(Almost) Cheap Date

Graham and I are suckers for good deals. I honestly can't remember a time when we went to a restaurant and paid full price for 2 entrees. Our eating out technique is usually a) to get a salad and entree to share, b) to use a coupon from our entertainment book or restaurant.com or c) to go to happy hour and share a few things. We always try to keep the bill under $20-$30 total. Well, our entertainment book expired this week so we resorted to restaurant.com for this weeks' date idea. We'd both been eyeing Rovers near Madison Park over the past year and were thrilled to discover a coupon on restaurant.com. Graham had a discount even so we paid $4 for a $25 gift certificate. We looked at the menu online and were amazed at the prices of the entrees--I mean, Hudson Valley Foie Gras with Red Cameo Apple and Apple Cider Gastrique for only $19? This could be quite the steal! The place is always top rated (I believe 4 stars) and so we were thinking we could get out of there within budget if we used are coupon and both ordered one entree (basically making it buy one get one free). Maybe we could even spend a little extra and share a glass of wine to go with our meal? It seemed a little too good to be true...and it was.

We arrive and immediately realize the place is incredibly fancy (thankfully I'd convinced Graham to change out of his jeans before we left). The following conversation was quite comical:

Host: Good evening! Can I get your name please?
Graham: Well, actually, we don't have a reservation.
Host: That's fine! And what is your last name?
Graham: Crozier (types it in the computer)
Host: And your first name?
Graham: Graham (typing away)
Then the host proceeds to get our phone number and then asks "And will you be dining with us this evening?"
Us (thinking): HUH?? No, actually, we just wanted to swing by and drop off all our information and be on our merry way. Haha, of course we'll be dining with you!

Anyway, we were seated and noticed the THREE goblets at each place setting...yep, gonna be fancy. Then came the real shocker. We were handed our menus and as we began scanning them, we realized that we should have read the website more closely. The restaurant is famous for tasting menus where you pay once price and get 6-10 individual COURSES. Unfortunately, the prices we'd seen for what we thought were entrees were actually for only one tiny course!! The waiter informed us that we were welcome to dine a la carte and that he usually recommended 3-4 course per person (do the mental math, that's already about $60-80 each). Ha! In looking at the wine list, they didn't even serve any wine by the glass and the cheapest bottle was $40 (ranging all the way up to $800+). The table next to us was a party of 5. I couldn't help but overhear them selecting the largest tasting menu ($130 pp) along with wine pairings (an additional $75 pp). Their bill was going to be upwards of $1000!

We chose to split 4 items (yes we went a bit over budget--that just means a free date next week) and the food was absolutely incredible! We had foie gras, pork belly, pureed sunchoke, potato leek soup (a few of which I'd never tasted before so it was a great experience). Thankfully, they brought bread and we ate about a loaf and a half so actually left feeling quite satisfied despite the small portions. :o)

Don't get me wrong, the restaurant was phenominal and I would love, love, LOVE to go back there and completely blow the wad for some special occasion. Graham and I have done a multi course meal which included wine pairings with each course and it was indeed probably the best dining experience of my life. Rovers I'm sure would offer a similar experience. It was just that we were expecting such a steal of a deal and a cheap date that night....