The Valkyrie @ The 4 Corners — Restaurant in North Muskegon

Went in for a date night dinner. Our server was excellent. (Arie D.) Started with waters and a couple drinks. Tito's Bloody Mary was great. Then appetizer of the Valkerie Smash and Whitefish dip. The smash was put together nicely and tasted wonderful. As for the dip, very salty and came with tortilla chips because they were out of crackers. For our Entrees we ordered the Sexy Chicken and 8oz Top Sorloin medium. The chicken Entree was pleasing to my date. My steak however was overcooked and cut into. Arie came by several times during our evening giving us once again excellent service. When she had asked if the temperature of the steak was correct I told her honestly it was not. I showed her that it was actually cut into in two spots. I can only speculate to check the color .As I did not want to waste food, or wait for another, and definitely not anger the cook I told her all was well and I would continue my meal no worries. Another server overheard our discussion and spoke with the General Manager who came to the table. I explained the same to her and said there was no need to replace or credit my bill just to use it as a training opportunity and suggested maybe a little more time with the cook preparing steaks. A couple minutes go by and the cook is at my table for yet another interruption to my meal over something I thought had been resolved. He shook my hand and introduced himself then gave me a back handed apology saying he doesn't cut into steaks, but he was sorry. Offered to make it again which I replied I was done discussing the matter. I spoke with two people already and just wanted to eat. He said he wanted to fix it because he just got refremanded for it. At this point I just wanted to leave. The GM came back and I told her she should have waited rather than to talk to him in the heat of the moment. I asked for my bill, paid, tipped our server, who by far was the most professional employee I had interacted...

The server was very friendly and knowledgeable. Couple disappointments. We ordered perch, which arrived in 6 tiny pieces. It was obvious they cut the filets into small pieces. We inquired and were told by one of the staff it was because they were running out and trying to stretch out the servings. Another staff told us it was because the chef was new, which was strange because we were also told the chef has previous experience of 10 years at double jj. Not certain what that was about, but they did bring more fish to the table although one of our table mates had to wait until we were all finished with our meals to receive her meal. When perch is on a menu in Michigan you expect lake or ocean perch. We questioned the perch because it is most definitely not lake or ocean. We were told it is 'pike perch' which none of the group had ever heard of before, and found it is a sub species of the walleye family from euro-asia. Not a bad fish, but not perch texture and not what we expected when we ordered. We questioned the fish because it does have a different texture and none of us had ever eaten or heard of pike perch... the male manager, Greg, was defensive and absolutely rude. The male cook was reasonable, polite, and did give us good information, but to be honest we were kind of over it at that point. I wish they would have advertised it in the menu as pike perch because I still would have ordered it. We would have found it interesting to try a new fish species, and in the end we did find it pleasing. We had wanted to try axe throwing but were told that isn't a option on Fridays and Saturdays because regulars use the space and there is never availability on Fridays or...

The Valkyrie is amazing and you should come here. The flavors and sense of place were exactly what I was expecting and the presentation was beautiful. The flavors were of course great. The beef tartare was perhaps the best that I have ever had (I've probably had beef tartare a dozen times at restaurants around the world). The smoked salmon flatbread was good (though I was not wowed by it only because my wife regularly makes something similar). The quality of the smoked salmon was excellent. My wife had the hamburger which was one of the best and most original she has ever had. The smoked beets were a revelation -- they are excellent smoked; I had never had them that way before. Everything was perfectly seasoned. The rye bread pudding with beet ice cream was amazing. My wife hates caraway seeds and yet she still loved this. It was the perfect not too sweet dessert and though I have been eating desserts at good restaurants for two decades this was one of the few interesting and new desserts I've had.

Multiple cocktails looked good; I was designated driver so I only had one at the beginning of the meal, a Greenland (I love my green Chartreuse!). My wife appreciated the wine flights and the availability of nice wines by the glass (thanks to a Coravin). Service was impeccable.

The only negative thing was there was a band playing as it was a Saturday night and they were too loud (over-amplified). The music was good, at least. Still, considering they have only been around for three weeks this is a...