adriennek
02-11-2006, 07:50 AM
My husband and I enjoy dining at the Napa Rose very much but we usually only get there about once a year due to finances and things like having three little kids. We'd been a couple times already in 2005 and last night, when my sister volunteered to watch our kids for the evening, we decided to try the "stop in the lounge and have a lighter meal" option.
We arrived at about 6:30 and the lounge was pretty empty except for maybe 2 to 3 other couples. In the back corner, three gentlemen were broadcasting "What's Cooking on Wine" for Cable Radio Networks (http://www.cableradionetwork.com/?date=2/3/2006&eid=157542&pid=0).
We sat down and decided on two starters, a salad and the mushroom soup - two dishes for each of us. Our server suggested a fantastic cab for Doc that wasn't even on the menu yet.
We had our salad and soup first, the starters as entrees. The food was, of course, divine. The wine was really great. The wine I drank went PERFECTLY with my dishes, thanks entirely to our server. He suggested wine I never usually would order but the wine went perfectly with my meal.
I had the pheasant and dumplings and the endive salad without walnuts. Doc had the mushroom bisque and the goose in cornmeal crepes. The sauce was sooooo good.
I heard our server tell another couple that the lounge was more 'casual' than the dining room. Yes, it is, but even better, the lounge is more intimate. In the dining room you have at least three people serving each table. In the lounge, except for our food runners, the same person took our order, refreshed our drinks and cleared our plates, so we really had more time to talk to him. Also, because he didn't have nearly as many tables to tend to (what tables he had often just ordered drinks and then left to their tables,) he had a lot more time to stop by.
Now, we never felt smothered by our server. He had a really good balance of taking care of us without making us feel like he was hovering over us. But he made the meal great.
The tab was still a bit higher than if we had stayed closer to home or if we had gone to a chain restaurant, but the experience and the food were worth every penny. Afterwards we hit DCA and Disneyland for a few rides without feeling rushed to get back to our kids and letting my sister off the hook.
Have I mentioned lately how much we enjoy Napa Rose?
Adrienne
We arrived at about 6:30 and the lounge was pretty empty except for maybe 2 to 3 other couples. In the back corner, three gentlemen were broadcasting "What's Cooking on Wine" for Cable Radio Networks (http://www.cableradionetwork.com/?date=2/3/2006&eid=157542&pid=0).
We sat down and decided on two starters, a salad and the mushroom soup - two dishes for each of us. Our server suggested a fantastic cab for Doc that wasn't even on the menu yet.
We had our salad and soup first, the starters as entrees. The food was, of course, divine. The wine was really great. The wine I drank went PERFECTLY with my dishes, thanks entirely to our server. He suggested wine I never usually would order but the wine went perfectly with my meal.
I had the pheasant and dumplings and the endive salad without walnuts. Doc had the mushroom bisque and the goose in cornmeal crepes. The sauce was sooooo good.
I heard our server tell another couple that the lounge was more 'casual' than the dining room. Yes, it is, but even better, the lounge is more intimate. In the dining room you have at least three people serving each table. In the lounge, except for our food runners, the same person took our order, refreshed our drinks and cleared our plates, so we really had more time to talk to him. Also, because he didn't have nearly as many tables to tend to (what tables he had often just ordered drinks and then left to their tables,) he had a lot more time to stop by.
Now, we never felt smothered by our server. He had a really good balance of taking care of us without making us feel like he was hovering over us. But he made the meal great.
The tab was still a bit higher than if we had stayed closer to home or if we had gone to a chain restaurant, but the experience and the food were worth every penny. Afterwards we hit DCA and Disneyland for a few rides without feeling rushed to get back to our kids and letting my sister off the hook.
Have I mentioned lately how much we enjoy Napa Rose?
Adrienne