1 /5 T. Tony (TNT): We celebrated our daughter’s 7th birthday with a seven item meal at this beautiful high end restaurant. Each course was plated with the kind of artistry you expect at this level.
Unfortunately, the service did not match the quality of the food. Both of our appetizers came out without any small plates or utensils, so we had to ask for them. We also had to ask twice for napkins, which felt out of place for a fine dining experience. On top of that, despite specifically asking for no onion on all of our dishes, the King Kong Roll still came out with onions.
For dessert, we had ordered a birthday cake. While my wife and I were singing to our daughter, our server, William, noticed it was her birthday and mentioned that the restaurant also provides a complimentary birthday cake, smaller than the one we ordered but with a sparkler candle. We agreed, thinking it was a thoughtful gesture.
That’s where things went wrong. William lit the sparkler directly at the table, right next to all of our food, even though we had asked for everything to come out at once. The pyrotechnic residue sprayed onto the dishes, leaving gritty, chalky, bitter-tasting bits on our food. Our daughter was too excited to wait, so it ended up spoiling her birthday meal and ours.
To make matters worse, while the sparkler was still going and we were in the middle of recording ourselves singing “Happy Birthday,” William interrupted to ask, “Do you want anything else? Can I get you the check?” The song wasn’t even finished, and we were not only still celebrating but still eating. It felt rushed, dismissive, and completely tone-deaf for such an important occasion!!!
The service today was zero star at best. Sadly, the poor handling of our celebration overshadowed what could have been an unforgettable birthday experience.
