3.4. Very nice place. Atmosphere was good, food was good, drinks were good, service was good. All with one significant exception which I’ll cover shortly.

I was greeted cheerily on arrival. We all were. Staff attentiveness and efficiency was good and we all got our drinks and meals in good time. Things were humming along nicely. I had the scallops for entree and that was a lovely dish. The scallops were plump, juicy and flavoursome. It was a lovely start.

Our table was very efficiently advised by our server that there was only one of one of the specials - veal with Brussel sprouts etc - still available. Much to the disappointment of a couple of our party, I snapped it up immediately as it sounded delicious. Anyway, the dish came and I started it and then realised there were no sprouts. I’m a Brussel sprouts nut. I enquired where they were and was told they’d run out. I was disappointed but fine about that happening. What I wasn’t happy about at all was that no one actually informed me of the exclusion of a key ingredient from the dish. I was even more surprised that I actually had to ask for something else as some sort of compensation. I asked if another vegetable could be provided and eventually was offered a small portion of braised cabbage which was very nice.

Anyway, I’m a pretty calm and affable soul normally and was throughout this matter but it did annoy me intensely. Basically, what happened made no sense in a customer or commercial sense. First, if the vegetable highlighted in the meal description isn’t available, just say so and let the customer know. Don’t assume that they won’t notice the omission of a key element of the dish. It’s sort of insulting or at least unthinking. Second, offer something else immediately, especially if you’re caught out as they were here. How much does it take to offer a substitute vegetable. A couple of dollars? Why did I have to ask for something else when I’m paying serious money not just for this dish but for the overall meal. I was surprised. This is a very good restaurant and matter was handed poorly. The dish was lovely but it didn’t have one of the key things I wanted in it. In the end I was actually made to look like the awkward one for pressing for a substitute vegetable. That’s not good enough.

The matter caused problems for the table. Two of my companions thought I’d done the right thing calling the matter out and asking for something else. My other companion would have preferred I let it go. I won on the numbers 3-1 and probably won on entertainment value too. But, I would have preferred the matter hadn’t arisen at all. I wanted to talk to my friends about anything other than the inactions of the restaurant.

My dessert was a citrus slice of some kind with a citrus sorbet. I should have been concentrating a little more but wasn’t. All I recall is that the dish was very nice. It was a lovely dessert.

We enjoyed our meals overall. They were generally high quality. Service was generally very good, except for the matter mentioned, especially from Jade. It is a very nice restaurant to while away the time as well.

We had a couple of rieslings and a pinot noir through the night from the very good wine list. The Aussie riesling trumped the Alsace riesling. Seriously bone dry beats dry. We finished the night with dirty martinis which were nuclear strong and exceptionally good. We were advised that they were the strongest in the city. They’re certainly the strongest I’ve ever had. They were exceptional.

It was a very nice but not inexpensive night overall. This is a good restaurant except in respect of the incident mentioned above. I am still pining for those missing sprouts.