Madera — Restaurant in Menlo Park

I am incredibly disappointed and saddened by the terrible experience I had at Madera. This is especially heartbreaking for me because I made this reservation to dine with my brother, who I only see once every 2 years or so. I made a reservation well in advance thinking that a Michelin star restaurant would be packed on a Friday night. When I arrived, it was nearly empty.

The service was terrible. I wish they had a self-servicing option so that I could at least serve my brother and his wife properly. It was so embarrassing to sit through this horrible dinner. The waitress was completely disengaged, and she didn't know the menu very well. She barely checked up on us and didn't even refill our glasses once. When she brought out my brother's whiskey, it had crumbly ice cubes that had already started diluting the drink. When my brother asked for another glass, she just brought him another large ice cube in a cup.

My brother is a big foodie and asked the waitress if he should get the Wagyu beef. This was the worst ~$100 I have ever seen be spent on food. This is a big warning to everyone. Do not get the Wagyu beef. She said it was the highest grade of beef and that it was so fatty that it cut like butter. The knife could barely pass through the meat, and it tasted like bacon. We got the risotto, duck, scallops, and some appetizers. My risotto was under cooked, my boyfriend's duck was overcooked, the scallops and the appetizers were fine, but nothing to write home about.

Ultimately, here is the message I want to convey to my readers. If you're planning a special occasion with a group of people you love, please find another restaurant. If there is one thing I want to get out of this terrible experience, it's to be able to warn others and prevent them from having a terrible experience with people they don't see often and love dearly. I highly recommend making a reservation at a cozy restaurant filled with a staff that cares about you and your guests. I want you to have an experience where the staff is personal, take pride in their food, engages with you and your guests, and brings joy to the table. If you need recommendations, feel free to reach out. I'd be more than happy to give you some amazing recommendations in the Bay Area.

And to the Michelin Guide Inspectors: I'm sure that you have a lot on your plate, and it's difficult to show your presence at so many different culinary institutions. However, if you have a moment to spare, I would respectfully ask for Madera to be re-assessed so as not to misinform people who are planning a special night with the people they love the most. At the end of the day, it always boils down to sharing a precious moment filled with joy, whether that's a party of 1 or 20. I feel that the Michelin Guide has led many people to having excellent joyful experiences, and I trust you all will continue to uphold those high...

My husband surprised me with a reservation to Madera for our anniversary on a Monday. Our reservation was at 5:30 pm but they suggested getting there about 15 minutes early, so we got there around 5:15 pm and was seated right away. They have an open kitchen close to the entrance and lovely dining room with vaulted ceilings as well as outdoor patio spaces as well. I requested to sit inside but closer to the windows for the beautiful green scenery in the background.

The menu is nice and small which was great because I am typically overwhelmed when the menu is endless. We ordered the smoked deviled eggs, grill octopus, Ora king salmon, liberty farms dry aged duck breast. The smoked deviled eggs were really good and topped with trout roe so it was a great combination. The grilled octopus was perfectly cooked and have a nice Smokey taste to it as well. The star of the night were the large dishes, Ora king salmon and livery farms dry aged duck breast. The Ora king salmon was hands down the best salmon I’ve tried. The skin was very nice and crispy, while the salmon was perfectly cooked. The salmon quality itself was the best I’ve had. I wasn’t served a belly piece but it sure feels like it with all of the omega oozing out of it. This was perfect paired with small cuts of citrus and a type of herb sauce. The duck breast was also perfectly cooked and amazingly flavored. The duck skin itself was very nice and crispy while the duck breast meat was still juicy. My husband and I both would come back just for the salmon and duck breast.

And of course we had to celebrate our anniversary with dessert! We were so full that we ended up getting just 1 dessert to share. I unfortunately don’t remember the name of the dessert but it was a cheesecake made out of sheep’s milk. The cheesecake wasn’t a traditional cheesecake. It was just soft cheesecake with no breading served on some type of glazed with strawberries and topped with pistachios crumbles. I didn’t think I’ll like sheep milk but this cheesecake was amazing and out of this world. For two people that were too full to look at the dessert menu, we ended up scrapping the plate clean!

Service was amazing here as well! Our server, Andrea was very kind, patient and attentive. She made the experience way better with her recommendations of the menu, drinks, and constantly coming back to...

The atmosphere and service at Madera are as good as any Michelin restaurant. In fact I first visited Madera years ago because it was Michelin starred. In fact the new years eve menu of 2021 was so phenomenonal that I still think about it. But I feel like Madera's loss of their Michelin Star this year has well warranted after a return to this restaurant. Frankly Madera feels like bad value now.

For example you'll see from my pictures that we ordered the deviled eggs. We received three, however if you look at posts from less than a year ago you'll see that the deviled eggs used to come as four. That's a whopping 25% reduction. And at nearly $25 it really feels like terrible value.

I can say the exact same thing about the scallops. The scallop dish costs nearly $40 and you only receive two. And while they were good, I've definitely had much better and Michelin starred restaurants for a similar price.

The thing that floored me was the steak tartare. It was deliciouse. Amazing umami flavor and the bread perfectly complimented it and was infused with a smokey flavor that really just wows you. Unfortunately, that was the peak of meal--our second dish.

The sole we ordered was very underwhelming. In my opinion the plating wasn't very good and frankly didn't look appetizing with very little color. It was very oily and both of our stomache felt a little upset after eating it. The sauce had great flavor, but the dish was incredibly bland otherwise as nothing really had any flavor.

We ordered a desert afterwards. Again I thought it was extremely expensive and underwhelming. It was basically an apple pie with some ice cream. I forgot to take a picture, but the whole dish was really not even big enough to share. The crust on the bottom could not be broken and you needed a knife which was not provided. The taste was underwhelming and tasted like any applied pie your mother could make.

Madera's quality, quantity and price feel quite bad. The prices are too high, quantity is too small and quality has stumbled. For a comparable price to what we spent, you could go experience a tasting menu at the various Michelin starred restaurants around and be absolutely floored. It's a real shame because that new years eve menu in 2021 was so amazing and the value was phenomenonal. Just so...