Too expensive for average quality food
Written: Jun 16 '03
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Pros: Appetizers, desserts, friendly waiters and great bar.
Cons: Rude sommelier, long wait for a table, expensive, main dishes weren't worth the price
The Bottom Line: Aqua seems like the place to be for an elegant seafood dinner, but the food and high prices aren't worth the trip.
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| galdones's Full Review: Aqua |
First off, I’d like to say this is my second review on epinions and I think I missed my calling as a restaurant critic. It would be nice if my work paid for my meals, but having to shell out the dough makes me even more critical of the food, so I guess that’s a plus, especially when people turn to reviews to see if an expensive restaurant is worth patronizing.
My current girlfriend, Jennifer, loves to try new restaurants and bold new cuisines and that’s what separates her from my former girlfriends, who were satisfied with going to the same restaurants again and again. Since her birthday was coming up, I decided to surprise her with a birthday dinner at Aqua. I called in for reservations three weeks prior and a reservation was set for 8:30pm, Sunday May 11.
If you noticed the reviews on epinions on Aqua, they were all written prior to December 2002, which is when Chef Michael Mina resigned from his Aqua post. I read in the Chronicle that he’s going to open a new restaurant inside the Westin St. Francis sometime after October 2003 (maybe early 2004). Sadly, I never got a chance to experience what all the fuss was about before Chef Mina left, though you can bet that I’ll be at the opening of his new restaurant.
We arrived at the restaurant about 30 minutes before our reservation, so we decided to sit at the bar and order cocktails. Seeing as how this was a Sunday night and we were both working the next day, I ordered a lemon drop and Jennifer had a few sips of my drink. The bartender was telling us stories about Hawaii and they were interesting so we left a nice tip for him. We were also browsing the wine list and decided to just stick with cocktails for the evening. The wine list was impressive indeed, but the markups were huge (maybe 300%+) on some $20 bottles I noted. We were seated about 20 minutes after our scheduled time, which wouldn’t have been a big deal had it not been for one couple that rushed in, breathing heavily and were promptly seated, this after Jennifer and I plus four other couples arrived plenty early and were patiently waiting for our tables for almost an hour. So take note, if you have an 8pm reservation, it’s better to waltz in around 8:30 and not have to wait instead of arriving at 7:30 and having to wait around for an hour. This was NOT a good start to the evening.
The arrangement of the tables are close enough where you could hear the conversation of the people next to you if you’re not talking to each other, but we didn’t mind the side chatter. Once we were seated, the sommelier came to our table and we browsed the wine list again. A few minutes passed and the amuse bouche arrived… a chilled spring onion crème soup, about five small sips worth. It was refreshing and light with hints of mint and basil. I could’ve had a whole bowl of this soup. Once we were done with the soup, the sommelier came back again and suggested that if we do the prix fixe, he could do a wine pairing at an extra cost or he could suggest wines that would go well with our dishes. We told him we’d need a little more time. About five minutes later, he came back again and we told him it’s a work night and we’d pass on the wine. His reaction was one of disgust, like he would be missing out on his part of the tip the way he grabbed the wine list from us. I could care less since our food waiters acted so much more professional than he did.
Our waiter suggested we try the prix fixe menus, but we weren’t up for a six course meal, so we each ordered an appetizer and main course and asked the waiter for suggestions. My girlfriend was stuck on the petrale sole and the halibut. The waiter recommended the sole and we finished ordering.
Our bread arrived shortly after and another waiter gave us our utensils. The appetizers finally arrived. My girlfriend had a lobster salad with mangoes and foie gras and sprinkles of roe. This dish had two huge lobster claws, crisp greens and a light yet flavorful vinaigrette that was further enhanced by the foie gras and mangoes. Jennifer hit a winner. I, on the other hand, ordered the tasting of Hudson Valley foie gras, apple Charlotte, and watercress. I was yearning for a huge chunk of foie gras after having the duck confit and foie gras appetizer at Boulevard a few weeks earlier. The foie gras here was enormous by any standard, but while the tenderness was there, the flavor simply wasn’t. I could not taste any hint of the apple or anything really when I bit into the foie gras… it was the blandest thing I’ve had in a while. Zuni's chicken liver with buttery sauteed pears had more complex flavors than Aqua's foie gras. Luckily, Jennifer shared her lobster salad with me and I was happily dipping my foie gras into her vinaigrette… no waste there!
The main entrees arrived soon enough and we were ready to see if they would surpass the quality of the lobster salad (or at the very least the foie gras.) Jennifer’s Sautéed filet of Petrale Sole, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, steamed clams and braised artichokes were up. The fish was tender and juicy, but the sauce reeked of something akin to mayonnaise. I’m not sure if the combination of potatoes and fish juices with the clam sauce were to blame, but I didn’t like it and neither did Jennifer. She forced it down though and was begging for bites of my dish. I had the rare ahi tuna medallions with seared foie gras and pinot noir sauce. The foie gras in this dish was a huge improvement over the appetizer tasting which was a definite plus. But how a renowned restaurant like Aqua that specializes in seafood can overcook the “rare” ahi tuna is beyond me. The tuna did not have the nice big red center I’ve been accustomed to at other fine restaurants. The medallions were cooked about one inch from the edges to the center all the way around, with maybe a square inch or so of rare (going on medium rare) tuna in the center. I would’ve been better off asking for raw tuna if I knew beforehand they were going to overcook it. It was still tastier than the sole Jennifer had, so I shared my dish with her, but we were disappointed with both of our main dishes.
Next was dessert. We decided to split the warm chocolate soufflé with pistachio ice cream and splashes of mint puree around the edges of the plate. Our taste buds were again delighted with our dessert choice. The soufflé had a warm soft center that just melted in your mouth and the ice cream was the perfect complement.
If we could have done it all over, we would’ve had the ahi tuna tartare as our other appetizer (with the lobster salad) and ordered the lobster pot pie that everyone raves about. The table next to us had the lobster pot pie and it looked great compared to what we got. We also could’ve tried the tasting menu, so if we did get a bad dish, it would only be a few bites worth. So a disappointment indeed, but with the departure of the talented young chef, I wouldn’t say it was expected, but it was quite a shock that we had three misses out of five in one night.
Total check for two: $176 (lobster salad $23, foie gras $21, sole $34, ahi tuna $38, dessert $10, beverages $20, tax and tip make up the rest.)
Recommended:
No
Kid Friendliness: No
Notes, Tips or Menu Recommendations Expensive and the quality of the food could not compare, even to moderate-priced restaurants like Luna Park and Boulevard.
Best Suited For: Trendy Crowd
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Epinions.com ID:
galdones
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Reviews written: 6
Trusted by: 1 member
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