A diner from Germantown, MD
Jan 18, 2008
Jan 2008: Thursday evening:
A once fabulous restaurant in Germantown has finally bit the dust in my opinion. We used to absolutely love it. Decor has been diminished by the owner taking down the beautiful grape vines that graced the ceiling. It now seems too open and cold & lacking of decor.
Prices: The prices have gone up unbelievably. Approximately $19/+ for just the entree (pasta) dishes, which were very small in size.
What we had:
Bread: Stale & not the beautiful Yeasty bread of many years ago. We had to ask for fresh to be baked for us. Had to ask for Olive oil for dippping as non was brought to our table.
Gnocchi di Tartufi: Gnocchi had no flavor of Truffle at all, were thoughtlessly cut unevenly and pasty chewy. No garnish.
Pollo alla Noce: Chicken breast in a walnut-rum cream sauce with spinach,
green apples and preserved ginger. Served with fried plantains and potatoes $17
-Good flavor, but extremely greasy. Butter oozing out of the potatoes onto the plate under the chicken breasts.
Salad: Same for the "salad" which was an additional $2 with the meal. Served in a tiny oval plate with one (1) grape tomato and one slice of unpeeled cucumber, we expected more form a restaurant of this pricing, such as cucumbers that have been julienned and halved grape or cherry tomatoes (more). The salad presentation was thoughtless and looked like the field greens that come out of a bag from Costco.
The Lemon Vinegarette dressing was good I may say.
Dessert:
Tiramisu: Classic espresso soaked cakes with mascarpone cream $6. Good Flavor, but the ladyfingers (or spongecake) in this dessert were definately oversoaked/mushy with espresso syrup and served in a coffee mug. I thought a more beautiful presentation in another type of high glass dish would have showcased this dessert better.
Trio of Sorbet: Mango/Pasiion Fruit/Raspberry - Very good refreshing dessert. Garnish was missing though.
Bathroom Cleanliness & Decor: Ladies room was dirty and unimpressive. Toilet paper on the floor, dirty floor, top on the floor from the trashcan, broken drywall seen as you first the ladies room - where the soap dispenser was replaced (looks like it was ripped off the wall), Light over the sink didn't work. The bland beige and gold paint job looked like an unprofessional "attempt" at faux painting. The Wall art(posters) were nice though, Sadly, the ladies room would have looked better with real Italian colors: a crisp deep goldenrod color paint with a bright red accent wall. -Some Pizzaz! The bathroom didn't smell nice either. Something that smells good at the sink area as well as a nice flower arrangement is in order.
Chef: Not friendly. Wouldn't accept a request to make Chicken Parmigiana and so frightened/shhoed the waitress out of the kitchen, we were afraid to ask for anything custom for fear of what he may do to our food.
Wait staff: Friendly, but inexperienced and seemingly young for a restaurant charging this much for entrees. The waitress became a bit in- attentive (the restaurant wasn't very busy because of snow) and she forgot to say "good-bye" and "thank you" (very important in my opinion)when we were ready to leave. For that, we only left a 15% Gratuity.
Try this restaurant if you want to through your money away. I am sorry to write this unhappy review of a once wonderful restaurant.
A once fabulous restaurant in Germantown has finally bit the dust in my opinion. We used to absolutely love it. Decor has been diminished by the owner taking down the beautiful grape vines that graced the ceiling. It now seems too open and cold & lacking of decor.
Prices: The prices have gone up unbelievably. Approximately $19/+ for just the entree (pasta) dishes, which were very small in size.
What we had:
Bread: Stale & not the beautiful Yeasty bread of many years ago. We had to ask for fresh to be baked for us. Had to ask for Olive oil for dippping as non was brought to our table.
Gnocchi di Tartufi: Gnocchi had no flavor of Truffle at all, were thoughtlessly cut unevenly and pasty chewy. No garnish.
Pollo alla Noce: Chicken breast in a walnut-rum cream sauce with spinach,
green apples and preserved ginger. Served with fried plantains and potatoes $17
-Good flavor, but extremely greasy. Butter oozing out of the potatoes onto the plate under the chicken breasts.
Salad: Same for the "salad" which was an additional $2 with the meal. Served in a tiny oval plate with one (1) grape tomato and one slice of unpeeled cucumber, we expected more form a restaurant of this pricing, such as cucumbers that have been julienned and halved grape or cherry tomatoes (more). The salad presentation was thoughtless and looked like the field greens that come out of a bag from Costco.
The Lemon Vinegarette dressing was good I may say.
Dessert:
Tiramisu: Classic espresso soaked cakes with mascarpone cream $6. Good Flavor, but the ladyfingers (or spongecake) in this dessert were definately oversoaked/mushy with espresso syrup and served in a coffee mug. I thought a more beautiful presentation in another type of high glass dish would have showcased this dessert better.
Trio of Sorbet: Mango/Pasiion Fruit/Raspberry - Very good refreshing dessert. Garnish was missing though.
Bathroom Cleanliness & Decor: Ladies room was dirty and unimpressive. Toilet paper on the floor, dirty floor, top on the floor from the trashcan, broken drywall seen as you first the ladies room - where the soap dispenser was replaced (looks like it was ripped off the wall), Light over the sink didn't work. The bland beige and gold paint job looked like an unprofessional "attempt" at faux painting. The Wall art(posters) were nice though, Sadly, the ladies room would have looked better with real Italian colors: a crisp deep goldenrod color paint with a bright red accent wall. -Some Pizzaz! The bathroom didn't smell nice either. Something that smells good at the sink area as well as a nice flower arrangement is in order.
Chef: Not friendly. Wouldn't accept a request to make Chicken Parmigiana and so frightened/shhoed the waitress out of the kitchen, we were afraid to ask for anything custom for fear of what he may do to our food.
Wait staff: Friendly, but inexperienced and seemingly young for a restaurant charging this much for entrees. The waitress became a bit in- attentive (the restaurant wasn't very busy because of snow) and she forgot to say "good-bye" and "thank you" (very important in my opinion)when we were ready to leave. For that, we only left a 15% Gratuity.
Try this restaurant if you want to through your money away. I am sorry to write this unhappy review of a once wonderful restaurant.
