The service started out at par, we were greeted kindly, but in a sort of overwhelming fashion that showed just how new the restaurant was. The staff seemed eager but generally uninformed about how to truly create a pleasurable dining experience.
Larry and Caron love Oysters, and Larry ordered a dozen as his entree. He asked the waiter to split the order between two different kinds of oysters. Simple, no? Instead, Larry was served six oysters. Three were gargantuan, three were pipsqueaks. For a 45 year old man with an appetite, it is safe to say that this was NOT an adequate dinner course. He requested that they take back the platter and bring him six of the gargantuan oysters instead. The waiter apparently had a brain aneurism, because not only did he NOT remove Larry's platter, it took them 20 minutes to bring out the three new oysters.
Call me old fashioned, but I am of the opinion that if you are preparing food that needs only to be rinsed, shucked, and plopped onto ice, it shouldn't take longer than 5 minutes to hit the floor. Seriously, they didn't have to marinate the damn things. Just chop the top off and get them to the table, people! We waited, and waited...and waited. Still no oysters. I began having visions of Alice in Wonderland...all those pearly little pals marching around in the sand, ready for shucking. The waiter actually had the gall to return to our table empty handed THREE separate times.
After generations had passed, the manager approached us and apologized for the "confusion." What he should have apologized for was hiring a staff that recently underwent frontal lobotomies. But it quickly became evident that he could not possibly apologize for such a thing as he had undergone a lobotomy himself. He CHARGED Larry for the 3 oysters he ate while he was waiting for the second platter to arrive. And, to add insult to injury, the long anticipated platter was not even the correct order.
This is just one of the charming incidents that occurred during our life-altering experience at The Water Club. The others include being over-charged for a meager plate of ribs (4), having to ask three separate times for a side of mayonnaise, and never actually obtaining cocktail sauce. Either the condiment boy was passed out under the side station, or something was seriously amiss at The Water Club.
Do yourself a favor: if you are ever in North Miami Beach, do not visit The Water Club. That is, unless you have taken a liking to sub-par cuisine, absent-minded staff, and curt management.
The only redeeming quality was that with proof of receipt from The Water Club, you receive a free popcorn from the movie theater nearby.
Ha.
-Ali
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