Ciclo — Restaurant in Austin

Unfortunately, the almost constant smell of perfume(or was it carpet or air freshener?!) distracted from/overshadowed what could have been an almost perfect dining experience. You want to fully appreciate the smell and taste of food prepared this well. It is, dare I say, world class! For starters, the freshly prepared bread rolls are divine! Soft and sumptuous. They don't disappoint with cold butter either. The butter is softened to room temperature. The menu is not over-complicated, but rather streamlined for focusing on a handful of perfectly executed items. The charred octopus appetizer will make you wish you hadn't shared this shared plate. It is spot-on al dente. One of the best seafood dishes to be found anywhere! The generous kale salad is very flavorful with its smoked onion vinaigrette. The sea bass entree also was stellar, cooked to perfection, both texture and taste. The flavor and freshness of the fish shine. My only disappointment was the chocolate pudding cake. It was too dry to be called pudding cake. I've had much better. However, the salted caramel ice cream accompanying it is the best you've ever had!!! The olive oil panna cotta is creamy perfection. Delicate flavor, not for those needing loud taste. You must appreciate the quality of its ingredients. The honeycomb is heavenly!!! I will grant that Texas peaches have a short seasonal availability. The place is a bit shi-shi for Austin...who still wears mink coats out to dinner??? But the food, unlike the mink coat, is...

We came for dinner on a Saturday night. Ciclo is located at the bottom floor of the Four Seasons Hotel in downtown Austin. It was a lovely evening with delicious food and a calm ambiance. Here was our experience:

Parking and accessibility: there are a few parking spots at the hotel; however you can find street parking and parking lots near the restaurant.

Menu and seating: I think the only feedback was where we were sitting there wasn’t enough lighting so my partner had a hard time reading the menu (we were by the windows). Perhaps stronger lights or at least a better lighting candle? Anyway, nothing a cell phone flashlight couldn’t solve!

Location: the restaurant is down the stairs from the hotel and backs into greenery and the river with a view during the day and at sunset.

Food: the food was delightful overall. The burrata salad was out of this world! And the grilled bread that came with the salad was amazing; not too hard and not too chewy. The Parker rolls, oh wow! I loved it! For entrees, my partner thought the filet mignon could have been better, but otherwise was good. I ordered the fish and seafood and it was amazing! I think their specialty here is fish and seafood because it was so delicious!

Service: the server was so wonderful! She was patient and pleasant!

Overall a beautiful night! Would...

Extremely Disappointing experience… Subtle behavior to display how they did want to serve. I’ve had great experience at other Four seasons locations across the US and internationally, this experience would make me rethink going back.

I waited for 15mins only to get a table in the extreme corner of the restaurant(whereas other tables were available), waited additional 20mins to even get acknowledgement of my presence with a glass of water. For someone paying $50 for a brunch and some more for mimosas, the service was abysmally incompetent, while other tables were attended promptly. All I wanted was to pamper myself with a nice brunch after a long hike on a nice Sunday morning.. and would have loved the service.

Was this behavior because I wasn’t dressed for the brunch? May be! Was it because I did not look classy enough?? May be. Or was it because I was the only colored, alone female customer? Possibly. Judging a book by its cover is the last thing anyone expect from a place like Four seasons. While I understand I didn’t have reservations and was a walk-in, I certainly did not expect such treatment. I ended up leaving without any food and realized that the staff did not care. Definite No No.

Whatever the reason, I’d have appreciated if I was informed that they wouldn’t want to serve, instead of a...