Limelight — Restaurant in Germantown

It is like a Budget cruise ship main dining room. There was some good and a boatload of bad. The good. When we arrived (we were early) 5:15. Place was not surprisingly empty. Our server was a bit nervous but sweet. We ordered bar snacks and drinks. Mojito muddled with brown sugar. It was good. The chickpeas were good. We ate them all. The butter flight was not really a flight. It was two butters. It was good. Flight implies more than a pair, but ok. Two. We sat back and chatted. Our waitress came back and asked us if we were ready to order. This is where restaurant two comes in. We ordered the charcuterie board. (Keep in mind place is still nearly empty – again not surprising) time is around 5:30. Our waitress said we also must also order our mains. Ummmm. We just ordered a large board. We did not really want to order mains yet. Her response you must order your mains. It is our policy. It seemed odd. But ok. So around that time we order. Roasted chicken for her and a lyonnaise salad for me. Board came out and it was very good. Some oddities. It had a few random blueberries on it. (Like 4) also it had apple butter and strawberry jam without a mustard. But it was good. Eaten and enjoyed. Then it goes down in flames. We wait. The restaurant begins to fill. By 6:15 we move from comfortable to an uncomfortable wait. It is now 45 minutes since we order mains. The waitress comes by and says any minute now. Ok cool. Finally, at 6:45 the manager comes by. He does a cursory walk by and says how are things. I said your kitchen is dragging seriously. He laughs it off. My partner reiterates that the kitchen is slow. And I mention the policy of holding an app order hostage until the mains are ordered. He says that is for speed. Ummmm ok. Now 6:45. He goes back to the kitchen. At this point another couple behind us left. Angry and unhappy. Finally, he returns with a big grin. "Here you go., I was going to yell at the kitchen. But see here they are… all is well." 1 hour and 15 minutes. From order to table for a salad and chicken. In an almost empty dining room. The salad was not made correctly. The egg was not soft. It was way overdone for the salad. It was not dressed correctly. Weirdly the dressing was under the greens and the overcooked egg was on the side. The greens were dry. Which meant that the one note became bitter. (The salad uses bitter greens) The green goddess dressing was a thin vinaigrette devoid of flavor except for vinegar. There was no lardon. There was not brioche. (See pictures) It was a large pile of bitter greens with a smear of vinaigrette on the plate underneath the greens. And this was ordered as a main. My partner’s chicken was ok. (Think maybe budget cruise ship main dining quality) First it was not served correctly. There was no ciabatta. The lemon juice was raw over the top of the dish. Leaving the croutons soaked in raw lemon juice and inedible. After our initial brush with the manager, he came back a second time and asked us how was our meal. I explained to him the problems with the dishes. Lyonnaise salad requires a runny soft yolk to soften the dish. That serving undressed bitter greens is not acceptable. Her dish was doused in raw lemon juice. And we waited an unacceptable amount of time. He comped us a dessert. We tried one more time. We shared a gelato flight. One good the other two meh. An Irish coffee. That was just whisky in coffee. No cream or love. Just coffee and whisky. And a hot buttered rum, that was oily but good. I am 99% sure it was from a mix rather than crafted. Again, cruise ship main quality at a premium Memphis restaurant...

My wife and I dined at Limelight last night for our anniversary, opting to try somewhere new that could pull us away from our usual spots, Coastal Fish, Firebirds, etc. Needless to say, there were several things that were a major disappointment that will keep us from ever going back and prompted me to write the first review in years. First, the parking here is atrocious. We were going to miss our reservation, so I called to ask where additional parking was, and we ended up having to park at the school down the street and walk because the grounds across the street was full and having an event. If you're going to charge the insane amount you do for food and drinks, plus have 3 people greeting folks at the door and one to open the door for me, you may want to consider a valet person. Next, Jon was our server, and he was a nice guy. When we ordered drinks, I ordered an Old Fashioned and my wife a Margarita. Jon suggested Angels Envy bourbon and a particular tequila, which, I shouldn't have assumed those choices would fall under the menu costs for those drinks, but I also wouldn't have fathomed it would be double the price. Neither drink was great, although we were paying nearly 40.00 for 2 drinks. In fact the Old Fashioned was one of the blandest ones I've ever had in Memphis. Food next. Pork belly skewers were awesome. Best part of the entire night. Wife ordered Chicken, I had the Snapper. For the price of the dishes, you'd think or expect them to come with a side - anything - but instead, absolutely nothing but the dish itself. My snapper was pretty much Tapas-sized. The meal was cooked well, but I had to savor it knowing I was going to be hungry again in 30 minutes (which I was). We ordered an additional beer and glass of wine, which is typical anywhere we go to have 4 drinks. When we got our bill, I was shocked. 156.00. 65.00 for 4 drinks, with a "liquor tax" of 8.00 at the bottom. 65.00 is what a top-notch Cocktail bars charge, not a restaurant in Memphis that makes rather bland Old Fashions. After tip, 190.00 meal. We were shocked. The wife and I have always had amazing meals and drinks and places like Coastal Fish - very equivalent, for much less. I absolutely expect to pay 190.00 for food at a nice restaurant in New York, Chicago, or Charleston...not Memphis. We've never paid so much for so little dining anywhere...

I'm going to start with sharing my wife's comments and follow-up with my own.

After enjoying this restaurant several previous times, we reserved a table well in advance of Mother's Day. As the owner claims in his description, "The ambiance is perfect for a date night." NOT ANY MORE!!!! We were seated next to 4 middle school age girls that were incredibly loud and obnoxious the entire meal. Their parents were seated at a separate table nearby but never even spoke to them. After not being able to hear our waiter due to their loud discussions, we asked to be moved. The waiter worked hard to make that happen but management declined. During our meal, we heard discussions of what the contents of a grandparent's diaper looked liked, had food thrown at the back of my chair, had shoes thrown under the table to hide from one another, etc with a constant shrill discussion or laughter. We tried, the server tried, but there was a total lack of management or parental intervention. The food was good but not epic. We ate quickly and left. The waiter informed us that the meal was complimentary and was sorry that he couldn't compensate for a spoiled evening. With a migraine by the end of the meal, the comp meal was not worth it and we will not return!!!! What happened to teaching your children how to act in a nice restaurant? Management failed from seating arrangements of parents with children to lack of accommodations to other paying customers. There were several tables in the corner where the tweens would have been less disruptive.

Now my comments on the food. I had the halibut. It is described in the menu as "fava beans, golden oyster mushrooms, farro, chicken dashi." While the halibut was wonderful, there was no more than several tablespoons of broth. The straw potatoes on my wife's smoked salmon salad had spent way too much time in the oven.

And moreover, I had made NUMEROUS calls with Jeremiah arranging this special...