| Elegant Italian restaurant with strong influences in CA and Mediterranean |
Reviewer: Jason
Total Reviews: 1040
Reviewed: 3/3/2005
Rating: 8
My photo gallery
|
Fontana's Italian restaurant is where the power lunches are held. Terry and I arent used to eating lunches in places this nice. We knew our wallets were going to take a beating today. So why the big lunch? Well to discuss business ideas with a lawyer :)
Besides the fancy decorations upon walking in, the 1st thing I took notice of was the excellent service from the time we walked in to the time we left. Let me take you through the service we encountered
1. Greet you upon walking in
2. Seat us promptly to a clean table
3. Menus delivered with water on its way
4. Waiter greets us and tells us they will be back
5. Water is delivered
6. Waiter swings by to tell us the specials and ask for drinks or appz
7. Takes our order and drops off bread and butter a short time later
8. Water is refilled
9. Food delivered short time later
10. Water is refilled and empty bread plates taken away
11. Manager swings by a bit later to ask how our food was
12. Plates taken away and brought dessert menu
13. Water is refilled
14. Check is brought out and brought back promptly
15. We walk out and hostess says bye to us
All of this done with a smile. I know we cant get this type of service all the time but I would just like to commend Fontana's Italian restaurant for the quality of service jatbar we received.
What about the meal?
Clam Chowder - a little disappointed. Quite bland and had no hint of the ocean to it. It had plenty of clams but It didnt have that sea taste to it.
Risotto Tarantina - Saffron risotto with rock shrimp, scallops, fresh and sun dried tomatoes, and green onion (from the menu description). I dont have much experience with risotto but it tasted good. The sun dried tomatoes was my favorite part of the dish, very tangy. My test buds were probably on vacation but I did not taste any saffron. The only indictation that the meal had saffron was the rich orange color. Who knows...I would probably order this again.
Overall, Fontana's Italian was an enjoyable visit but a little on the expensive side for lunch. For 3 people, it rang in around $70 (with no drinks). If you want to pull a power lunch, wine and dine a client, propose a budget, or just try a jatbar recommendation, Fontana's Italian will be sure to offer it with a smile.
|
| |
Reviewer: Terry
Total Reviews: 739
Reviewed: 3/8/2005
Rating: 8
My photo gallery
|
The Man goes to Fontanas.
You can count on that.
Fontanas provides outstanding service. We had a number of folks at our beck and call and they were very professional and courteous - no attitudes. You're paying big bucks, but they do deliver for the price. The place seemed a bit small, especially compared to lesser places like Macaroni Grill. Though it was much more personal I think.
I started off with Clam Chowder and got the Fettuchini Alfredo main dish. In the meantime, we were munching on the bread.
I found the bread to be quite delicious. Warm and soft. Yeah the kind of stuff you can just munch on nonstop unless you control yourself.
The clam chowder was a letdown. It tasted very bland. There were clams in there, but overall that was it in the flavor department. I would not order this again.
The Fettuchini Alfredo was fabulous. The pasta was limp and soft. It tasted very fresh and not sticky at all. The alfredo sauce was decadent and I had no problems finishing it off quickly.
Fontana's is a restaurant to take visiting friends or family for a nice quiet evening out at a fancy place. The prices are high, the service excellent, and the food VERY good. Its not the normal Jatbar place to review, but we were there, so might as well review it. Its a bit pricey for us. Overall, though, it makes my short list of tasty Italian restaurants - price no object.
|
| |
|
|
Reviewer: ne00
Total Reviews: 187
Reviewed: 2/25/2007
Rating: 8
My photo gallery |
The highlight of the meal was the dessert. Everything else, besides the bread, had the potentials but didnt make the cut. Fontanas desserts are as spectacular as the ones at Elephant Bar or La Fondue and would defiantly be a repeat in its own merits. I recommend skipping the appetizers and main course and come for the desserts.
Today was a friends birthday; I suggested Italian and the group agreed. I opted for something close by as I had dance rehearsals all day up to dinner and needed to do a quick change and drive down for dinner. We decided on Fontanas Italian and reserved for three at Open Table the night before.
I had scoped out the online menu prior to our menu and had decided to order the Capellni Astice (angel hair pasta with lobster, mushrooms, and green onion tossed in a light seafood cream sauce). Ive read on other sites that this was one of the best pasta dishes to order as the seafood cream sauce was heavenly. Another friend has also looked online the night before and quickly decided on the Scampi Saltai (Prawns sautéed in butter, tomato, basil, green onion, garlic, white whine, and cream served with crispy Dungeness crab polenta and sautéed spinach). The birthday boy was looking for a salmon dish, and as luck would have it one of the specials was a salmon dish served with broccoli and potatoes in a lemon sauce.
