Steam Restaurant and Bar — Restaurant in Wilmington

Highly disappointing. Restaurants like this have everything to make a good experience - location, view, ambiance - and I really want to like these places, especially in Wilmington, since there aren't a ton of restaurants on the water. It started out fine - we were seated on time at a nice table. It took ~10 minutes to see a waiter and order drinks but after that it took another 20 minutes for him to come back and say the beer we ordered was out. After receiving the drinks the beer tasted funny but we thought maybe it's just us. The cocktail was served in a regular low glass, no garnishes, etc. It was sparkling wine so a little weird it wasn't in a champagne glass, looked like a glass of lemonade. After waiting so long we immediately ordered more drinks, just two different beers this time. Both tasted sour too! We told the waiter all the beers were sour, maybe a crossed line, and he took them away. To be fair he asked what else we would like but at that point the appetizer arrived and we were a bit over it having already been there over an hour. The appetizer was a calm bake and it was all bake, no clam. The flavor was good but we only found a few morsels of whole clam scattered in all the breading. Dinner was the Moqueca and Steakhouse Strip. The Moqueca was lovely but a very small dish. You can get a similar dish, the Waterzooi, at Caprice down the road that is much larger and filling for less $. The steak was good but just average, no seasoning to make it stand out above a typical steak on a grill. The waiter asked about dessert but we weren't feeling it - it was my birthday and there was no mention of that even though it was put in the reservation. So no dessert, just check please......but that took another 30 minutes to get. To the point that another party was walking around looking for the waiter and asked if we were waiting too. Obviously a larger problem than just us! When we got the bill it had the 2 beers on it that we returned, which to us was just another jab at a long disappointing evening. We did have those removed from the bill (a nice restaurant would have known to remove all 3 beers since we said they all tasted funny but.....) and so after 2.5 hours were able to finally leave, never to return. PS - the table next to us wasn't cleared the whole time we were there.

Steam is in the same building, Embassy, as the Cloud 9 bar which we visited and thought was fabulous. So go to Cloud 9 for drinks and a view and then avoid being fooled by the convenience of Steam right downstairs....head down the...

An Ambitious Menu Let Down by Execution and Service

Our recent visit to this restaurant was, unfortunately, a disappointment from start to finish—despite high hopes.

To begin on a positive note, our waiter was friendly and reasonably knowledgeable. He did inform us ahead of time that the usual accompaniments to the “Butcher’s Cut” NY strip were unavailable, and that only broccoli could be offered instead. While we appreciated the transparency, it was still a significant letdown compared to what the menu promised: smoked tomato butter, jalapeño potato gratin, garlic green beans, and frizzled leeks. At $46, the entrée felt stripped of the substance and care one would expect at that price point.

Worse still, the steak itself was overcooked well past the requested temperature. We chose not to raise the issue at the time, but our waiter acknowledged it unprompted and apologized—yet made no offer to address it. That same inattention carried through to other dishes. The charred octopus, billed as the catch of the day, was overdone and rubbery. The short rib chili, one of the more intriguing items on the menu, arrived with so little meat or beans and such a cloying sweetness that it was more reminiscent of a bowl of barbecue sauce than a hearty dish. We sent it back—something I almost never do—yet it remained on our bill.

The front-of-house staff, while affable, occasionally missed the mark on professionalism. The manager on duty (Chris?) addressed members of our party—including myself—as “bro-bro.” While no offense was likely intended, it felt oddly casual and out of place for a restaurant presenting itself as a refined dining establishment.

We had been looking forward to the experience. A friend’s recommendation, an ambitious menu, and a polished atmosphere had all raised our expectations. But the meal itself was poorly executed, and the service—though pleasant—fell short of the standard required to overcome those kitchen missteps. In the end, the only thing our group truly enjoyed was the garlic aioli served with the fry appetizer.

This could be a great restaurant. Unfortunately, on this occasion, it simply wasn’t.

I don't want any money or comped items. I just want this to be seen by the restaurant so that they can offer a better experience for future guests. And for those curious, we arrived around 70 minutes before closing on a...

Borderline 3-4. Food is a three, location and staff make it a four, because the food didn’t hurt/burn/offend me when I bit into it; it was mostly uneventful, but hearty. The menu looks outstanding, food execution was nothing to write home about, seasoning could use a push in the more flavorful direction, for the salmon, consider strengthening the dill, or substituting tarragon as it probably could provide a stronger flavor and bring the dish together and be more reminiscent of the summer season, bringing the seasons inside while still being air-conditioned. Please remember to use salt. The soup was more corn starch composite consistency than either a soup or a chowder. 😬 The lemon blueberry pastry dessert didn’t quite come together, the lemon curd was good, I didn’t understand the blueberry, the pastry was too hard. Consider decreasing the blueberry, and adding some sort of mint infusion to balance it out, which can also keep it summery. Or, forget the blueberry pastry and mint all together, and make that lemon curd into a lemon mousse. The views are amazing, the staff was exceptional, the venue is lovely and completely comfortable. Restaurant is on the second floor at Embassy Suites on the river. I was all excited thinking it was gonna be my new favorite lunch place… Not so. I had a crab and corn “chowder”/soup and the salmon over polenta w veg, the fish was pretty fresh, forgot to ask for the temperature on my fish so it came out well done, ouch; staff didn’t ask but we did have a lot of people and there’s no knocking the wait staff there, truly wonderful, person across from me got well done, I forgot to speak up and ask. I’m sure they would’ve corrected for me but whatever. It was a hearty meal, conversation, location, staff, speed of service, quality of service, comfort and decor all well done. See, well done isn’t always a bad thing, hardly ever is, and I wouldn’t describe anything in my...