Cuisine type: Steakhouse
Atmosphere: semi-casual, dim lights and soft music (though sports on TV in bar area)
Meal: dinner
Price range: $36 special for two dinners and a bottle of house wine
Overall grade: 7.9
Ben
We stumbled on a great bargain downtown Santa Cruz - $36 for 2 entrees and a bottle of house cabernet sauvignon. The service was prompt serving freshly cooked bread, refilling the wine and water. The food was really well executed – a flank stank stuffed with wild mushrooms and peppers on potato and roasted peppers in a red wine sauce. It was perfectly spiced and cooked, and went very well with the wine. The normal menu was more pricy than the special we found, but not extreme. The atmosphere did have a somewhat confusing identity. We were greeted by well dressed host and a classy and chic looking restaurant with nice artwork and design, however against one wall was the bar with a rowdier feel and sports on TV which clashed with the overall feel.
Food 9
Drinks 8
Atmosphere 8
Service 8
Value 9
Nina
Towards the end of the day in Santa Cruz, we ran across a Greek festival. While I'd normally get very excited at such a unique opportunity to try unique, ethnic foods, this came a few hours after I had just eaten the best gyro of my life ( link ). So, we resigned to just walk through the festival and move on. An enticing offer caught our attention soon afterwards - a deal on two entrees and a bottle of wine for a fixed price - yes, please!
I ordered the glazed salmon served on a bed of risotto with asparagus. The seasoning on the fish was well balanced, the balsamic glaze was of a syrupy thick consistency, but most importantly the filet was cooked to perfection, just a tad past medium rare to a tender, yet flaky softness. The risotto was cooked fairly well, though it could have used a little more parmesan and seasoning, but the asparagus was juicy and crisp at the same time, delightful!
The wine was nothing to write home about, but decent enough for a cheap red house wine. It balanced the richness of the glaze and risotto well, which fulfills its purpose. Overall, I'm not sure I would go back to this restaurant. It's out of the way, doesn't offer anything too unique on the meny, and even thought the decorations set it up to be a pretty classy place, the service didn't live up to that style.
Food 8
Drinks 8
Atmosphere 7
Service 5
Value 8
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