Doc, my dad and I were invited to revisit this restaurant after a not so great experience we had last June. The way things got started was by a review I had written on Yelp that was not very favorable to the restaurant. As you know I don’t sugar coat things and that review was no different from any other. The senior manager of food and beverage operations for the restaurant Kevin Clark read my review and wanted me to come back and try it again. He was very gracious and responsive that when I wrote him back we were able to set up a time for dinner with my dad and Doc. Here is a little info on the place to set the stage. It is a steakhouse in the Marriott hotel downtown San Jose. It has a chic upscale vibe to it with low romantic lighting and an open feel to it. My prior visit was a late lunch date that ended up leaving us with the feeling of poor service and bad food. This most recent visit was extremely different. We were seated and introduced to our waiter Charles right away, who was very attentive and friendly. I was impressed with the wide selection of California wines and very happy with the drink menu. Doc and I shared the Bourbon Bramble which was made with fresh fruit and was very tasty. Shortly after being seated Kevin came and met with us. He was great! Extremely knowledgable, funny and makes you feel very comfortable. He started us off with Iron Horse 2008 sparkling. Doc liked it, and while it was good not really something I would order. A little too yeasty for my taste. Kevin then sent over two appetizers made special for us. A puff pastry with Brie over a balsamic reduction and mini gruyere grilled cheese sandwiches with a tomato soup fondu. The puff pasty was flaky and delightful while the Brie was not warm enough and the reduction was way to overpowering. The fondu was better but lacked a little zest if you will. Nothing special as my dad put it. Next we had salads. I got my favorite type of salad beets with cheese. This particular salad was made with a huge hunk of burrata in the middle. The beets were soft, fresh and flavorful while again the overall salad was lacking something. The giant cheese ball paired well with the beets but was a little too much. The main course was steak for all of us….after all it is a steakhouse (at least that’s what Doc commented when I wanted to order the lobster pot pie!) I had the filet with chimichurri sauce. The meat was of top quality and prepared nicely. The sauce was oily and again lacking. Doc makes an excellent chimichurri sauce that always knocks my socks off so maybe I was expecting a little to much. As my dad put it “not crazy about the sauces but the meat is very good”.
During our meal the service was excellent and it was not just us that I noticed the great service being extended to. I watched Kevin walk around paying very close attention to everyone. He would strike up conversations with other tables and be in the kitchen overseeing the food as well. He was very detail oriented and it showed in his service that he provided. He thoughtfully sent over dessert for us to try after dinner. Carrot cake and a chocolate peanut butter cake that were both beautifully prepared and served but my favorite were the cinnamon sugar beignets with a caramel cream dipping sauce. Ohhhh yum. They were so delicious I wanted to take some home. Served hot out of the oven. Even better than I remembered from the French Quarter!
Overall the food is good. I would like to see a little more creativity and flavor but the basics like the meat are very good. Service was excellent. Maybe the day we went for lunch was a fluke because this was a completely different food and service experience.