Dio Deka — Restaurant in Los Gatos

This is my first time going to Dio Deka in years. Everytime in the past has been for fundraisers or cocktail parties so I was looking forward to dining here recently for a special occasion with my family. The atmosphere is relaxing and as lovely as ever. The servers were very friendly and efficient. However the food was sadly disappointing for just about everyone in our party of 9. Because of its impeccable ratings and impressive reviews everyone was reluctant to say anything, particularly because we were being treated by our host. We dined on a variety of menu options including lamb chops, filet mignon, truffle burger, orzo & mushrooms, king salmon & greek salad.

These are some of the remarks: "The lamb chops are mediocre at best." $56 "The quality of the ingredient on the (truffle) burger is good particularly the meat but the flavors on the toppings are strange." They removed all of the toppings and just ate the patty. $28 The greek village salad had wilted lettuce and soft tomatoes. A chicken skewer was added and he said the chicken skewer "is as flavorful as canned chicken." $30 Filet Mignon was good. That would have been a sin and a shame to mess up a good piece of meat. $62 King Salmon was bland and lacked any kind of flavorful seasoning. $42 Someone order roasted potatoes as a side and got about 1/3 cup of mashed potatoes. $10 The Vegan in our party was happy with her orzo and mushrooms. $28

The pita bread was good but really salty. The most popular item on the table was fries which I could get down the street for a lot less money. They should take it as a hint when there is lots of food leftover on the plate and nobody asks for a to-go container.

The host was embarrassed that they had invited us to what was once a Michelin star restaurant. Sadly their...

Let me start by saying I barely ever write negative reviews, just look at my previous ones. I like celebrating when places shine and overdeliver. Well, this isn’t one of those.

I’ve lived in Los Gatos for 20 years and have gone to Dio Deka once every 12 months since it’s opened. It’s always been very consistently great. I’ve always loved their lamb chops in particular. Unfortunately we went there tonight and everything was just very “off.”

It was very loud there tonight, so it was hard for my wife and I to talk. Appetizer of Octopus (quite good) arrived before our drinks. Ordered two sides for our lamb and steak, and they were left off our ticket and after informing the very apologetic waiter, we got them as we were finishing our lamb/steak.

Then finally, the main reason I went there, the lamb. I’m a “the chef knows best” when it comes to meat doneness, and I did the same here and got a “okay, that will be medium-rare to medium”…great. It arrived pretty much rare. I called over the waiter and asked “this seems rare, is that how the chef intended it?” And he clearly had no idea, then inferred that, sure, it was done the right way, but he clearly didn’t know. To his credit he said his “customers are of course always right” and happily offered to cook it more. But I said “okay, if this was how it was intended I’ll go with it.” My mistake. It was definitely under and just kinda…unappetizing. I unfortunately concluded that when I was half done, so I didn’t raise my hand. My mistake again.

I’ve loved this place over the years, but it was mediocre at best tonight. And for $400 for the two of us (with wine and tip; and they didn’t make us pay for one of the late sides) we felt we would have been underwhelmed at half the price. For their sake, I hope it was just a...

Food: 3 Decor: 4 Service: 4

Came here for lunch and also for a wedding banquet that same evening.

Lunch Sirloin Burger ... Caramelized onions, Manouri cheese and rosemary-lemon crusted new potatoes 16 ~Mediocre. I had to assemble the burger and eat it with my knife and fork since it was too tall. Patty was cooked a nice medium, but the dish overall wasn't very impressive.

Wedding banquet Hummus sampler on crostinis ~Okay. 3-4 different hummus options on pieces of crostini.

Octopus appetizers ~Pretty good. Octopus was cooked well, and I had quite a few of them.

Appetizers Pork Riblets ... Mesquite grilled baby back pork riblets, infused with nutmeg and ouzo ~Pretty good. Pork ribs were cooked well enough that the meat came off the bones, and the seasoning was excellent. Probably my favorite dish.

Salad Traditional Greek Salad ... Tomatoes, cucumber, imported feta cheese, Kalamata olives, red wine vinaigrette ~Okay. Your typical greek salad.

Grilled Branzino ... Mesquite grilled Mediterranean Branzino, with sage,infused olive oil ~Mediocre, although it was more bland that I was hoping.

Filet Mignon ... Mesquite grilled in red wine reduction ~Mediocre. Filet mignon was sliced and cooked medium. Meat wasn't exceptionally tender or juicy.

Sauteed Greens ... Greens of the season sauteed with fresh lemon and garlic ~Didn't try this, and barely anyone touched it.

Herbed French Fries ~Decent. I didn't get much of the herb, but at least the fries were fried nicely.

Service was good, and the staff was very helpful throughout...