Elle L.
Yelp
H2 New Year's Eve buffet dinner.
I was looking forward to this all week, I even studied the menu to make sure I knew what I wanted.
When making the reservations I asked if non alcoholic beverages were included and they said no? Apparently the Sunday brunch at half the price includes grapefruit juice, coffee and tea. I called back to speak to the manager and he said he would call me back on that. He NEVER ever did. A few days before the reservation a girl called to confirmed, I confirmed and inquired about the non alcoholic beverages, she apologized that the manager did not call me back and said she will call me back. She NEVER ever did.
I was so looking forward to the Alaskan crab which is really snow crab, and the Dungeness crab.
Snow crab 1.5/5
Was salty with hardly any meat and for some reason the meat stuck to the shell which was very hard to take out. There was no Dungeness crab to be found ? They gave a really sad excuse and said they do not have it ? False advertisement! If they could not get it they should have substituted it for something else comparable. By not serving Dungeness crab it would have saved them thousands of dollars which did not come off the $95.00 advertised with the Dungeness crab on the menu.
Herb crusted Lamb 2/5
The taste of the lamb was good and it was tender, the problem was that even in the hot box the fat congealed...meaning the fat instead of being juicy and glistening it was hard all the fat in the lamb which if quite a bit was white and hard....difficult to bite into and not appetizing.
Prime rib Roast beef 1/5
Was the saltiest piece of prime "rib" I have ever had in my life. They should be embarrassed to serve it. Very very disappointing.
Mussels 2/5
Nice and plump but were undercooked for my taste.
Clams 1/5
Very tiny and did not taste fresh.
Lobster bisque 1/5
One good thing about this...,it was the only hot item I ate this evening. The taste was not there, I had lobster bisque many times and this does not measure up not even close.
I was shocked at the salad station, it just did not stand up to what a salad station should be, where are the cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, celery???? Instead they had things in cups, bowls of diced red/green peppers, zucchini cubes, squash etc ? I was sad and confused.
Peking duck 0/5
I'm Chinese so when you say "Peking duck" I expect crispy juicy duck.....nope they cut duck in pieces and put it in a hot box steaming? I didn't even try because I was expecting crispy skin.
I literally can go on and on with every single food item they put out, but that would be redundant.......you get the gist.
Oops just one more.....
Pistachio creme brûlée 1/5
It was the only dessert I was looking forward to. There was none there? Told the manger and she said it will be there soon. I went up again...nothing ? Told the hostesses to find the manager and have her come to my table. Came back to my table and there was 3 tiny mini pastry's which turned out to be pastry encrusted Mini creme brûlées. Silly me I was actually looking for ramekins of creme brûlée.
Manager NEVER did come back, even though I asked the hostess to find her.
Oops so Sorry I forgot one more ....
Shrimp/veggie tempera -50/5 yes NEGETIVE !!!
Soggy over battered veggies and shrimp. I was expecting crispy hot fried shrimp, what I got was a cold disgusting soggy mess. Shame on you, SHAME, SHAME, SHAME...,shaking my head as I write this ....Shame
I had a choice to go here or Le Crocodile, H2 had more variety, where as Le Crocidile had a set menu of 3-4 courses. I thought the quality at H2 would be up to par with all the reviews I read on yelp but I was wrong. There was no care put into the food, it just seemed like it was massed produced. If I went to Le Crocodile each dish would have been hand crafted and prepared to perfection as they always do, quality over quaintly. I sorrily regret coming here, I will learn from my mistake.
It definitely was not worth the almost $450 I spent on 4 adults.
Not one person ask how our meal was or I would have told them. On the way out I made sure the hostesses knew how disappointed I was. All she said was sorry over and over again.
River Rock casino Seafood buffet in Richmond is better than this, and that's not saying much, they are better in terms of quality of seafood and prime rib, better value at $45 pp. no tip required......AND...it's a big AND.....they have Dungeness crab ALL the time with no excuses. The salad bar at the river rock puts H2 to SHAME.
SHAME on you H2 !
Just a note...
All 4 of us were dying of thirst when we came home we all had at least 3-4 cups of water each. I do not know what H2 puts in their food to make all of us so extremely thirsty. Good quality food does not require food enhancing additives that cause extreme thirst. Again SHAME!
I literally deleted 1/2 my review, it was too long...I had so much more to say.