For starters we ordered the Bruschetta (grilled bread with olive oil, garlic, pesto sauce, tomatoes, and olives on the side). The toppings happen to be different everyday as today just happen to be pesto sauce with tomatoes. We also ordered the Dungeness Crab and Spinach Hot Pot with garlic cheese toast for spreading. After ordering our dinner, our waiter brought us our water and bread. Our bread is different from the photo above. Our bread had a nice rustic crust with a warm soft center, served with an olive oil and garlic paste. Excellent bread, as it went well with the spread and the Hot Pot spread.
Both appetizers arrived at the same time. The Bruschetta (6.95) contained five small slices of toasted bread with chopped tomatoes and pesto sauce on top. This appetizer was a let down as the bread was not crispy and airy as it should be, instead the bread was crispy but soggy in some parts due to the overwhelming amount of tomatoes. It tasted like half baked garlic bread, the kind where its not super crisp and still some what soft. Well I think they soaked the center with too much olive oil. The tomatoes tasted like tomatoes and pesto sauce was overwhelming. (6.5/10)
The Hot Pot spread was the best. Bits of crab meat mixed in with a spinach dip. The cheese bread was sliced small pizza shaped bread, went well with the hot pot spread but any bread would have tasted good with this spread. Repeat order. (9/10)
A few minutes later our main course arrives all at the same time. The Scampi Saltai (20.95) looked impressive as the crispy crab polenta was a crispy solid square placed on top of sautéed spinach with the cream sauce at the bottom and 4 prawns placed around four sides of the square. My friend was impressed but he thought the dish was just average. The salmon (26.95) was served to the birthday boy. A healthy looking dish with grilled salmon placed on top of three large pieces of broccoli and 2 halved baby potatoes. Fresh pepper was grounded on top of the salmon. My friend complained about the salmon being a bit salty. The salmon was grilled to a medium on the inside and medium well on the outside. I myself would prefer medium rare center and medium outside. The serving size seemed like a small size filet, for the price a bit too much for something so little. My dish, Cappellini Astice (19.95), was indeed creamy but bland. My dish definitely needed some salt. The portion was enough for someone with a big appetite, but someone forgot to add some flavoring. Everything tasted creamy, although the highlight was the lobster meat being tender. This dish had a lot of potential if the flavor was there. (7.5/10) To be honest, my dish was the cheapest and looked the best and had the biggest portion.
Through out our meal, our water and drinks were refilled promptly. Our waiter came to check on us every 15 to 20 minutes asking us how our meal was and if we needed anything. The service here was excellent. (10/10) When we were ready to order dessert we told our waiter about our friends birthday and a free ice cream sundae was offered with a candle on top. The free birthday dessert consisted of a scoop of their home made vanilla bean gelato with chocolate sauce and a candle on top.
For dessert I ordered the Warm Apple Strudel (8.95) served with vanilla bean gelato and caramel sauce. My friend went with the Piatto Sorbetto (6.95), 3 types of fruit sorbet served with two almond biscotti in raspberry sauce. The birthday boy went with the Profiteroles al Cioccolato (8.25) consisting of five small cream puffs filled with vanilla custard, topped with warm chocolate and caramel sauce.
The desserts quickly arrived, about 5 minutes after we ordered. The desserts here are huge, easily shared among two to three people within a large group. Eating the entire dessert by each person was a bit overwhelming. The warm apple strudel consisted of a warm pastry filled with cinnamon apples, with a huge scoop of vanilla ice cream on top, two dollops of whip cream with strawberries and caramel sauce. (8/10)
The Piatto Sorbetto consisted of three large scoops of home made fruit sorbet. The scoops included mango, strawberry, and raspberry. Mango was overwhelmingly the best. The sorbets were very sweet as it tasted like fresh bruit puree with sugar. This dessert is good value for the price. (8.5/10)
Profiteroles al Cioccaolato is essentially miniature cream puffs. The pastry shell tasted a bit stale, but the birthday boy seemed to like it. I tried it out and it was the least favorite of the desserts I sampled. (7/10)
The final bill was $140 after tip (120 +20). We received our check in record time, about 2 minutes right after we put out the credit card. These people are fast. Definitely expensive for three people, but lets break down the ratings:
Appetizer: 7.75/10
Dinner: 7/10
Dessert: 8/10
Service: 10/10
Price: 7.5/10
Final: 8/10
Pluses: Free soda refills, excellent service, great desserts.
Minuses: Pricey, none of the basic Italian entrees on the menu, and need work on flavor and taste or some dishes.
|
| |
|
|
| Disclaimer |
|
|
