Epic Casual Dining is located in a strip mall parking lot, with lavender lit signage that was difficult to see from the road. To me, an odd choice for both location and first impression. However, upon walking in, I was pleasantly surprised by the warmth of amber walls, dark walnut wood, and modern art with comfortable, contemporary furnishings.
We arrived a bit early for our 7:30 reservation. The host greeted us immediately and gave us a time frame as to when our table would be ready. If one has to wait for a table, there is a corridor in the center of the room with a sofa and two armchairs. This is also the space where guests may hang their coats. It was crowded and uncomfortable. Fortunately, our wait was not long.
We were seated and handed our menus which consisted of a laminated computer print out on blue paper. So far, nothing seemed to fit together....lavender logo on the building, warm colors inside and now cheap looking blue menus?
Our server, Wynter greeted us within a few minutes, recited the specials of the evening and took our drink order. There were several things on the menu that looked appealing. Tony ordered 'Pop's Caesar' and I ordered 'Mr Morton's' salad as our first course. Both salads were presented beautifully and delicious. However, our server served the gentleman at our table before the lady - to me an inexcusable lack of proper service.
'Pop's' is a classic caesar salad with hearts of romaine and a homemade dressing prepared with plenty of fresh garlic (something I think most restaurants lack in their caesar dressing) and wonderful anchovy.
'Mr Morton's' is comprised of fresh baby greens, roasted walnuts, red grapes, blue cheese and a garlicy balsamic vinaigrette. It was perfectly balanced and for me, the best part of my dining experience. The salad portions were quite large, at first I thought they might be too much, however, they were so tasty I ate the entire salad.
For our main course, we tried Ahi Tuna and Risotto. Again, the gentleman was served before the lady. Also, we were served by reaching across the table, even though were were seated in a freestanding table. What happened to training servers properly?
The Ahi Tuna was encrusted with sesame seeds, seared rare and served with a spicy peanut sauce. It was full of flavor with the perfect amount of heat. We gobbled it up quickly.
The risotto, however was very disapointing. I LOVE risotto and was excited to taste the smoked bacon and grilled mushrooms. What was served to me was a very dense over baconed, over salted bowl of horror. It did have a grilled baby portobello mushroom, however it was dry and tasted more like dehydrated mushroom-leather. I could only eat about one fourth of my dinner before it was just too much. Perhaps this dish sat under a heat lamp too long. We were certainly not rushing through our salad course and giving this restaurant the benefit of the doubt, concieveably timing was an issue for our order. Our server did not return to ask if we were enjoying our meal. She did however, finally pick-up our plates. And even though I had three quarters of my meal left, she did not seem concerned with the quality of the food or ask if there was a problem. Disappointing.
Our final course was chocolate layer cake with homemade vanilla ice cream and a meyer lemon white chocolate mousse. The cake was good, not spectacular, but good. On the other hand, the meyer lemon white chocolate mousse was utter perfection. The tartness of the lemon cut through the rich sweetness of the white chocolate which composed a perfect ending to our meal.
Maybe my standards were a bit high. I have never had a bite of food at Tiburon that wasn't delectable and I expected the same here. Overall, the good outweighed the bad. I will go back to Epic Casual Dining.....I just won't order the risotto.
