Well...I just have to say, I am glad we had a Groupon!!!
My wife and I went to the Black Olive last night for a nice dinner. It started off alright, we were seated quickly and all of the staff were very friendly. Unfortunately, that is about all the good I can say for this place.
We started off with the crab cakes. They were supposed to have a mint flavour and were topped with a mango chutney. Neither of us could taste the mint and both agreed that they were under seasoned. I hate using salt or pepper at a restaurant, but in this case the crab cakes definitely needed it.
Next came the mains: Duck with pollenta and seasonal veggies ($28) for my wife and a rack of lamb with risotto and seasonal veggies ($34) for myself. The food came fairly quickly; however, sometime speed comes with mistakes. My wife was given risotto instead of polenta, her duck had a lack luster sear on the skin and was completely overcooked. The vegetables for both of us were a little undercooked.
As for the Lamb, it was good, but for a place that says they are known for their lamb...it was nothing special. The risotto was a gong show. This should be a fundamental started for any restaurant that wants to tout itself as fine dining. The rice was hard yet it was a congealed, glutenous lump on our plates. I am no chef, but I can make better risotto at home any day of the week.
What gets me the most about this place is the prices. I don't mind paying well for a good meal, but I hate paying upwards of $40 dollars a meal for crap! If you are going to charge for top notch food you better be able to deliver.
As I said at the beginning of my rant, I am glad I had a Groupon! Sorry Black Olive, I will not be back.
2 comments:
Here's a tip for Groupon diners. Beware. Most restaurants today have to honour these two-for-one deals just to stay on par with the competition. It's a bad idea and if you want to review a restaurant fairly, I'd not go armed with free coupons. Besides, do you think the dining public take a restaurant "critic" seriously when they can't afford to pay full price for a meal? Think about it. Leave your coupons at home and there's a good chance you will be treated with some respect when dining out.
You must work at the Black Olive; then again, maybe you don't because obviously you don't know how the Groupon worked. It wasn't a two for one meal, I paid $25 for $50 worth of food. That "groupon" was barely enough for one meal! Not to mention that the entire bill was more than double that amount and that portion of the bill was not "free". Also, companies do not have to sign up for Groupon; they did so willingly. At no time did the restaurant know that we even had a Groupon so that "experience" was based on what any full paying customer would have had. Our Groupon was shown produced to the restaurant until the bill arrived; therefore, the review was more than "fair". The company chose to offer that deal so why should customers with "coupons" be treated any differently than full paying customers. Any restaurant that treats customers differently depending on how they pay, is not a restaurant that deserves my repeat business - I did not force them into accepting Groupons. I am also a firm believer that restaurants shouldn't have to accept "2 for 1" deals to stay on par - if they served good food in the first place, people might actually return and tell their friends.
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