Missouri, Top of the River Restaurant, Millennium Hotel.My beloved husband and I went to celebrate our FIRST wedding anniversary tonight. He picked a restaurant that had a carousel top revolving 28 floors above the St. Louis streets: The Millennium Hotel's Top of the Riverfront. The Arch and the river made for a beautiful view as the sun slowly sank in the west and the lights of the big city came on as we watched. Our waitress Brenda was a darling, and the evening began with the promise of wine, romance and a sumptuous meal. But, sadly, like the song says, two out of three ain't bad. John did his very best and the romantic atmosphere was delightful--the view, starched white table linens and crystal clear goblets filled with a crisp German Riesling made for a wonderful beginning. Then the baby at the next table began to scream--and the evening that had started with such promise unraveled into an unparalleled dining disaster. We made our displeasure at having to listed to the screaming brat known to dear Brenda who did everything but toss the miserable spawn of Satan out the window to make the noise stop. My first instinct was to finish the wine and soup, pay the bill and leave but John said the periodic 110 decibel shrieks were tolerable so we stayed. I do not know why restaurants of this supposed calibre allow children under the age of 12 when the world is full of Denny's and McDonald's where even though screaming brats are still annoying, they are "family oriented". At $36 for a 9 oz filet, I don't want to hear anything but the lovely sound of the talented piano player. We asked if we could move but that apparently wasn't an option, but I digress. We started our dinner with the Apple Jack Onion soup which was topped with a thick and satisfying layer of melted cheese and two pieces of crispy garlic crostini. For some unknown reason, pieces of RAW purple onion were placed in the soup under the cheese, but after I picked them out, the soup had nice flavor even if they did add pepper by the boxful, but we like spicy food so it was an interesting twist on a classic recipe. The crisp Riesling was a nice counterpoint to the soup and the screams from the next table were intermittent and barely made me jump more than 2 or 3 inches. Brenda went to the table several times to try to quiet the demon seed, and to her credit (and tip) had some success in silencing the lamb and blowing them out of the restaurant in the way a good waitperson can do when s/he wants the table turned and fast! God bless Brenda. John ordered his steak medium and I opted for my standby of Pittsburgh rare (black and blue by any other name is still burnt and cold) and as I have come to expect in 99% of the steakhouses in the world, they didn't know how to do it. They did manage to make John's filet Mignon so raw that he barely nibbled around the edges (and to avoid the large chunk of gristle in the middle of his steak--the first time I've ever seen gristle in a filet Mignon) so that it wouldn't bite him back since it was still alive and brought mine out barely pink and minus the burnt crust that I so love--and am willing to forgo overcooked centers for that burnt flavor I crave. The first bite of my $30 steak was filled with gristle, the second bite flavorless and the third bite had another huge chunk of gristle and I didn't bother with a fourth. I didn't know that Dollar Tree had a meat section, but doubtless that's where the restaurant buys their steaks. The "Bearnaise" sauce was from a mix and tasted of flour and tarragon with none of the buttery tartness of a Bearnaise made with tarragon, wine vinegar and egg yolks with butter lovingly beat in to form the emulsion that makes Bearnaise sauce what angels dine on, the "Yukon gold" potatoes were ordinary white potatoes with no cheese flavor and I didn't bother to taste the lone baby carrot because I didn't care by then, so it might have been the world's best carrot ever--but I somehow doubt it. The 3 small asparagus spears were quite good though, they were the highlight of the meal. Brenda was mortified by the huge chunks of gristle and the errors in cooking and we ended up paying for the soup and the wine (and of course tipped her on the entire amount of what the bill was before they removed the steaks from the check) and then we left, John very disappointed in the food and me very disappointed that the wonderful evening that John planned for our first wedding anniversary went south since he had tried so hard to make it a special evening. He gets an A+ for effort because he really went to a lot of trouble, and I was astonished that the restaurant didn't require jacket and tie. I guess when your food is that bad, you let anyone in--squalling babies and jeans and flip flops are welcome. The view was breathtaking as the sun went down and the lights of the city came up, but the food ruins the whole experience. I expected so much more from this gorgeous venue, it was a total disappointment. I might go there to have some wine and watch the sunset but I'd never eat there again.
Service 3 stars
Food 1/2 star
Service 3 stars
Food 1/2 star
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