Restaurant & Dining Reviews- The Raving Palate

Restaurant: Arcadia Restaurant - October 23, 2011

Address: 100 W. San Carlos Street, San Jose, CA 95113
Phone: 408.278.4555
Website
twitter: @ArcadiaSteak

• Food: Modern American, Steakhouse
• Attended: Dinner
• Decor/Ambiance: Contemporary, dark woods, leather, and glass
• Cost: $$
• Rave Factor: 4 Stars
  

Service:  3/4    Food:   3/4   Presentation:  2/4   Concept:  4/4    Value: 4/4

Review: 

This restaurant was fine in food and in service. The food was seasoned very well and the presentation was simple. We’ve always been a fan of simple foods: nothing fussy, where the main ingredient can really shine through. The service was great and the atmosphere was romantic. Great date night place!

Read More

Restaurant:  Alexander’s Steakhouse - October 21, 2011 

Address: 10330 North Wolfe Road, Cupertino, CA 95014

Phone: 408-446-2222
Website
twitter: @alexandersv1 

• Food: Steak, Japanese influenced
• Attended: Dinner
• Decor/Ambiance: modern Japanese
• Cost: $$$$
• Rave Factor: 4 Stars out of 5
   

Service:   4/4   Food:    3/4    Presentation:   4/4    Concept:   2/4    Value:   3/4

To sum up our experience in a single word: REDEMPTION.

On the second visit, we experienced the food and service that we had hoped for on our initial visit and it became clear how a restaurant of this caliber had earned its high acclaim. A strange encounter with duplicity, on this occasion we found the Dr. Jekyll to the previous Mr. Hyde. The food, presentation, concept, and value remained consistent compared to our last visit, but what elevated the experience was the prompt, polite, and professional service - so much so that it arrived just short of a 5 Star rating.

Review:

Our waiter Scott was fantastic! Very attentive, everything a waiter should be! Once again, the support staff was attentive as well. Great service all around this time. Once it picked up, the service slowed, but not to the point where we felt neglected, as was the case during our first experience. 

We were seated promptly and drinks were served immediately. Scott came to us very quickly with menus in hand and was fully knowledgeable of the specials and menu. Off to a good start.

The amuse bouche for the night was a slow poached egg with maple syrup and miso cream. The miso cream was very light and was done beautifully. However, Alexander’s should re-examine the use of maple syrup, as such sweetness early on in a meal (and on an empty stomach) can have the opposite effect for which it was intended.

Our dishes were cleared promptly and our glasses were always full. Nice to see this aspect of the service is always consistent.

Appetizers were tempura short ribs and smoked gyu carpaccio. The tempura short ribs were delicious. The tempura was the right thickness and had just enough crunch without feeling like a mouthful of fried tempura mix. The accompanying maitake mushrooms did not add much in the way of flavor to the dish. The dipping sauce that came with it was lovely.

The carpaccio was presented beautifully with nice colors. The first impressions of the carpaccio were that it was presented beautifully with nice colors and that there was a lot going on in the dish. Though it’s appearance was complex, the textures and flavors were spot on.

The intermezzo of a pomegranate gelee with apple pearls and micro cilantro was refreshing. We really liked how the gelee was not too sweet or thick, just enough to bridge our first courses with the entree and cleanse the palate.

Entrees consisted of filet mignon with a demi-glace and the sous-vide jidori chicken. The filet was slightly overcooked without ruining the taste. This would have been an opportunity to just season the meat beautifully and let it shine through on its own. 

The sous-vide jidori chicken was well-cooked; juicy and tender all the way through with a crispy skin that came off nicely. A well-seasoned dish. The popcorn foam on top was underwhelming and did not give off the contrast in flavors we were anticipating. The green garlic puree was good, but did not come across as garlic, it was much more acidic. The portioning could have been reduced to half the size as much of the chicken was left unfinished. 

After the entrees, we noticed the service slowing down a bit because the dinner rush was in full swing. It took a good 20-25 minutes between finishing our entree to ordering our dessert. Ordinarily this would have seemed long, but we were enjoying the company and compared to our initial visit, the slow-down was nothing.

For dessert, we had the Love Bites and the Southern Belle. The Love Bites (chocolate hazelnut sponge cake, praline parfait, citrus coulis, candied hazelnut, and praline powder) dessert was good, but did not wow us. We would have preferred something richer like a ganache to complement the hazelnut. The Southern Belle dessert was not our favorite. The smoked ice cream was a bit too savory and the bourbon glazed peaches seemed to have their natural flavor cooked out of them. The corn sponge cake was very airy and did not add anything to the overall flavors of the dish. We would be interested in revisiting their dessert menu for other options in the future.

But all in all, an excellent dining experience. We are glad to have come back and change our minds about this restaurant. Well done, and PLEASE keep this kind of high quality service up!

