The Vault on First — Restaurant in Wyandotte

We made reservations for 3 at 4:30 on a Saturday and were seated promptly. I was tempted to order the Tomahawk Ribeye ($115), but for a first visit, I thought that might be a bit of a gamble. I really shouldn't have worried as all of our food was very, very good.

We started with the calamari appetizer which was served "naked" and sauteed in a lemon butter sauce with vegetables instead of breaded and greasy. It was delicious, and the leftover sauce was worth dipping the bread into.

Following the appetizer, the entrees were prefaced by both Caesar and Poached Pear salads. The Poached Pear Salad was really something special. The blend of flavors was well past what I expected in a dinner salad, and the poached pear, bleu cheese, candied pecans and balsamic dressing worked very nicely together. I could easily do the large version of that salad for lunch and not feel like I was missing anything.

For entrees, we ordered the Tomahawk Pork Chop, the Dillinger Burger and the Broiled Shrimp Pasta. I ordered the Tomahawk medium, and it came to the table just about as juicy and perfect as pork can be cooked. My knife slid right through, and the flavor was incredible. Easily the best pork chop I've ever had. The Dillinger Burger is mixed with chorizo, and it was unique and tasty. My wife added some zip sauce, and that kicked it up a notch. My daughter had the Broiled Shrimp Pasta, and that was very good as well. The noodles were al dente, and the shrimp was fresh and flavorful.

For dessert, we had the Boston Cream Cake, White Chocolate Lemon Cake and Bumpy Cake. We actually planned to order 3 different desserts just so we could taste a bit of each. That was a good move. They were all great. Special mention to the Boston Cream Cake due to the combination of moistness and traditional Boston Cream flavor.

Service provided by Mindy was top notch throughout the dinner, and she kept a good eye on our table. Her supporting team members cleared the plates expeditiously, filled waters and checked on us frequently. All you had to do was make eye contact, and there was somebody at the table attending to whatever requests or questions we had.

Great service, great food and a very positive experience overall....

I was really excited for The Vault to open, but I'm not sure the hype was worth it.

I do have to say our server was fantastic and checked on us frequently. We had six pm dinner reservations on a Tuesday and I was very surprised to see how empty the place was - it was filled up by the time we left though.

For an app we got the lobster with mango salsa. The lobster was tough but seasoned well. The mango salsa was good. It just didn't feel like there was anything tying them together, it seemed very much like two small separate dishes on the same place.

We both had Caesar salads. I love anchovies so I was excited to see the decorative flourish with anchovies, however I'm not sure if there wasn't enough dressing on either of our salads or if the dressing wasn't good. We couldn't decide. The croutons were very weird - they were soft and sweet. Later I noticed on the menu that they were cornbread crutons. It just felt like another disjointed choice.

I had the petit filet, roasted garlic smashed potato, and roasted caulilini. My steak was great - perfectly cooked, tender, and seasoned well. The potatoes were lukewarm to cold without a ton of flavor and the caulilini was also lukewarm and not seasoned at all. I did enjoy that the caulilini was served tender crisp.

My dinner partner had the cowboy filet - it was fatty and tough. The grilled asparagus was tender crisp as well which we really liked. The roasted garlic and cheese polenta fries were cold and so dry and flavorless. It was truly unfortunate because we both love polenta so we actually almost both ordered it.

Desserts are from Sweet Arrangements. We had the vegan cheesecake with vegan cream cheese - couldn't even tell it was vegan, it was phenomenal. We also had the strawberry cheesecake which was just fine.

It is beautiful inside. Perhaps this will be a good place for wine and apps, though not the lobster. I'm not sure that for the price and quality of food it is worth it for a full meal, though maybe I'll eventually give them...

The Vault on First was impressive in both the food, plating, drinks, setting and service. Each drink was unique and tasty. There was a drink for everyone on the menu, even virgin cocktails. One of the main reasons we came was because they are allergy friendly and I personally avoid gluten due to my autoimmune disease. Almost everything on the menu is GF or they can make GF!

We had the saganaki and the oysters on the half shell for apps. Very fresh oysters and the saganaki was crispy and gooey. Sooo good. Then we received the bread baskets (him- regular, me- gluten free). I have never had GF bread taste so good! I had to double check it was the right basket. The butter it comes with is a touch sweet and creamy. For dinner we ordered chicken and risotto and walleye Denny. Everything cooked and seasoned to perfection. I enjoyed the poached pear salad while my husband had the Ceasar. Everything was fresh and delicious.

Our server was a sweetheart and when she was busy we were still tended to by multiple other workers which I found impressive. It helped keep the experience well-rounded and enjoyable.

That being said, there were two issues we had- The noise level being a bit too much for us considering it was passed 7pm and we wanted to enjoy a (rare for us) quiet dinner, we were informed by our server that there was a scavenger hunt going on. Very strange activity to host for this type of restaurant. People paying $200 a meal don't want to hear screaming and jeering. We were seated at a booth which felt awkward to eat at. I could sit back in the booth and stretch my arm fully out before I was able to touch the table. So we had to hunch over to eat our meal without back support. For these small inconveniences, I deducted one star.

Otherwise, we will be back but we will make sure to ask what nights they host noisy events and for a table with chairs when we make the...