The belly rules the mind: My date with Mister A's

Happy 50th Anniversary (months)!

This date exemplifies why I dislike and love surprises. The picture qualities aren't the best. If I had known we were coming here, I would have brought my DSL.

This is probably the first time we have ever celebrated an important anniversary (we usually do not celebrate monthly anniversaries, but 50th anniversary just sounds so grand and important) on the actual day. So my boyfriend tells me to wear a casual dress because we were just going to a CASUAL restaurant.

I thought we were going to a nice casual dinner like Olive Garden or BJs or Cheesecake Factory, etc. So I had on a Forever21 floral dress with a pleather brown jacket, dark smokey eye makeup, and puffy hair-sprayed hair. Dang wore Dickies black jeans, Ecko button up shirt, and some suede kicks. I also thought we were going to PB Bar and Grill afterwards.

Bertrand At Mister A's (4 of 5 stars)

Right in front of Downtown city lights

Butter and Bread

Just bread and butter to start our night. No wine with our meal because we have a long day the next day.

Seared rare sashimi grade ahi tuna

Fresh and ruby red ahi tuna. Deliciously smoked and peppered. It was mouth watering, but I'm not sure if five pieces is worth $17

Prime brandt farm heart of the rib eye

I was expecting a large piece of steak. But I enjoyed the many little pieces that came with this plate. The sauce around the steak was tasty. Everything on this plate seems to work perfectly together.

Grilled wild copper river salmon

The most tender salmon ever. I especially enjoyed the crispy skin layered on top. However, Dang said that the salmon wasn't very flavorful at all. I agree that the salmon wasn't flavorful, but the tenderness just melts in your mouth. I wasn't particularly fond of the little bites around it. Overall it was a great piece of salmon, but definitely not worth the price.

Tahitian vanilla bean creme brulee with almond cookie

Wow, what a delicious dessert. The vanilla bean made the custard so creamy and delicious. The torched caramel on top tasted a little too burnt, but was good. The strawberry was too sour for me, but the rest of the fruit worked well. The almond cookie, tasted like a regular cookie. At $12, it was a pretty large portion.

a very Happy Anniversary to us!

I thought this was a very nice final touch. This complimentary dish came with a cream puff, a little cake, a ginger cookie, and one piece of strawberry. The cream puff was mouth watering-delicious. Unfortunately, I didn't really care for the rest of the desserts. Good thing Dang has a sweet tooth and finished everything.

Company: the one and only Dang

Time: Thursday, August 18, 8:00pm

Location: The 12th floor of a random financial building. Dang and I parked the car and we started walking down the streets. I had no idea where we were going until we entered the elevator.

Type of food: American

Ambiance: Elegant, classy, romantic, breathtaking.
Right when the elevator doors opened, we noticed that everyone was dressed very nicely. The waiters were all wearing clean and pressed suits. Dang said "the waiters are the best dressed here." The tables were covered with beautiful white linens. The lighting was dim and sparkling. We definitely felt under dressed. Luckily, a man came in wearing flip flops, khaki shorts, and a wrinkly dress shirt. That made us feel better.

Service:

Our reservation was at 8:15pm. However, we arrived early at 8:00pm. Our table wasn't ready yet so they told us that we could go in the patio and enjoy the city view. We were not seated until almost 8:30pm. Dang had said he would prefer a table near the window and I was pleased that they accommodated to that. I guess that is why our table took a little longer. But I am so impressed that they would accommodate to our request.

Our waiter was Javier. He was very courteous and gentlemanly. He offered his suggestion and always checked up on us. However, I wish we had the waiter who served the tables around us. He seemed to have a fun personality. When the food was served at the other tables, that waiter would go around explaining each item on their plates. I wish our waiter was a little more personable. The bussers and servers were extra polite as well. I found it humorous when a young man of about our age asked "how is your meal thus far". How eloquent. Our glass of water was never empty and our forks were changed two times. After our main course, Javier brought out a mini vacuum/sweeper to clean the crumbs on our table before placing our creme brulee on the table.
Javier also offered to take pictures of us outside with the city view after dinner.
Overall, it is obvious that they place service as their top priority. I also loved how everyone said "Happy Anniversary" to us. We felt special.

Taste:

There is a lot of attention to detail and everything was paired with thought. Details are under the pictures.
As we were walking out, I noticed that some tables ordered the home made ice cream for dessert. I definitely wish I ordered the ice cream because it comes with macaroons (maybe next time).

Price:

Compared to other upscale restaurants, this is definitely more affordable.

Overall:

This was a very enjoyable evening. The service was impeccable because of the great attention to detail.
I would love to come here for Happy Hour because the menu looks very affordable and you can watch the sunset.
My final thought is, why are there no women as waitresses, servers, bussers? I guess prettier faces belong at the front to greet the guests. I hope they are not sexist.