Had date night here with my girlfriend. Service wa...

Had date night here with my girlfriend. Service was very good, but I ordered the steak au poivre, not realizing that basically means "pepper steak" in French. Fine, my mistake, and I actually do enjoy cracked peppercorns. But the steak, which did come out medium as requested, wasn't very tender and was literally enclosed in a crust of peppercorns. I could hardly taste anything other than the overwhelming flavor of black pepper. I had to scrape it off. The fries that came with the steak were excellent and came with a little cup of what had to be basic Heinz ketchup. This not tender, black-pepper-only steak cost $45. Waste of money.

My girlfriend ordered a Thai spicy tuna roll that was honestly among the worst I've ever had, and I've had GROCERY STORE tuna rolls before. It was
strangely mushy yet chewy at the same time, and I don't know what was spicy or Thai about it.

The wine pours were generous. That's always a plus.

Overall, the vibe of the restaurant is romantic and cozy, but even for that part of the city, everything is grossly overpriced for the quality of the food itself.

One other thing, which is specific to me: I absolutely can't stand the smell of "truffle" oil; I don't exaggerate when I say the smell of this artificial, chemically produced additive nauseates me. And when our server was telling us the specials, just about everything had truffle oil: mashed potatoes, french fries (thankfully, not the ones that came with my steak!), etc. I wish consumers in general would just get over this stupid "truffle" fad. It's not made with truffles, people! It's as artificial as gasoline. Anyway, of course all through the meal the pungent, metallic odor of truffle oil permeated the restaurant and it was quite difficult to enjoy what I could of the meal.

Service was attentive and atmosphere (notwithstanding the smell) was cozy. Food was very mediocre and I still can't believe I paid $45 for what tasted like a sirloin in a batter of black pepper.

A caveat for fairness: As this was the first steak au poivre I've ever had, maybe they ALWAYS come with that much pepper. For all I know that was an authentic preparation, but I'm not exaggerating that there was probably an eighth of a cup peppercorns.