The baked brie starter was fine - but then, it's foolproof: bake some cheese, put toast around it, and drizzle raspberry sauce. My butternut squash ravioli did *not have any filling*!! That's right - the butternut squash ravioli lacked any butternut squash inside. My companion and I opened one up completely just to be sure: nothing but noodle. The phyllo apple kiwi pie (which supposedly got him into the Culinary Institute of America, but which should have got him kicked out) was pasty and thick, and the apples were undercooked and still crunchy; the plate was floating in yucky syrup. My companion's ""prawns"" contained exactly one prawn, and that undercooked and inedible. His grilled chicken caesar salad tasted fine, or at least the chicken did - but the romaine was disenchanting, and the plate looked like the food had hastily been tossed upon it. The whipped cheesecake dipped in chocolate tasted richly light and crunchy, although far too much cheap chocolate syrup was smeared on the plate. The white chocolate raspberry torte tickled our funny bone more than our palate - it looked like a top hat. Overall, an embarrassment for a ""chef"" while doing nothing to bring ""unpretentious, fine dining"" to the Derry-Latrobe area. How about more pretentions, more culinary integrity, and more respect for the customer? Empy ravioli indeed...for shame!
I'm guessing Chef Dato thinks he can pull the wool over people's eyes in this area. After all, there is not much fine dining in the Derry-Latrobe area, so the people dont really know any better. A real chef would be appalled at the substandard and frankly insulting fare (questionably cooked prawn? empty ravioli?).
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