What do you expect restaurant management to do...

[Drew]

when you've suffered a very bad dining experience? Read on please. The Restaurant is the Oceanaire Seafood room in Baltimore.
The following is what I sent to their management.

[ Just returned from your restaurant in Baltimore, Saturday Oct. 6, 7pm, 7 persons reserved under Hall.
First of all, the waiter was without personality and rude at times. He suggested an appetizer of calamari and lobster that would handle 7 persons. No mention of weight per person or price. This turned out to be a $250 appetizer, are you kidding me? We feel scammed over this appetizer. It was clear to the waiter that we were discussing sharing appetizers to taste a sampling of your offerings as he “warned” us that the portions were large. Several of us wanted calamari so he suggested the “special” that I mentioned above. At the end of the night when we were discussing the bill with him he states that the special was prepared with 1.5 lbs of lobster/calamari per person. Again are you kidding me? That’s 10.5 lbs of appetizer! That is not an “appetizer”, that’s an entrée. Again, we felt scammed. BTW, the lobster was overcooked and rubbery. Entrees; the black cod in miso was disgusting. The blue marlin was overcooked and dry. The rockfish was flavorless, overcooked and dry. My daughter in law ordered scallops as her main dish and only ate two because of a “fishy” flavor. I tried one and tasted strong ammonia…the scallops were bad. My 80 year old mother, celebrating her 80th birthday, wanted fried oysters. What was presented to her were several, dried up, Popeye's restaurant chain looking things served on a platter slightly smaller than a large serving platter with a 4” high bed of shoestring fries that would have fed 10 people. Again, are you kidding me? Unacceptable. The waiter spilled wine several times while refilling the glasses. My brother in law ordered a glass of port and never received it (it was listed on the bill but was removed). And the worst of the evening was it took over 3 hours to dine due to the terrible timing of the courses. We came to celebrate an 80th birthday, not to take a 3 hour tour. At this level of dining there should be special memories of the evening. This is a rare dining experience for us. But we were left with feelings of mistreatment and anger that such a special night could have gone so terribly bad. Absolutely the worst high end dining experience of my 57 years. Won't be back, won't recommend. I respectfully request a response.

PS. It’s now the next morning and I spent the entire night, off and on, in and out of the bathroom with, well you get the picture, due to the poor quality of the restaurant food.


Drew Hall ]


BTW, the final bill was $900 including mandatory 20% gratuity, $155 of the total was wine and beverages.



[This message has been edited by Drew (edited 10-07-2007).]