Village Gem Restaurant — Restaurant in Carmel-by-the-Sea

First of all, I’m someone who very rarely writes reviews. When I do it’s almost always for positive experiences. I preface with this because an experience has to be really really bad for me to write a restaurant.

Secondly, this is not a terrible restaurant. The food was actually very good. However, the service was some of the worst I’ve ever experienced. And fairness to the restaurant staff, the restaurant was very busy and woefully under staffed.

But here’s what happened. We waited 30 minutes to be seated after being told 5 minutes (and we had a reservation). The table for 6 we had reserved just needed to bussed, and sat for over 15 minutes. When I asked, the waiter was extremely rude. We were starving, we asked if we could at least have some bread when we sat down. WE WAITED 1 HOUR BEFORE BREAD WAS PUT ON THE TABLE. Then a whole other hour for main courses! This may sound like an exaggeration, it doesn’t sound believable, I promise you this is true. No one ever checked on us, ever apologized to us, complete and utter lack of awareness.

As a restaurant if you know you that under staffed, at least acknowledge it, manage it. But ignore it? It took 90 minutes from the time we arrived to even get bread. No apology, nothing given to us for free. We were there for 3 hrs. It was comical. No restaurant that treats customers like this deserves to be...

Was trying to have a nice family outing in Carmel and was shocked to find a restaurant with as poor of service as what was had at Village Gem. From the moment we arrived, we were met with rude and unruly staff, who scoffed at us when we asked about the status of our table (which still wasn’t ready 30 minutes past our reservation). Considering the table was sitting empty and unbussed for over 20 minutes, we asked for an update and the waiter yelled ‘I don’t know what to tell you.’ We we’re starving by the time we were seated and asked if we could have bread right away, which of course didn’t actually arrive on the table until over an hour after. After that point, it took over 2 hours for our entrees to arrive, with no waiter even checking on us or filling our waters. The table next to us asked about their main course and another waiter snapped at them saying ‘I don’t know why you keep asking, you act like you’re the only ones.’ Any decently run restaurant would’ve been remorseful and would have at least comped bread for all the inconvenience, but of course when our bill arrived, we were actually overcharged for items that never arrived and a convenient 20% tip already added. Even though the food ended up tasted decently, our night was completely soured by the shocking lack of service and care...

We've lived in Carmel-by-the Sea for over ten years and have been delighted to welcome what has become our new favorite restaurant. The Village Gem is located in a small courtyard off the street with tables outside generously warmed by propane heaters. We arrive to be greeted by friendly and attentive waiters, ( a shout out to Amir and Victor) and soon have a glass of wine in our hands. Then it's the difficult choice of which appetizer, the soup which changes frequently and is always delicious, or the artichoke with the amazing black garlic aioli, or the smoked salmon in puffed pastry or..? We've tried most of them and they've all been wonderful. Chef Tim Uttaro invariably comes out to discuss the specials, most often our go-to choice. On our most recent visit we enjoyed an incredible pan seared Hapuka bass with crispy black rice cake and English pea puree, gently bathed in a white wine pan sauce. The regular menu is interestingly eclectic and we've never been disappointed by anything we've tried. Prices are reasonable, the ambiance is great and we couldn't be...