The Black Sheep

Service was great Food was not all that great.

So I went to this place with couple of my friends for the New Year's Eve dinner. The dinner costed $95 (excluding taxes, drinks and tips) which included a choice of an appetizer, a choice of main course and a choice of dessert. So it's more like a fine dining experience. For my appetizer I went with the French Onion Soup which was served with a cheese puff pastry on top. Unlike regular French soups, the cheese was inside the puff pastry and the puff pastry was absolutely complementing the onion soup. They also had three other appetizers, I would recommend if people love shrimp, they should go with the shrimp toast which is a deep fried toast and it looked absolutely delicious. Moving on to the main course I selected the Striped Bass which was served with shaved fennel salad, yogurt, peri peri oil and charred cara and blood oranges. Was a very good dish, the yogurt with the oil and the charred blood oranges were complementing the bass really well. Finally for the dessert, I had the Pumpkin Creme Brulee served with ginger cookie. The dessert was good but it felt like a very basic dessert. Overall the French soup was the standout for me out of all the three dishes. Our server "Kayla" was very friendly and she constantly maintained our table flawlessly.

I just want to say this experience was definitely one I'll never forget. With the help of Chef Jamie Tran, Jocelyn, Josue and the rest of the staff, a once in a lifetime moment was made extra special. Without much warning and a quick moment with the Chef, the staff put together a wonderful display, even took the time to set the tone with the right music, champagne and celebratory drinks, for a perfect proposal. She of course said yes! The atmosphere, the service, and food was so perfect. We had the salmon skin tacos and chicken dumplings for appetizers, and both were packed with unique flavors. For dinner we had the slow braised short rib and the chef special New York strip and everything was cooked to perfection, tender and flavorful. Dessert was amazing as well, we had the bread pudding with horchata ice cream, and the chocolate tres leches cake. I will definitely be returning to try more amazing menu items in the future!

This was my second time visiting this restaurant. The flavors are still unbeatable—just as amazing as I remembered from my last visit. The meats are incredibly tender and juicy, and the braised pork jowl is probably the best I’ve ever had. However, the waitress who served us during this visit was very cold and unwelcoming. When we asked for recommendations to help us decide what to order, she simply said that everything was good, which wasn’t very helpful. She eventually mentioned a few options, but overall didn’t seem engaged or informative. We really wished we could have switched to a different server, as that likely would have changed our experience. Because of this inconsistency in service quality, I’m giving this place three stars despite the excellent food.