Acqua Ristorante

» TERRIBLE!

Wow, where do I even begin with this restaurant?

Let me just say I am NOT a picky eater or picky person in general so for me to even give this restaurant a bad review is a big deal to me and it saddens me that I even feel compelled to write this.

My boyfriend and I ate dinner here on February 10th, 2010 and we were going to partake in their Winterlicious menu. Our reservations were for...+READ Wow, where do I even begin with this restaurant?

Let me just say I am NOT a picky eater or picky person in general so for me to even give this restaurant a bad review is a big deal to me and it saddens me that I even feel compelled to write this.

My boyfriend and I ate dinner here on February 10th, 2010 and we were going to partake in their Winterlicious menu. Our reservations were for 9:00PM. When we called to say we were going to be 5 minutes late due to a parking issue, the person on the phone had told us that they decided 10 minutes ago that they were closing the kitchen early that night at 9:30PM and if we don’t hurry up, we don’t get to eat.
Right away, that should have given us a signal to just not go entirely. If you’re going to close a kitchen early and you have reservations that are coming in half an hour before kitchen closing time, I don’t see why nobody could have called us to let us know. We would have came earlier if that was the case! To me, that’s unprofessional.

When we got there (at around 9:05PM), the host walked up to us and just said, “What do you want?” and we just said we had reservations and we asked if they had enough time to do the Winterlicious menu. He said yes. We got seated down and at this point, there are only 5 other filled tables and there are plenty of empty tables.

Our server comes up to us, LEANS ON OUR TABLE, DOESN’T introduce himself and asks if we are ready with our drinks. We didn’t even get a drink menu but he said, “Oh we have a full bar, just tell me what you want and I’ll get it.” So I just said I’ll glance at their wine menu instead and asked him to come back. He came back, I ordered a glass of wine and we also ordered our food. The server said, “I’ll be back with your water” and then proceeded to take away my wine glass and puts it on another empty table, walks to SOMEWHERE and comes back with a random glass of wine!! It could have been anything for all I know!

Next, he brought us our first course. I had the Panko Crusted Chèvr /Baby Arugula/Pink Lady Apple/Roasted Pecans/Honey Vinaigrette, my boyfriend had the Baby Red Romaine/Crispy Bacon/Quail Egg/Parmesan Dressing. It was not bad, but you can clearly tell it was a rushed meal already, because the lettuce pieces were so huge, I had to cut it with a knife! At this point, we are done our first course and we didn’t even get water yet! I had to actually ask our nameless server if we are even going to get water. So he rushes off to get water and he comes back carrying two glasses of water not on a tray, BUT IN HIS HANDS. HE BROUGHT US GLASSES OF WATER IN HIS HANDS. I didn’t even know restaurants even did this anymore!

Our next course. I got the Pappardelle/Wild Mushrooms/Pear Tomatoes/Truffle Butter. Wow, was this ever oily. Besides it being extremely oily/buttery, hardly any tomatoes present (and there was also yams in my plate... not complaining because I love yams but might as well advertise that), and there was absolutely no flavour at all and it was very disappointing. My boyfriend had the Confit of Lamb Shoulder/Parsnip Puree/Buttered Savoy/Quark Spätzle/Crisp Shallots. Oh my God was this disgusting. The parsnip puree & savoy was the most disgusting thing I have ever ate, and I love parsnip and buttered savoy! I thought I wouldn’t be able to swallow it. Not only that, but the presentation was horrendous. The puree/savoy was on the bottom, then the lamb, then the Quark Spätzle (which I swear was really mashed potatoes) and when you took the lamb off, the parsnip/savoy just looked like vomit. It was really unappetizing and the lamb was dry as heck! Completely dry with hardly any flavour.

Okay... one more meal to go. We both ordered the Blood Orange Crème Brûlée. Now, I know that the caramel at the top is supposed to be “burnt” but ours was COMPLETELY burnt and it left such a disgusting aftertaste in my mouth. Not the mention that on the inside, it was really just vanilla pudding (or the equivalent) and not really true custard. It was very watery indeed.
Very disappointing restaurant considering we spent $35 each (for the Winterlicious). Disgusting food (that really and truly, you could tell the food wasn’t even fresh to begin with and it was either tossed together at last second or reheated) with even more terrible service. The second we got to the restaurant, we were being rushed out. Our server was terrible and it really would amaze me to find out that he is not a new server. This is one of the most highly unprofessional restaurants I’ve ever been to.

I’m begging everybody to not even consider eating at this restaurant because believe me – it’s a waste of your money big time.-COLLAPSE (by patriciaryn, updated February 11, 2010)