Sunday, July 09, 2006

Aqua “What’s So Great?” Relle

Last night my family gathered at Aquarelle to celebrate my sister R’s 20th birthday.

Finally! We are both 20 somethings – mind you only for a short, short while since I’m regretfully counting the days until age 30. Nevertheless, I am happy that I no longer have to say I have a teenage sister, and I think she’s equally as happy that she’s only 1 year away from legal drinking.

Everyone in Austin thinks Aquarelle is the rage. Apparently people give their first born to either work there or get a prime time reservation. Given my affinity for food and R’s new passion for vegetarian food, it seemed like a stellar restaurant pick.

Let me break it down for you:

Parking – Park across the street, catty corner to blah and blah, or risk towing.
Walk from Parking – Parking is far enough away that you break a sweat trucking to the restaurant, only to find out that you are in the wrong lot. Go re-park. Sweat again hustling to the restaurant.
No AC – The restaurant is in an old house. Apparently old houses can’t be renovated with modern central air. Sweat another 2 gallons while waiting for the menus. Drench pants so that when you stand, part of them actually stick to the chair.
French Service – Waiters are rude, pretentious, and SLOW.
Food – Salmon, ordered medium, arrives burned and tough. Overall, everything else is mediocre – at best.
Bill – After two and a half hours of sweating, rude service and a roach sighting, we are ready to leave. Credit card machine breaks. Another 20 minute delay.
June bugs – Retreating from the restaurant through the un-groomed foliage, R’s man has a june bug encounter – under his shirt, down his back.

Ok, so the june bugs weren’t Aquarelle’s fault, but everything else might have been. On a scale of 1 to 10, my sister and I give it a combined 5. Please don’t send me hate mail if you love this restaurant. Because I might have to tell you about the rat sighting too.

3 comments:

Toni said...

I'm surprise you gave it a 5 with that review!

Susan said...

A friend of mine knows the lady that owns that place...maybe your visit was a fluke, she says it's wonderful. You should have spoken to the manager...at least get a free meal or something out of it!

Christy said...

How long til you turn 30? I have just about 3 hours to go. I wasn't looking forward to it, but now I can't wait!