Yoshi at the Hotel Metropole in Monte Carlo: Overpriced, Overrated, Terrible Food, Sophomoric Service.

[MatchesMalone]

I know that many people ask about where to dine in Monte Carlo and I thought that might chime in briefly in order to spare some of you a potentially bad night out. I rarely complain, but the Yoshi restaurant was indeed an epic failure. The food was subpar, the service terrible, the management unresponsive and overall a very sad night. I joked with the person that I was dining with about having better Asian food in a mall food court and they agreed. As far as service, the head waiter was incompetent, lazy and flat out unpleasant. There are many, many better places to dine in Monte Carlo. I've dined at some of the world's best restaurants and we frankly expected much more than what Yoshi delivered. If you want the sordid details, just let me know. Sufficient to say, pass on Yoshi and head to Le Louis XV outside the casino.

[Parigi]

Thank you for sharing. Could you tell us more about the food and the service besides all the abstract adjectives? Your experience would interest us much more if your description was more informative. As is, it reads like all rant and not much review. Thanks.

[MatchesMalone]

Hello, and thanks for writing. My family and I adored Monaco, and we will most certainly be back soon. I'd be pleased to share my experience with you in more detail:

I know that many people ask about where to dine in Monte Carlo and I thought that might chime in briefly in order to spare some of you a potentially bad night out. I rarely complain, but the Yoshi restaurant was indeed an epic failure. The food was subpar, the service terrible, the management unresponsive and overall a very sad night. I joked with the person that I was dining with about having better Asian food in a mall food court and they agreed. As far as service, the head waiter was incompetent, lazy and flat out unpleasant. There are many, many better places to dine in Monte Carlo. I've dined at some of the world's best restaurants and we frankly expected much more than what Yoshi delivered.

Allow me to explain. We had booked ahead through the concierge at the Fairmont. We were greeted warmly by the young lady at the door and were shown to our seats. (The hostess, bus boys and server's assistants were very good throughout the night, and should be commended).

The epic failure of the night was of the head waiter. He was astoundingly rude and set our evening off to a very poor start. My wife was not extremely hungry when we first sat down, so she simply ordered soup and an order of fried rice, along with some wine She politely asked for his recommendations in regards to the wine, and he made a disrespectful and rude comment about how what she had ordered was not enough food, and that there was no wine to match fried rice and soup. His condescension was unbecoming both of himself and the restaurant. My wife and I have travelled the world and dined at the most select restaurants in countless cities, and never have we had a head waiter speak to us in such a frank, rude, familiar, unhelpful manner. I shook my head, appalled. My wife and I were astonished, and I was tempted to leave Yoshi immediately. However, we opted to stay and attempt to enjoy the food that we had ordered. At this point however, our visit was ruined. We had contemplated more wine and an assortment of desserts after dinner, but we were too angry at the head waiter to do so (incidentally, he never came back to our table once during the evening). He even went so far as to ignore me rudely when I attempted to politely say goodnight at the end of the evening. I found this childish and unbecoming. Perhaps this employee was simply having a "bad night" or was otherwise distracted, but we did not appreciate his unprofessional and disrespectful demeanor. It reflect very poorly on the restaurant.

The food was terrible, bland, thrown-together, lackluster and generally underwhelming. For the prices charged, we expected food that was at least appetizing. The food reflected the attitude of the waiter, and left so much to be desired. It was not that the food was inedible or disgusting, rather it tasted like the person that put it together was not a trained chef in an expensive establishment. Like I said, we both left craving some actual tasty Asian food, perhaps at a cornershop take away for a fraction of a percent of what we just paid at Yoshi.

Overall, the night was an extreme let down and a colossal waste of time. The worst part about it is that I respectfully email the manager of both the Yoshi and the Metropole expressing my concerns, and they did not respond at all. One would think that they would be concerned about fixing problems as they arise, but apparently not. As I mentioned, go elsewhere, as there is fine dining an good service to be had in Monte Carlo. I hope that this helps!

[Parigi]

Thanks for writing back. Now we know more.

"he made a disrespectful and rude comment about how what she had ordered was not enough food, and that there was no wine to match fried rice and soup."

Indeed that is shockingly unprofessional.

[MatchesMalone]

No problem, my friend! Thanks for your interest.

[ChefJune]

<he made a disrespectful and rude comment about how what she had ordered was not enough food, and that there was no wine to match fried rice and soup. >

I guess he's never read "What to Drink with What You Eat!" ;)

[Parigi]

And if a restaurant cannot offer a wine for the food it serves, it is the failure of the restaurant, not of the diner, duh.