Damiano, LTK, KO Prime, Bristol Lounge and Prezza
The past 4 days have been a dining whirlwind!!! THANK YOU Hounds for great recommendations of places to take my parents. Below are our experiences.
Damiano:
AMAZING.
Got last-minute reservations here for 7 people on Wednesday night. We were seated promptly and started off with a tomato beet soup, which was great if you like beets (i don't).
We put ourself in our waiter's hands, and he walked us through how to order (1 app per person, 1 pasta/risotto for 2 people, 1 entree per person) which was really helpful. We told him to decide our meal for us and he asked about allergies and preferences and went to town. From there it was a parade of deliciousness from start to finish.
Standouts were the wine (Slingshot Cabernet), calamari, butternut squash ravioli, pan-fried Chilean sea bass and the Black Garlic filet mignon.
Service was consistent and excellent--constant refills of water and wine, plates were served and cleared inconspicuously. I would go back in a heartbeat.
It was about $75/person including wine but well worth it.
LTK:
The parents stayed at the Renaissance and wanted to try it, so we went on Thursday night. I have a shellfish allergy and they were very accommodating (pan fried some chicken to go with my salad) and concerned about the allergy, there really wasn't anything I could eat on the menu because both the grill and the fryer are used for everything and not cleaned between. So while it was nice that they accommodated me with a special order, I was disappointed it wasn't more allergy friendly. I would have liked some fish and it's a pretty common allergy.
Also they serve wine in 2, 4 or 6 ounce portions which I found odd. My mom got a DELICIOUS Riesling to go with her fish and chips, and my dad had a fish special that was a whole fish grilled with sauce. He said it was tender, flaky and moist but the sauce was too sweet.
But the service was great so I can recommend this for the area, which doesn't have a ton of dining options.
KO Prime:
Definitely a fan of this place. Have been reading about it on Chowhound for awhile and decided to take my parents when they were in town on Friday night.
I will say that it lived up to the raves. What a great space, and it was an excellent experience.
First course: my dad got a Caesar salad. It was fine.
I got sweetbreads and they were awful. I've had them before and expected them to be crispy and juicy. These were mushy and slimy and I gagged a little bit. Revolting.
Entree:
I got the hangar steak with orange marmalade, done medium. It was EXCELLENT. Very tender and flavorful. I got the creamed spinach but for some reason flavor wise it tasted just like the sweetbreads so that put me off.
Dad and hubby shared the porterhouse for two. They said it was delicious and cooked perfectly, and was more than enough for two people. Dad got asparagus which was fine, and hubby got the potato gratin which I loved and he hated. My mom got the steak frites which was a 5oz portion of the same hangar steak that I had, and she loved it.
We also had a nice wine. All in all, dinner was about $100/person, but we felt we got the bang for the buck.
The real standout here was the service. Quiet, friendly and efficient.
Will definitely be back for a special occasion.
Bristol Lounge Dessert Buffet:
Hard to go wrong at the Bristol Lounge. We went Friday night at 10:30.
The buffet itself is fun--it looks great and it's fun to try different things, plus they have a station where they can make dessert to order. Oddly, the bread pudding was a standout .
The buffet is a nice late night option and the lounge itself is super cozy and a great place to people watch.
However, the service was abysmal for such a swanky place. Our waiter barely paid any attention to us once he learned we wanted to buffet. My champagne and my mother's Irish coffee took 10 minutes to arrive. My dad never got a refill on his coffee. Once we had our drinks we never heard from him again. Also he corrected my pronunciation on my champagne which was obnoxious. Just not warm or friendly--more cold, condescending and annoyed. So that rained on our enjoyment.
Also, total side note--there was a woman walking around in a see through lace bustier with a denim jacket, spandex hot pants that barely covered her asscheeks, and sneakers. I was suprised she wasn't asked to leave.
We'll be back, and just hope for better service next time. It was truly atrocious for the price point.
Prezza:
We went Saturday night. It was my third time going, and I've always found the food and service excellent.
Last night was an exception. The food was still great--I had the Bibb lettuce salad with paper thin apple slices and bleu cheese--and the Gnocchi Bolognese. Both were fantastic.
However, the service was spotty. It was 8pm on a Saturday night so of course it would be busy. We were seated next to 2 big "girls' night out" tables and the noise was deafening. Our waitress was clearly focused on those tables and not on the tables of 2 or 4. Had to ask for water and then had to flag the waitress down again (not easy) because a water glass was missing. She didin't come back to take our order for a really long time during which we drank all our water--no refills. However, she noticed quickly when we were out of alcohol.
Anyway, it was disappointing, but the food was great. I'm a little disillusioned but will probably go back.
And that is the summary of the week! Thank you again for all the recommendations.
