Sails Restaurant — Restaurant in Naples

Sails on 5th Avenue is a gem. Polished, illustrious and undoubtedly a precious gem of a restaurant.

Generally speaking I wouldn’t be taking photos of my food in this sort of a setting and company but for your sake and keepsakes photos have immortalized some stellar dishes. There are restaurants that want to excel and then there are restaurants that want to outdo their own success. This is said restaurant. Granted it is our first and currently only experience

The service from the point of entry was welcoming, not cringe welcoming but genuine, we want you to enjoy everything we have to offer welcoming.

On the way to the table we were presented the fresh catch of the day and other cuts of protein that would be served.

The amount of attention received and welcoming smiles from the whole serving staff was a good sign.

The photos will not do justice to the food. Shall I describe the capellini? First off they had to have been house made, crafted to the optimum thickness, cooked to a perfect al dente, coating with the right amount of sauce that on its own without the shrimp, roasted cherry tomatoes, gave the sentiment of craftsmanship. There was clearly a lot of heart that went into preparing this dish. Nothing was accidental, happenstance or left to chance. This was intentionally delicious.

The pork belly appetizer had perfectly, and I don’t want to exaggerate, but the fat was perfectly rendered. The pork rind was on point. I didn’t care so much for the accompanying fennel (I think it was fennel), but in combination it was fine. On its own the pork belly was money.

The glass was always replenished. New cutlery was served with every course. The atmosphere was delightful, coupled with great company this is unbeatable.

Desserts were all in house. And one ought not skip dessert, especially the soufflé

Very confident you will have an...

We tried this restaurant because my wife heard they were being considered for a Michelin star. If our experience was typical, a snowball in hell has a much better chance. I was really confused as to whether I was in a fine dining establishment or a school lunchroom. The waitress was more like a school marm – nice enough but CONSTANTLY telling us to take our turn and reminding us of the rules (and also reminding us that she had already told us, which was never in doubt)– don’t order a salad before you finish your tartare. Seriously, I have no interest in stuffing myself, but the constant reminders and inflexibility were incomprehensible. Worse, after the kitchen screwed up one of our orders (no bacon for religious reasons) my friend asked if they could bring smoked salmon on the side (he had already conceded that the kitchen could not be troubled to actually put the salmon on themselves – what do you expect for a $1,000 brunch? The waitress agreed, hardly a huge favor, but then made things worse by informing him this "counts as his next turn" The food was mostly excellent, albeit my wife's prawns were overdone and the Montenegro unfit for the Residence Inn breakfast buffet. Still as the host I was mortified. To reiterate about their stinginess, my haul for the day was half a tomato, an order of tuna tartare, a meagre portion of smoked salmon, and a dog’s breakfast of Greek yogurt and honey, stingily meted out with a 2-hour clock. Not exactly raiding Ft Knox as we were made to feel. The constant offers of bread added to the Golden Corral ambiance (apologies to Golden Corral for the comparison). As a postscript, on perusing Tripadvisor reviews I found a shockingly condescending response from the owner, mocking a guest for frequenting IHOP and basically telling them they are unqualified to give a review. Talk about disrespecting...

Sails is a great fine dining restaurant with very attentive service and friendly staff. We showed up a bit earlier to our reservation and were quickly seated. We tried the A La Carte Menu.

We ordered: An Our Fashioned, Chocolate Martini, Oysters, Seared Foie Gras, Tuna Tartare, Beef Tartare, Tuna Rossini, Lamb Rack and a Chocolate Souffle. Our waitress, Angela, guided us through the menu, shared our portions/dishes and made sure our experience went great. We were also shown the fish market and were given great recommendations.

The drinks were great. The syrup in the Our Fashioned was great and the Martini was sweet and refreshing.

The staff greeted us with a crispy pork belly hors d'oeuvres that made us want to try their brunch menu! It was followed up by the focaccia bread service. They give you an option to choose between the type of cook (soft or crispy). The East Coast Oysters were delicious and our favorite topping was the apple mustard.

Our Tuna and Beef Tartare came right after. Both were delicious, fresh and well balanced- but the sweetness on the beef was amazing. The seared foie gras was some of the best. The pairings went very well. We then had our main dishes which were at the perfect temps. The Tuna and lamb were extremely easy to eat. Both were saucy and had very good accompaniments. We finished with an order of very good espresso and a chocolate Souffle. We usually don't order dessert but I'm glad we did this time. The Souffle was nice and crispy on the outside while having a saucy, spongy middle. The ice cream, aside from being delicious, went well with the dessert!

This was a wonderful place to visit for date night. If you're looking for an unforgettable fine dining table experience, id definitely...