I had dinner at Ultra Supper Club on Saturday, January 27, 2007. I was there as part of Winterlicious so judge my comments, as you desire.

Taking into account that I was there as part of Winterlicious my expectations were slightly lower than if I were paying “full” price. Even with my lowered expectations I was disappointed. I’m going to make some comments on the following aspects of the evening, Food, Service, and Décor.
My Menu
Spinach egg drop soup, Kobe beef wonton, enoki mushrooms, Reggiano
Braised lamb shank, saffron risotto, Swiss chard, roast garlic, marjoram
Apple tart tatin, vanilla ice cream.

FOOD

Wine. A nice touch to the Winterlicious menu was two nice wines sold by the glass at a reasonable price.

The starter was average at best. The broth of the egg drop soup was nothing to write home about, the Kobe beef wontons were basically tasteless, nothing like I’ve come to expect from Kobe beef. The mushrooms were OK but very sparse. I give the dish a PAR, but the par putt just snuck in the side door.

When the main course arrived it was presented beautifully. The lamb shank was in what can best be described as an oval shaped bowl. The shank was placed on top of the risotto and Swiss chard, with a nice sauce. I’m generally not a fan of braised meats so I don’t have any eye opening comments, the shank was no better or worse than any other shank that I’ve eaten. The Risotto turned me off; it seemed to need about 10 more minutes of cooking before it was al dente. It was actually crunchy and gluey with out any hint of saffron. If something is called saffron risotto I’d expect to be able to identify some saffron in the dish or at least as a garnish. Double Bogey on the Risotto but I’ll give the main a BOGEY because the sauce was nice and the Swiss chard was also cooked nicely.

The dessert was the highlight of the evening (other than the company). The apple tart was very flavorful and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I bet it would have been better if I were offered coffee to accompany it. The dessert was a BIRDIE.

SERVICE

The service started off like a prizefighter. The front of the house staff were fabulous, we were greeted, as you would expect from a fine dining restaurant. That’s where the service peaked.

When we were seated our server was very aggressive and in no way set us at ease or prepared us for a great meal. I felt like I was inconveniencing our server every time I wanted to order or “not to order”. One member of our party was slightly delayed and our server suggested that we order without them. Lets not even talk about the pressure to drink the water (if we don’t drink the water I guess the mother ship wouldn’t accept us).

There is no doubt in my mind that we were pegged as 6 penny-pinchers out for a cheap meal. The funny thing is all of us enjoy good food and are willing to pay for it. We also enjoy fine wine and cocktails. If our server worked it well we would have easily spent another $100 and of course that means a bigger tip.

When we were finally rushed through our meal and finished, in what I can only assume was plenty of time for the next seating, we were abandoned. Our “in your face” server who was at the table 5 times trying to get us to order was nowhere to be found. We couldn’t get the bill.

I had decided that I wouldn’t be visiting Ultra Supper Club for a second meal about 15 minutes after I had arrived, our server sealed the deal when it was suggested that we had to be out the door in 2 hours and we should order without the sixth member of our party. The food would have had to be spectacular to change my mind.

The Service gets a TRIPLE BOGEY. It would have been an “Other” but friendly, helpful staff greeted us so that saved the service team a stroke.

DÉCOR

The décor was not my style but the place looked good. It appears to me that they are going after the “trendy” crowd and not the “foodie” crowd. Décor gets a PAR.

Overall

To keep with the golf theme the whole experience was 3 over par even though the place got strokes due to it being a Winterlicious special (which is not that good). Ultra Supper Club did not make the cut and won’t be playing for prize money on the weekend.

2 out of 5 Stars.