Madera
Reviews

I highly advise not to go, Madera does not deserve a Michelin Star. The service and food was really bad. Our waiter acted like we wern't there, it took half an hour to get our orders in and a whole hour to get our main meals after that, and He (the waiter) didn't explain the menue at all. We were also left with our salid plates for over 15 minutes before someone came and cleared our table. After we had been sitting there for over an hour and a half the food came and I highly disliked it and found the food and after we had "finished eating" we asked for the dessert menu from the waiter and we found a dish that we liked only to find that it took twenty minutes to prepare.

We celebrated the father's day in this restaurant. Food was ok, service was mediocre, prices were very high. I dont think they realize that they dont have that quality food to offer but charge for it. I couldn't believe that I had to pay 7 $$$/cup for tea and 6 $$$ for coffee. Above all, they automatically charged us 20% for a service that we did not get. We waited around 5 minutes to get someone's attention to bring us vinegar, it didnt happen, and finally got up and went to the waiter for assistance. Not a very good experience and I will definitely re-think/not go, if someone suggests to go to this restaurant in the future.

Unlike many of the other fancy dinners I've recently enjoyed, this one doesn't use a prix fixe menu. I remember seeing a choice of ~10 appetizers and ~10 entrees. None of them looked particularly exotic. It was all food easily-found at most classy American restaurants. The average diner was around 40-60 yo, so the crowd was a bit older than I expected. There were enough people without jackets or dress shirts that it's pretty safe to say that the dress code is more relaxed here. The younger and livelier crowd was at the bar next door, and they were all dressed in stunning outfits. The four appetizers we shared (Poached Wild Mexican Prawns, Grilled Octopus, Potato Gnocchi + Poached Egg, Hawaiian Heart of Palm) were all surprisingly good. They were both delicious and visually-appealing. I usually dislike gnocchi because they're plain, but these ones were easily the best I've eaten. Unfortunately, the entrees we ordered were all disappointing. We ordered the lamb saddle, seared sole, pan-roasted red snapper, and sturgeon. They were all too well-done. It's like the chefs that night didn't know how to prepare medium-rare meat. In particular, the sturgeon was very tough and thick. I was hoping to recreate the experience I had at One Market Restaurant in SF where the sturgeon tasted like an amazing giant scallop. In contrast, the one at Madera had the texture of rubber and the taste like fried calamari. Lastly, the crispy Brussels sprouts sides we ordered were burnt crisp. If you want good Brussels sprouts, you need to try the heavenly ones at Lexington House in Los Gatos. I have mixed feelings about this restaurant. I really like the venue and the appetizers, but the entrees ruined the experience.

Terrible service (around 20 minutes to take our order, another 20-25 minutes to get our salads and around 1hr 30 min for our main dishes!). The steaks were burned, more like seasoned rubber. The second time were ok, but not Michelin star quality. The manager didn't even bother to come to apologize for the horrible experience. Will never go back to that place.

Madera is a beautiful place to have a memorable meal. I was there for their Christmas dinner. Even though the flavor was nice, the portion was gigantic, and hence cannot be described as delicate or pretty. And for desserts, since I insisted on trying different ones, we had a peppermint chocolate pots de creme, which was served in a whiskey glass. You could imagine the terror when I saw that thing. And of course, we left it on the table after the second spoonful.