Brasserie du Monde — Restaurant in Sacramento

We wanted to come back and make this our special place after having lots of delicious meals in Paris and the south of France.

The mussels are delicious and huge! They made it worth returning for a more serious meal as we did tonight.

Sadly, Brasserie Capital missed this mark on classics like coq au vin, playing with the recipe by adding a spice I didn't want or expect: cloves. So much clove spice and sweetness, in fact, that the dish tasted like it was braised in apple cider and mulled wine. The resulting icky mess bore no resemblance to classic coq au vin with bouquet garni, no tangy bright red wine flavor, just syrupy pumpkin spice sweetness and muddled murky clove.

Add to that it took 30 minutes for our main plates to arrive. It took so long, in fact, that our waitress forgot asked us if we wanted DESSERT before she realized we hadn't gotten our main plates yet. Meanwhile, no one paid attention to the pools of mussel sauce spilled on the table, although our glasses were filled with water at least 6 times as an elaborate tap dance to distract from the complete lack of food.

The Saint Jaques day boat mussel dish with risotto featured well-seared scallops atop an odd chunky arborio rice concoction with whole fresh undercooked peas and topped with various finely chopped bits (cucumber?) that served only to interrupt the velvety mouthfeel of classic arborio into a chunky texture that felt like it had just come up into my mouth for a second go around.

But the worse aspect was Brasserie Capital's handling of our dissatisfaction! The waitress volunteered to send the chef to our table to discuss the coq au vin problem. Instead, a distraught man (investor parner Aziz) whose defensiveness of his prize recipes kept him from hearing our feedback in a useful way. He stood there wringing his hands awkwardly as he searched for ways to tell us that we were wrong. He elaborated on how wildly popular the coq au vin was and how "we were getting nowhere" in arguing with him about the spicing. What he failed to understand is that he was getting nowhere in luring two potential regulars back. The entree was taken off of the tab.

Pools of sauce still on the table, the waitress returned and dragged a dessert menu through the mussel sauce as she put it on the table.

Add to that the restrooms being in the bar across the lobby and you get to see a glimpse of what turned what could be a fantastic experience into one that should have...

What a disaster. The restaurant is pretty but it is a train wreck of a place – a most poorly managed, muddled mess. The restaurant was not 1/3 full, yet it took over 15 minutes to get our cocktails, even though I could see them complete, languishing and getting warm on the bar. There were 4 people behind the bar – yet not one of them was capable of walking 20 feet to deliver them. We ordered the mussels. They were fabulous, prepared well and served with a large portion of frites. However, the only utensil we had with which to eat them was a large dinner fork – they serve a LOT of mussels here (it is their specialty) – table settings to accommodate would be expected. We ordered wine which came in a reasonable amount of time. And then the wait began for our second course (salad and soup). And we waited. And we waited. Finally, the waiter appeared: With our entrees!! We sent them back, asked for our second course, and then the place hit rock bottom. The chef had already left the kitchen (we actually watched him pile all of his personal stuff on the bar, take a shot, and go outside). The Chef Has Left The Building!!!!! Sadly, that meant there was no one in the kitchen to prepare our food, the kitchen had closed and put all the food away, and we still did not have salad or soup or new entrees. This caused a huge hullabaloo with the staff – whispered conversations, furtive glances at us, staring at computer screens – but NO FOOD, no explanation, no apology. There was no food to bring us, and no one had the nerve to tell us. We got up and walked out. We asked for the manager, the self-identified owner finished his beer while we stood waiting and we explained what had happened and informed him we were leaving to go across the street to the beautiful Ella to get some dinner. And that is what we did, and it was wonderful (Ella always is) and we will NEVER return to Brasserie du Monde and I strongly suggest you never...

Do NOT get the steak frites - it was completely under seasoned (come on, it's a $56 steak dish). I actually sent it back because the price vs quality didn't seem right. They made me another plate of steak frites and it was exactly the same which tells me the chef doesn't know how to cook a proper steak but charges like it. The quality of meat seemed like it was the rejects from Safeway - definitely not worth $56. Half of it was fat and gristle so I could only eat half. When asked if the second one was good, I told the waitress the truth and she got defensive and told me "well, he let me know that he added salt...". That might be true, but it was still completely bland. I would have sent it back again and choose something else but that was the only dish on the menu I wanted- I came specifically for that. I ultimately just asked for some Maldon flake salt so I could season it myself - it was just okay.

The waitress was also kind of aloof. I'm sure it was a long hot day but she was unfocused and her defensiveness was not appreciated. At the beginning of our meal, after she took our order, she repeated it back to us completely incorrect and then made a joke that she should write it down. Ya think? She did offer to comp us dessert after everything but we were too full to accept that.

I didn't expect a discount because I kept the steak but if I refused the dessert, I wish they would have done something. For paying about $200 for 2 people (2 cocktails, an appetizer salad, and 2 mains), the food quality and service is absolutely not worth it. I won't be coming back and can't...