San Mateo Restaurant Guide

As a mother of two I really look forward to family night out when I don't have to cook. This was the wrong place! Bread was stale and as tough as a leather shoe. All food (meat, seafood, veggies) are brought out raw and waitress brings out a pot of hot oil and tells you the cooking time of each. Then, mom is left to cook all of the food, in this boiling oil bath, all the while trying to keep an eye on the kids and making sure they don't touch the pot or burners. I have never in my life eaten steak, veggies or seafood that had been cooked in Crisco and let me tell you....I never will again. It tasted horrible and unhealthy, ta boot. The booth table was too long for the bus boy to reach across, so he proceeded to have us hand him every last piece of silverware, cup, sauce dish, plate when we were done. Perfect! I had to cook and clear the table! It was a very stressful experience dropping raw food in boiling oil one piece at a time. Moms - Stay Away!

New dark, pendent light-illuminated interior, part of San Mateo Cal- Trains station complex. When we asked hostess for a seat by window, we were informed that all seating is assigned when reservations are made--this did not set a positive tone. We were seated in a 2 person windowless booth,with a small table.

Menu was presented by pleasant server who said this was her first day on the job, and who collected marketing information from us via questions inserted into her conversation, including: 'how did you hear about us' 'where are you from.' Menu options are varied, a few options for non-meat eaters. Extensive wine list. We ordered a la carte and fondue ingredients were brought to table/mixed, then wine and soda drinks were brought maybe 5 minutes later to the table. The a la carte salads--which were the other component of our dinner--arrived about 10 minutes later than the fondue. Having both at the same time would have been nice, also having plates to use with fondue would be helpful as well.

Spinach/cheese fondue sized for two was good, spinach bacon salad average with average dressing. Fondue ingredients--breads, apple slices, chips were fresh. Wait person brought dessert menu while we were still eating salads, wanting to now if we were ready order dessert--told her we would like to finish dinner first. She left the dessert menu on the small table; the book then fell sideways and knocked one of diners' drinks over into one diner's lap, the table, and floor. Shortly after that, a random waitperson appeared wanting to know, though it what obvious that we were still eating,if we were ready for our entrees. WE told her that we had not ordered other entrees. It seems that wait staff is encouraged to push people through-- at various other times suited people--not appearing to be diners--peered around into our cubby hole, assessing our eating progress.

Wait staff needs additional training on timing, being less intrusive with the move the-diner- process, and responding to customers requests for different seating. Probably not a place I would rush back to, definately not a relaxing experience, though wait staff were pleasant and food was unique. Pricing is about average for San Mateo--menu us available on line.