Restaurant: The Restaurant at Wente Vineyards - October 7, 2011

Address: 5050 Arroyo Road, Livermore, CA 94550
Phone: 925-456-2450
Website
twitter: @Wente

• Food: American, French, Italian, Californian
• Attended: Dinner
• Decor/Ambiance: Country Vineyard
• Cost: $$$
• Rave Factor: 5 Stars
  

Service: 4/4     Food: 3/4     Presentation: 3/4     Concept:  3/4    Value: 4/4

Wente’s restaurant is located just past their vineyard and golf course and adjacent to the tasting room, so the surrounding scenery and restaurant entrance are a nice sight. We were seated promptly in a secluded room that was quieter than the main room. The decor featured rich, dark wood panelling along the walls, a large painting of the vineyard to our left, and exposed wooden beams in the ceiling. Large wine bottles of their Nth degree wines were scattered around the room with candles.

Review: Overall, it was a very pleasant and enjoyable dining experience. Our waitress, Shannon played a huge part in the experience with her menu suggestions and attentiveness. The food was delicious and cooked very well with a nice variety of flavors and textures that each dish and course had to offer. Looking forward to our next meal at The Restaurant at Wente Vineyards!

Read More

Restaurant: Craftsteak Las Vegas, October 30th, 2010

Address: 3799 Las Vegas Boulevard South, Las Vegas, NV89109 (MGM Grand)
Phone: 702-891-7318
Website
twitter: @CraftsteakLV

• Food: American, Steak
• Attended: Dinner
• Decor/Ambiance: Modern
• Cost: $$$$
• Rave Factor: 5 Stars
  

Service: 4/4     Food: 4/4     Presentation: 3/4     Concept: 4/4     Value: 4/4

Review: We were seated promptly by our friendly hostess in a private corner booth. The decor was modern with booths in the back of the room and tables on the sides with longer tables in the middle of the room. The decor was a dark brown/black color palette. We were seated in a private corner booth. There were children in the booth next to us trying to climb over the partition, but the staff quickly put a stop to that. Noise was moderate; no loud, distracting music.

Within 2 minutes, our waiter came to greet us and take our drink orders. We asked for a suggested for wine, as we knew we were going to order the chef’s fall tasting menu at $85/person. He suggested some wines (did not seem like he knew how to pair) and offered to get the sommelier for us. We ordered the tasting menu. Our waiter said he needed to check with the chef to see if they were still offering that, even though it was displayed on their web page. Fortunately, they were still offering it. Overall, very friendly waiter, very attentive.

Another waiter came to give us our bread. The waiter was specifically there to fill our drinks and our bread. Now that is service! I believe Tom said on an episode of Top Chef: “You come for the food, but you come back for the service.” Very nice to see that he exemplifies that in his restaurants. The bread was a sweet bread served in a cast iron pan and topped with melted butter and sea salt! It was soft, slightly crispy exterior and was heaven in your mouth. And this was just the bread!

Tip: Try not to get full on this bread. I had about one and a half pans of this to myself as I could not resist and the waiter is very attentive on getting you more bread!

Our drinks came out not too much longer after we ordered. Our appetizers quickly followed. We were served: breaded goat cheese with pickled beets and diver sea scallops. Everything is served family style. Goat cheese was slightly salty but just right and not too overwhelming. The breaded layer was thin, so it was not greasy and gave it a nice crisp. The pickled beets really balanced the saltiness of the cheese. Overall, a great dish. Next up: diver sea scallops. Seared just right. Not rubbery and seasoned well. No complaints there! (Except they could have given us a few more scallops in the pot!.)

Main courses: Prime Filet Mignon and Angus Skirt Steak

Sides: Baby Shiitake Mushrooms, Fingerling Potatoes, Brussel Sprouts with bacon, and asparagus

Prime Filet Mignon was slightly overcooked (between medium rare and medium), but did not ruin the filet mignon. Angus Skirt Steak was cooked to perfection — melted like butter. 

Baby shiitake mushrooms were just okay, nothing special. Fingerling potatoes were scrumptious, seasoned just right and complemented the steaks very well. Asparagus were cooked perfectly, tender yet still with a bite. Brussel sprouts with bacon was the star of the sides. Brussel sprouts had a nice crisp to them and were also cooked well to preserve the natural sweetness. The bacon added the needed salt to the dish.

We sadly could not finish everything.

And finally, the desserts: Variety of sorbets, Monkey Bread, Apple Fritters and Vanilla Bean Cheesecake.

The Monkey Bread. My goodness, the Monkey Bread. If I could have that morning, noon and night, I would. The cinnamon was not overwhelming and the bread was slightly crispy, which a lot of places fail to do. 

There were six different sorbets in mini portions. A great palette cleanser for in between the desserts. My favorite was the grape sorbet, that actually tasted like the fruit and not the artificial flavoring. The cheesecake was good, but not memorable. It was, however, very smooth, soft, and creamy and not thick, like the Cheesecake Factory always seems to make their cakes like. The apple fritters were good as well: not overly sweet and once again they were slightly crispy on the outside and they made sure that the exterior was not drenched in icing. Much appreciated.

Our wait staff (between 5-6 different members) were very attentive to our needs. Our water glasses were never more than 1/3 empty and our table was always cleared of debris and crumbs. They checked up on us during and after every course and were not intrusive or disruptive to our meal or converations. They also let us take our time with our variety of plates and we never once felt rushed out! Excellent, top-notch service.

Delicious food, superb staff — we will be back! Hopefully soon with larger appetites!