My wife and I wanted to take her brother out for a nice meal and decided that since he likes seafood Aqua would be the perfect spot. We all really wanted to like the restaurant, but sadly we were disappointed. Compared to some of the other nice, local restaurants (Gary Danko, Le Colonial, Fresh Cream (Monterey)) Aqua just didn't live up to the hype or expectations. We did the 3 course tasting menu and ordered the dishes our waiter recommended. The amuse-bouche were beautiful but all too salty. Our appetizers were definitely the high point of the meal. My wife's lobster soup and her brother's Tartare of Ahi Tuna were delicious and unique. My Foie Gras was fine. Things took a turn for the worse with the entrees. We ordered 3 different fish dishes and were all disappointed with the lack of any creative or robust seasoning or preparation. All were bland and kind of boring. The desserts didn't sound very appetizing and tasted fairly pedestrian. As for the service, our waiter was quite friendly and the sommelier was helpful, but we had to ask to have our water glasses filled and though we made reservations more than a month in advance we were seated right next to the noisy bar area. I don't know if the restaurant is living on past laurels or people are swayed by the emperor's clothes, but we were not impressed and won't be returning.
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