Hide & Seek — Restaurant in Salt Lake City

I’d do 3.5 stars if I could. I’m hoping most of this is just growing pains and it will get better. I’d love to go back for a better experience one day.

I was really hopeful because I’ve seen good things so far. It was a very cool concept- the entrance through the bookcase is very cute. The lighting is great. The music was weird- 90s hip hop. I hope that’s adjusted at some point, it was jarring with the rest of the vibe.

I expected more from the food. Touting a chef who trained at a Michelin starred restaurant, I wanted more. The service needs some tweaks. Everyone was super nice, but the service was missing the thoughtfulness I look for. We had to ask for refills on water nearly every time.

The Cocktails:

While good, they were lacking creativity and innovation. They were simple, and well done, but they could have been more unique. We were hoping for more innovative, creative drinks at this type of place..

The menu showed 2 amuse bouche- we were only served 1.

We ordered starters:

The sunflower pesto was delicious and one of the best dishes of the night. It was something I would go back for.

The chef’s garden was very good and quite pretty, but part of it was repeated as a side to a main, which made it less special.

The steak tartare was lacking. The steak wasn’t particularly pink- it had an off putting grayish hue. I don’t know if it was slightly cooked or just oxidized but either way, it didn’t look how a tartare should. The flavors were not impressive. It was beautifully dressed up and plated, but not something any of us would recommend. The chips were super greasy.

For the entrees:

The salmon was well cooked. The salmon roe was unnecessary and detracted from the other flavors. The risotto was delicious and perfectly cooked. That was a highlight of the meal.

The sea bass was better than the salmon. Cooked perfectly. Very flaky and delicious. The couscous was very good as well, but you have to be in the mood for strong herbs.

The short rib was tender, cooked well. It was a bit disappointing to see the vegetable spirals repeated here from the chef’s garden.

Dessert:

The basque cheesecake was mediocre. It was drier than expected. I was sad because I was really looking forward to it. The sauce it was served in was intriguing. It must have been a marshmallow base because it solidified as we ate it- it became super sticky and coated the mouth in a strange way. Not something to eat slowly.

The Madagascar berries were 50/50- the tart was delicious but the honeycomb it was served with had too much sodium bicarbonate and it was all we could taste.

Overall: It was perhaps slightly overpriced, but I recognize we were paying for the experience of the speakeasy and unique (for salt lake) restaurant concept.

Side note 1: The candy land dessert experience feels extremely gimmicky. I’m all for an experiential menu item, but this was one place that felt like a poor imitation of a very special experience at other restaurants. We didn’t order it, but we watched it happen. I think for me, the disconnect was the lack of value added by the showmanship. Pulling a piece of cake from a glass lantern and setting it on the table does nothing. In contrast, restaurants that flambé tableside or torch to brûlée are value added showmanship that physically changes the food rather than just displaying it. It is more than just a presentation. I’d love to see something more unique and creative for the pricepoint, even if it meant a smaller portion of food.

Side note 2: the bathroom is super unfinished. I sincerely hope they take care of it soon. Between the size and the double sinks, it appears they should have stalls at some point. But for now, it gave the impression of a movie set of a bathroom in an asylum. The broken mirror, toilet paper on a trash can, and weird giant, open room were off-putting. Hopefully they’ll get it taken care of by the time they’re in full swing. I’d also suggest dimming the lights; it kills the ambiance of the restaurant and is...

My 3 friends and I ate here on Wednesday night. This is a bit long, so in summary- the appetizers and main dishes are delicious! Portions are small and quite expensive, but the flavor and textures are awesome! Three out of the four desserts we had were really disappointing and the price was shocking. The servers were attentive but also kept trying to take our plates that still had food on them.

