I made reservations to dine at Marini's on 57 about a month and a half early. They required me to bank transfer 300 RM per person (total 600 RM) to reserve a window seat which was something I have never had to do before. Between the time of my booking and our actual dinner, they changed the menu without informing me. In fact, one of the main reasons I chose this restaurant over others was for a particular duck dish, which was no longer available. I had trouble choosing from the other dishes.. sea bass and chicken breasts are things I eat at home, I don’t really want to pay 200 RM for them. I put down on the reservation that this was our first wedding anniversary. I also gave them my husbands name and mentioned that this was a surprise gift for him. This was noted on the receipt they emailed back to me. However when we arrived, they did not greet my husband by name nor did any staff member wish us a happy anniversary at any point in the night. Decor wise I was also let down. There really wasn’t anything luxurious about it. Lime green Ikea candles in the bathroom and fake flowers.. parts of it reminded me more of a dark dingy club than of a fine dining establishment. On that note, the attire of the waitstaff had the same effect. I’ve been to several nice restaurants and I’ve never seen waitresses wearing short tight black skirts, red tube tops and black jackets. It didn’t look hot. It just looked cheap. Perhaps the most disappointing part though was our female server. She seemed like she was just going through the motions or totally bored. She said the right things but didn’t seem genuinely interested in our answers. She may have been able to pronounce the menu properly but she had no warmth about her at all. The manager who sometimes came by our table seemed like he had a bit more of a vested interest in our dining experience, but I’ve still had better service elsewhere. So that is about that. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t what I was hoping for. I wouldn’t recommend it to a friend. The view is great, but you can get that for a lot cheaper by just going to the bar. Which is exactly what I would tell my friends to do. A couple of the positive points were that they did get a bit creative with the presentation of the food. I have to say that is the first time I ever had food served to me hanging from a potted plant. Although I didn’t feel like the taste lived up to the presentation. There were a fair amount of extras included in between our courses which were a pleasant surprise, but nothing that really melted in my mouth per say. A lot of the food they served us did not come out hot. I did appreciated the chocolates at the end. Upon leaving they gave us a crescent, but I ate it downstairs because I will still hungry. I guess that is my fault for not getting my own appetizer. I would also like to note that the 5 cheeses on the cheese trolley were quite similar. Nevertheless, they were paired nicely with some jam and bread. We weren’t sure of which order to eat them, and neither was anyone else in the restaurant. Marini's on 57 left me wanting more.
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