UNDERWHELMING
Sunday, October 12, 2008
My parents wanted to take my wife and I out for our first anniversary, and we chose to eat at Asana. From the moment the server arrived at the table, we all knew it was a poor decision. The service staff was "clumsy" and seemed to be poorly trained. We ordered a bottle of Sangiovese and after a decent wait, the server returned to tell us that it would be "7 minutes" because her manager was in "the back of the house". She did return promptly, but seemed like it was the first time she'd ever opened a bottle of wine.
We ordered appetizers, half the table getting the "DIM SUM", the menu stated 6 flavors. When the fried gyoza arrived, the flavors were indistinguishable. My father had the caesar, and my wife had pretty tasty squash soup, served with stone cold onion "grilled cheese". 3 appetizers were auctioned off at a time, with a considerable wait for the rest of the order to arrive.
For entrees we ordered one order of veal loin, 2 roasted duck, 2 salmon and one braised beef shortrib.
I "had" the veal, which I sent back, it was ice cold. The second round of veal was hot, overcooked and alarmingly salty, again I sent it back. In hindsight, neither time were the clams that drew me to the dish served.
The 2 duck entrees were luke warm, and the duck breast was inedible. The beef short rib tasted as though it was braised in Boston tap water, devoid of ANY flavor. The salmon was cooked perfectly and actually very flavorful. Our server was gracious, and apologized profusely, stating other examples of issues she has had in the restaurants seven days of operation.
The manager offered us dessert, we ordered a "warm brownie sundae", a macadamia cheese cake and pistachio creme brulee. The brownie was sent back, not only was it not warm, it was cold... As was the "chefs" second attempt.. The creme brulee was palatable, but had no hint of pistachio. The cheesecake, well, it was topped with gold leaf.... The best part of the meal, roobis tea, the only course I enjoyed.
Pros: Location
Cons: Slow service, tasteless, cold food.