The Oceanaire sank like the Titanic

Dear Oceanaire and Marijke Shugrue, General Manager:

 

First I would like to say my first visit to your establishment was off the chain which can be described as wondermous! (Yes, I can create new words when a restaurant fulfills my every desire.) The server explained the menu and the fresh seafood flown in daily, etc. We started off with an assortment of oysters with shaved horseradish and the wonderful shallots in vinegar. The appetizers, salads and entrée left me craving more and more. The service was exceptional as it should be for the prices but well worth every penny. I loved the atmosphere of an ocean liner dining room.

Now let me tell you what happened with my second experience. Have you heard of a ship called the titanic? You, my beloved Oceanaire SANK!  I know it is Restaurant Week  yet this doesn’t give you the right to act like you have suddenly become a Long John Silvers chain. For those of you who do not know what this is it was established in 2003. Now called Houston Restaurant Weeks, the event showcases and promotes Houston’s incredible array of fine restaurants to the fine dining crowd while raising money for the Houston Food Bank.  I am sure all of the Restaurants participating in this do not just do it for the sole purpose of benefiting the Houston Food Bank. People who would probably never come to your establishment do so because of the mere fact of your “generosity” or perhaps they cannot afford it. This hould not be your attitude.

In a nutshell let me explain what transpired on this evening I was so looking forward to.  First, I give you kudos that we arrived at 7:05 when our reservations were not until 7:30 and we were sat immediately. We started with an $80 bottle of wine and had the ever so rude server choose us 9 different oysters. No shaved horseradish but I can get by on the shallots in vinegar because I believe the ice would have melted under the oysters if I would have waited for her to come back to request the horseradish.  They were of course delicious and fresh as expected. Here is where things started going downhill. We made the horrible choice of asking about the Restaurant week menu. I mean why not take advantage of $35 per person if it is food we would be consuming anyway? Her attitude promptly went into defense mode despite our $80 bottle of wine and $2.75 per oyster order. She replied with “there is no other menu, it is in front of you in bold and the portions are smaller.” With that she was gone.

Well alrighty then….I choose the fried asparagus as I would have anyway and my companion chooses the mozzarella, tomato, and basil salad.  We talk and are enjoying our wine and the view from the window. I am commenting on the décor and it has been a good 20 minutes. In the mean time I have poured our wine.  Finally our appetizer/salad arrives. The individual delivering the food came back shortly with a silver round plate and said “I apologize; your bottle of wine should have been sitting on this.” I thanked her.

We of course want a taste of one another’s food and I no more than fork over one asparagus without taking a bite and there is a gentleman standing there with our entrées. It is obvious we just got our appetizers and he says “do you want me to take these back and hold them?”  Well, do I want that medium steak to sit under a hot lamp and get well done? NO but what choice do I have? He sets them down anyway and another server notices our confusion. He comes by and picks them up and says we will hold them.  I try and enjoy my appetizer yet I am worried about that poor tenderloin being baked to death by some radiation lamp or UV light or hot oven or nuclear power plant back in the kitchen.  We had also ordered the Stuffed Flounder with crab and shrimp. I am thinking of this poor fish shriveling up into a tough ass shark or carp. A manager came by the table to ask how everything was and I said “it has been challenging.” He smiles and keeps walking.

We finish our appetizers and our drive thru food comes out. Once again we taste  each of the items and the tenderloin which was face up was over cooked but still had great flavor. The Flounder was awful. It tasted fishy and dry. We simply set it aside and ate the best part of the beef and grilled shrimp. When our ever so thoughtful server came by to ask how we were doing I asked for the rest of the asparagus and beef to wrapped up to go and she looked at the obvious uneaten flounder. I said it was fishy and was not good. She replied “oh, it was probably the crab.” I said “no, it was the fish.” She ignored me even though Charlie from the tuna fish can was taking credit for that flounder on the plate. She then asked us what we wanted for our dessert because it is part of the $35 wasted dollars. My dining partner told her and that we would like it to go and off she went with our plates.  Let me remind you we were sat at 7:05 and it was now 8:50 and my patience level is gone. I get up to use the restroom due to lack of circulation in my legs because I dressed up for Captain D’s. When I return from the restroom we still have no dessert, no check, nothing. Finally it comes. Our bill was $181.59. Because I am in the business I still tipped over 20% but only because I did not want to wait on change.  Perhaps Truluck’s is a better choice because it is obvious The Oceanaire is not so caring.

 

I will need to update this blog because I currently have to return a phone call from a representative of The Oceanaire.

~ by nikkiolsen on August 12, 2011.