The Write Ingredients

(Almost Great) Dinner and (Not So Great) Drinks

A group of us went to the new restaurant Temple the other night. It was S's 31st birthday and we joined up after she and J went to dinner at nearby Capital Grille. Husband, Jen and I also wanted to eat, so we made an earlier reservation at Temple since we had to be there anyway.

We should have ended the experience after we put our forks down.

Dinner was nice. Our server was friendly, knowledgeable, non-intrusive. The food was great and good, depending on the dish. The Tuna Tataki appetizer was great, thin slices of seared tuna served with a spicy sauce and slivers of roasted beets. The Beef Bulgogi wasn't as successful. the beef was chewy and the noodles were slippery. The Kim Chee that came with it was a treat, and actually made the beef taste better.

Entrees were about as even. Husband had a steak with wasabi mashed potatoes.He said the steak was good, the sauce was really amazing, and the potatoes had no hint of wasabi. What a disappointment, that was the reason he ordered the dish. Jen and I both had the Pine-Nut Crusted Sea Bass with Squash Dumplings and Long Beans, and I haven't been able to think of much else since. The Sea Bass took on a light, but dense texture, the dumplings were properly squashy and garlicky, and the long beans were just fun to look at and cut apart. The plating was also beautiful, but didn't keep me from digging in. So dinner was good, the wine was good, the company great, and then we moved into the Bar, or Shinto Lounge as they call it.

Our friends were sitting in a corner with a couch and ottomans and a coffee table, next to a plasma television. The bar was full, but not crowded, and the service seemed to be good enough, until our server walked out. Without filling our drink order. There were only seven of us, and two of us weren't really drinking, so I don't think we were a tough or confusing crowd.

A second server came by, took the drink order again and brought the drinks. After all the glasses were bone dry, she came over again and as soon as we said, "We'd like our..." She was gone. Literally ran away. I waited about 10 minutes (I was getting impatient) and went to find her. Missing, totally, completely missing. Finally, I grabbed the only employee (besides the Koi) I could find and begged for our tab. This guy was nice, and actually looked me in the eye. A few minutes later, a tiny little man came running by with our tab, set it on the table, and while running away, mentioned it included a 20% gratuity because we had more than six people. But, but, but....

We never had service? Hello?

A phone call to Temple a couple days later did nothing to make me feel better about the situation. But I loved the Sea Bass, and will hopefully find something similar, somewhere else.