaneously. Of course it didn't fit on the table. Yeah, that's why it's normally served in courses, you know, the bread followed by the appetizers followed by the soups and salads followed by the entrees and side dishes? Nope, not this time. It was almost comical trying to fit everything. Some dishes ended up balanced precariously on the edge of the table. And, of course, lots of things ended up getting cold because we were absolutely overwhelmed with regard to what to eat first. That said, the food was VERY good (when we got to it while it was hot). Standouts were the squash soup, burrata mozzarella appetizer, scallop BLT, and the absolutely HEAVENLY mashed potatoes. The steak was fantastic too, and my mom loved whatever non-steak item she ordered... I think it was chicken, although it might have been fish. The only thing we didn't like was the side of sweet potatoes, which were oddly spicy. Our waiter disappeared frequently, came around only once every few decades, and took forever to bring the check, but he was a pleasant fellow and I'm sure his service is normally much better when it's not freezing outside. Bottom line, the bad service and the great food sort of balanced each other out. The only thing you should keep in mind if you're planning to eat on the deck is that the menu is virtually identical to the fancy indoor dining room, so you're not going to save any money -- but you won't be forced to dress formally!
