Saturday, July 14, 2007

Great Ambiance, Lame Service - Bluehour

I had been to Bluehour before in 2003 and absolutely loved everything about it, the food, the decor, the service. Sadly, my last visit had a very different experience. The service was subpar. Our waiter could have cared less that we were there (no bread for us, yet all the other tables got some), we ordered the cheese tray and he just put it on the table and didn't tell us what he brought out. When we asked he seemed annoyed and said "I can't really explain what I want to say" and just walked off. We stared at the cheese and each other, laughed a bit, were confused as to if he was serious. He walked by the table a couple more times, and stopped in and started telling us how hard his job was, memorizing new menus everyday, and wines, and cheeses, and he'd been there since 10 am. So here was the cheese list, we could take it shopping with us if we liked the ones he put on the tray. (Um ok, but really this is your job, I don't call my clients and bitch about how much work I have to do everyday and tell them I can't be bothered with thier work). He just had a bad attitude, and I don't go out to what is supposedly still one of Portland's best restaurants to deal with a snarky disgruntled waiter.The only thing that is meriting more than one star is the food, it is still excellent (altho my lamb was more fat than meat - it's a good thing I like lamb fat) the tuna tartare and avocado mixture was very tasty, nice touch with the tangerines, the burger my friend got was enormous, and the cheeses were quite good. We didn't try dessert, since he didn't ask us if we wanted any, and brought the check after clearing our dishes.

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