Y est allé·e le 27 octobre 2024
- Global 2
- Plats 2
- Service 2
- Atmosphère 4
We were very disappointed by our dinner experience at Salt and the Cellar. Our evening at the restaurant started off on a negative note because the group they seated before us, and others in the restaurant, were wearing jeans, shorts, and T-shirts. Ordinarily, we wouldn't have minded but, because of the dress code posted by the restaurant, my husband wore suit pants, instead of the jeans he likes to wear with his jacket and collared shirt. The ambiance of the restaurant was nice with two exceptions: the music had a heavy base thumping beat, which wasn't suited to the character of the decor, and the lights on the tables were too short, so we had to lift them up if we wanted to illuminate the food. The service was average, although we were surprised when another table was served a special not on the menu that we were never told about. When we asked, the server responded that it was at the discretion of the server whether or not to tell guests about those offerings. The main dishes were the most disappointing part of our experience, however. Both the chicken and the steak were overcooked. The jidori chicken was dry and, without the vegetables we ordered and sauce to dip it in, we would have sent it back; quite sad that a wonderful piece of meat was so ill-prepared. We did send back the steak, though, because it came medium well, when we ordered medium rare. The fact that the steak was even served to us was perplexing, given it is sliced into pieces in the kitchen to be consistent with Chef Back's philosophy encouraging sharing. Which brings me to my next criticism: the server explained how family -style sharing was encouraged at the restaurant but the food runner was not properly trained. We needed to tell him we were going to share the entrees and, when we asked for new plates to replace the appetizer plates in front of us, he replied that guests usually use the plates we had. Finally, despite sending our steak back, our table was never visited by a manager.
