Elaine

We visited this restaurant every year for five or six years.  The last two times, we were disappointed.  The second last time, the food was still good, however the dining room was full of wolves who did not know how to behave. Example: large family with teenagers. Mom & dad got drunk & started arguing, teen-agers left hats on and started talking loudly and swearing, which spoiled everyone's dinner.  Restaurant staff did nothing (I would've thrown them out, personally).  Last time we went, we were seated near three men who were drunk to begin with and started speaking loudly about picking up 'chicks' and rating body parts.  My husband asked for us to change seats - so they stuck us over near the kitchen door. Wonderful.  At least one of the wolves got up and apologized & offered to buy us a drink (funny he did, but resto didn't!) Anyhow, foie gras was over cooked (actually dry - imagine how vile that was.)  Cuts of meat had declined in quality and we were disappointed, given how good this place used to be.  In the old days, we'd have given the place 4 stars.  The last visit - a 2.  Hence the 3.  This year, we are going to skip it -- we may return in the future to see if they've stepped it back up, but we're not going to bother this year.

Am I the only person who is a little suspicious here? On March 2, someone writes a bad review & gives this place one star. On March 7 THREE people in a row (including 2 within 1 hour of each other) pop up on the site and give the place 5 stars. Considering the previous review was in January, and the one prior to that was in 2008, this seems tad obvious, at least to me! Webmaster, is there a way to stop friends & owners from tooting their own horns. I've never eaten here, so I'm not going to join the debate about the food or service, but I am highly skeptical about the three reviews posted on the same day. (The site wouldn't let me post without checking the forks, so I checked 3 -- but ignore that).

I love eating out. Hubby & I do it once a week -- we read reviews, look at menus on line, and approach each meal as an adventure. So with that background, when we walked into this restaurant, we were initially a little surprised -- the decor looks a little run down, kind of like a motor hotel that has seen better days.  But hey, you're here for the food, right? Hubby wanted to try the Kobe beef.  Despite having called earlier, they had 'run out'.  It is funny, because we had attempted to try it 2 years earlier - also on a weeknight -- and they had 'run out' then too. Do they actually have it on the menu? Or is it just a marketing trick to lure you in and then overwhelm you with awful food? Appetizers were dull.  Mains were a let down, considering all the hype about this place.  They must have a large promotional budget because they advertise everywhere on the resort.  Hubby wanted filet mignon. They didn't have that cut (sidebar - are you kidding me?).  Can't remember what cut he had, but it amounted to a pile of fat.  He ended up cutting bits of meat from the fat and leaving a pile of it on his place. Even the server looked sheepish -- but despite doing their pretentious little 'un deux trois voila' unveiling the food routine (which, by the way, is so idiotic that it makes me cringe just writing this) no one offered to correct it, offered us a different main or a reduction in the bill - which (wait for it) was $500 including tip (we still tipped 20% because the server was an earnest young student and we couldn't bring ourselves to penalize him because the food was so awful). My main was bland and I ended up leaving part of it.  I do not understand the cult of personality about this place -- we tried it twice (this is the 2nd visit I'm talking about -- the first time it was boring, the 2nd time it was awful).  It almost seems that on some tourist websites their friends or staff are posting reviews - they read like advertisements, they all mention the chef by name, mention little strange details that actual customers wouldn't recall -- and if you write a bad review some other member sends an email telling you they don't believe you and that Chef Whatever-her-name is is the best!  What is up with that? It's bizarre.  I agree with Rotislav below -- the world seems to tilt every time I read a favourable review of this place.  It was that bad.