First- parking near the restaurant was hard to come by, even on a Wednesday night (this isn't the restaurant's fault at all, just something to be aware of. You may need to plan on walking around the block). The Potato Pavé was delicious! It was a fun little surprise to have that included in the meal without ordering. I would have ordered a whole plate of them! Our other favorite dishes were the Chicken Tinga Blossoms, the Ravioli, and the Iberian Croquettes. I think the blossoms were everyone's absolute favorite, it was such a fun dish and the flavors and textures were great. We had the scallop as well, which was good but didn't stand out as much. We also had the short rib, which was so tender! It fell right off the bone and that was a fair portion. However, we thought the dishes were quite over priced for the quantity. We don't mind spending money for quality food and have enjoyed many other dinners at a similar or higher price point, but we just felt the portions here were a little lacking. The main thing that brought our rating of this restaurant down was the dessert. We were so excited to try the Candy Land presentation, all of the tables around us were ordering it and it looked fantastic. The food we ordered was excellent so we had high expectations of the desserts. Our server was fun to interact with and explained all of the desserts as he was laying out the table. The chocolate cake was very dry, even with the addition of the sauces, it was a massive piece of cake, though! The cheesecake had a very odd tangy/sour flavor that was really unpleasant and had an almost gelatinous texture. The "eclair" (which didn't involve any type of pastry shell with a filling) was also gelatinous, but more so than the cheesecake. It had a greyish outside layer with green spots that was a bit wierd to look at. The only saving grace was the Banana Cake (not sure on the actual name of the dish as I don't see it on the menu). That was delicious and was very moist and flavorful!! One thing we noticed while ordering our appetizers and main dish, was that the server was very diligent about asking us how many of each item we wanted. Most of the orders are one item or maybe two, so she made sure to ask if we needed multiple orders so we could each have our own serving or if we just wanted a bite to taste. This was not the case for the desserts, we were given 2 servings of the Candy Land (other tables with 3 or 4 people only had 1 serving), which totaled 8 desserts. Way too many after eating a full meal, plus we did not like them so we only took maybe 1-2 bites of each, besides the banana cake which we almost finished. I wish the server would have asked how much we wanted. We were also shocked by the price of the desserts. We definitely should have asked before we ordered it, since it was listed at MP. Or been clear that we didn't want two of each item, but the server had already started putting them out before we realized and we assumed it would just be 1 of each since that's what other people had. We paid $150 for a couple bites of dessert. Again, we aren't strangers to fine dining but that seems excessive. We left at about 9:30 but it seemed like the servers were in a hurry to clean up and leave so we just paid and left. It's a fun one-off experience, but we likely...

Absolutely, incandescently happy...overjoyed! With our experience here. This place blew me straight up outta the water, I am still floored with how incredible this place was.

Originally, I walked in ready to give them 3 stars. I was a little peeved bc we made a reservation a week before and they texted me 5 hrs before asking to move our time 1.5 in advance or after our reserved time. With babysitters and kids, after dinner plans, etc. it wasn't possible. I was really bummed since we were meeting friends we haven't seen in a bit. However, they were able to accommodate us the best they could for overbooking. We were comped a portion of the meal and were sat at a table in the coffee shop at Bonnie & Clyde's. It was actually really funny, since we had a full upscale dinner in the middle of the coffee shop. Looked kinda out of place, yet also like a VIP table since we were basically alone. It ended up being BETTER than we would have hoped for with some fun music playing and the screen next to us playing old 1920s tv show bits that surprisingly entertained us and made for fun conversations.

The food: oh my GAWD. We eat out.... A LOT. And I haven't been this pleasantly surprised in years. This was WAY better than every restaurant I've been to in the past two years, at least. The presentation was INCREDIBLE, so witty. The flavors were amazing and portions were great. The pricing was at par with other places, maybe slightly higher but not by much. The waitstaff were wonderful and so knowledgeable! Bailey (I believe) was our waiter and they were INCREDIBLE. We ordered: Appetizers: Scallops and I think the Langostinos Also the Acorn Squash Soup Entrees: We split the King's Crown (Lamb) and the Short Rib. Dessert: not sure of the name, a cake.

Reliving the experience again as I try to think of what we had has my mouth watering again. I'm dead serious, you need to try this place out. Each dish was INCREDIBLE. &&& They come with TWO Amuse-Bouches, which were DIVINEEEEE. One was a potato pavé and the other was the London Popover, a roll-like dish. So, so good.

Wish we would have tried their house-made caviar, too!!

Flavors- On Point. Presentation- everything was incredible. The soup was amazing with the cheese crisp on top, really amazing.

Drinks- ALSO- they boozy, y'all. They are GOOOOD! Worth the upcharge. Three featured cocktails around $24 each, really pricey but worth it. They have a full bar and can make whatever you like, anyway.

Cannot wait to be back! I'll miss the semi-private dining experience that I was at first crabby about 😆😅 but excited for the real deal ambiance, too.

P. S. The bathroom was huge and was giving a little bit of "The Substance"...