A Series of Unfortunate Events. When making the reservation on Google there was no place to offer any details about our reservation or requests etc. But more on that later.. We ordered the Spring Pea Toast and Oysters. The oysters were local Morro Bay briny and delicious with a great minonette. Unfortunately we were told they were out of the Pea Toast. So we ordered the clams appetizer only to be told they were 86'd on those too. "It is part of the farm to table"( to not have enough for the number of reservations)
There were only a few starters so missing 2 was huge. We ordered the Brussels which my son and husband enjoyed. I ordered the Beet Salad. So by now id eaten 3 oysters, and got handed a plate of beets. Barely a salad. Crunching down mint pieces trying to make this a meal. I ordered the Bike Bread, thank God because I was hungry. And a plate of beets wasn't cutting it. So far the birthday dinner was mediocre.
My main was the Butterflied Branzino. The fish was delicious and I was lapping it up along with the accompanying Cauliflower florets, when I got a mouthful of bones. I was not warned that the mid section of this fish had not been deboned. What's worse? I had just asked for another glass of wine, but of course they don't carry a Pinot Grigio, who does? EVERYONE! Anyway, mouthful full of bones, the server starts to show me the wine options and being unable to speak, had to spit out those bones to tell her my order which was simply another glass of rose. When the wine arrived, it was poured into my husband's glass which had a Viogner in it. He was still enjoying it. My glass was about a quarter full of pink wine. Apparently since we switched seat position so I coukd watch my dog wasn't in anyone's way, we pessed up their robotic service and it was "our fault " for the mix up . It was corrected quickly but no smile. Just a bit of annoyance.
My husband had the Brick Chicken which was ample and basic. Tasted great and innocuous as any other chicken dish in Paso.
My son had the Pasta and said it was very good.
Now, did we save room for dessert? Of course! We gad not eaten much honestly. If we had not ordered bread we really woukd have been starving. I and my husband are not fans of the "steakhouse" concept where you don't get a meal unless you order each part of it. But alas, that's the way it is now. A starch isn't gonna ruin a plate guys! And here's a thought...if you are out of 2 starters maybe offer a special or two? And correct me if im wrong but there's a clam farm somewhere? Because we did the math. G&H is closed Monday and Tuesday. The Branzino must come from the same supplier as the clams? It was Wednesday at 7. Big run on the clam dish from 5 to 7? Or were the clams unacceptable when they came in? Spring Peas i can see being unavailable this week, but how about those specials? Some Mighty Caps (everyone has those) or another creative farmy app? Again, no. Simply no.
Which brings me to service. My son asked the busses for lots of ice for his water. When he brought it he slammed the large glass of ice down in front of him in what was kind of a funny way but also kind of sarcastic. It was subtle but unmissed rudeness.
And our server? Attentive. Straight forward. Nice. Like an artificial sweetener. Leaves a weird taste in your mouth.
So back to dessert. We ordered the Basque cake and a sorbet. Both arrived and not a mention of my birthday. Here's what I did. Since I couldn't write about our celebration on the reservation request, I left a voicemail during their day off Tuesday. Explaining in detail that we had a rez for 3 plus dog, that it was my birthday etc. No candle. No clue. So I asked for a lighter because anticipating this happening in this day and age of not giving a crap, I figured id be prepared. I brought a candle. They were somewhat appalled but I put the candle in the cake and they came over and lit it. My family and I had a little celebration. When I said I left a vm, it went like this. "OH we never got a voicemail". "We are so sorry we didnt receive that "....so it's a choice of A ..we got it but didn't make an effort. B someone got it and didn't write it down C we don't check voicemail. D..and this is the worst one..."you never called".
Again, our fault. Our fault for switching seats so the wine gets poured in the wrong glass. My fault for biting into fish bones that should have been removed. Our fault for not calling read more