Sea Change

It has been one of my worst dinning experience in years. About nothing was cooked properly, either undercooked or burned (go figure!). Pros: The place looks cool. Cons: Everything else. more

This place is by far overrated and is way over priced! Expect to wait on a busy night as well as receive horrible service.... you may find yourself paying more for less here! I will say that the wine list has plenty to offer and if you don't mind getting over charged then this is a great restaurant! Pros: Great view Cons: Bad servcice, Over priced more

My boyfriend and I caught a meal at Cue before a performance on a Sunday. Everything about the atmosphere is chic. Fine glassware, silverware and - my favorite part of the entire experience - sparkle encrusted table tops. However, I was expecting a magnificent view of the river and was surprised that most of the ""view"" is obscured by the exterior pillars of the building. We were promptly seated and our waiter was attentive and professional. Not sure what everyone's comments were about when they said there's no taste or spice in this food. If you're looking for exotic, reach out and grab your tongue kind of spice, go to Bombay Bistro or your favorite Indian restaurant. Although Cue does have a vegetarian option, the focus is obviously on meat. Not contemporary fusion. Not sculptural salads. Just well executed, earthy, simple, meat - pared with hearty sides like potatoes or white beans. The chestnut soup had a nice shock of fennel creme fraiche in the center of it. Again, very meaty, almost tasted like broth of pate - if such a think exists. I had the duck confit. My boyfriend had the chicken with potato-parsnip mash. (I, of course, tasted both.) Though overall the meals were flavorful and had interesting, contrasting components, I could not figure out where the chef was coming from in forcing the entrees to live in either salt or sweet extremes. I have never in my life tasted anything so saturated with salt as the duck. All variations of wine were INSANELY expensive. I recommend making your tax-deductible contribution straight to the Guthrie instead and stick to the house cocktails (around $9 apiece). The cheapest HALF bottle was $21, albeit a good, acidic Chard to go with the duck. The dessert wine was wonderful. A sweet, yet light nectar that served nicely as a dessert in itself. Pros: Sparkle encrusted table tops, dessert wine, fine glassware Cons: Super salty or super sweet extremes. INSANELY expensive wine offerings. more

I was greeted really poorly, I don't know if it is because I was a student or the hostess didn't feel like doing her job. Also, our waiter was horrible and the food we ordered was really overpriced and not at all edible. I wasted a lot of money and left hungry.... Cons: Service, bad food more

It was our 10th wedding anniversary. I was very excited as when I called to make reservation I was asked if I had any special requests to the chef (which I didn?t) and what the occasion was. When we came in we were seated promptly and greeted by out waiter. He was polite and enthusiastic and described the dishes very well. But the food was nothing like he described it. I can appreciate quality and don?t have a problem paying for it but this was simply bad. Bread tasted like it was baked three days ago and has been kept in the fridge since then. Then, Amuse Buche followed. It is supposed to ?excite your palette? (right?), but it was completely boring: puff pastry with a dollop of tuna. My salad was tasteless?huge leaves with some vinegar and oil (no herbs, no garnish, no presentation). I ordered wine right away which came only with my entree. I have to say, my entree wasn?t bad and the portion size was right?whitefish with onions and carrots, but the sauce was overpowering. My husband?s chestnut soup was very good (probably the best dish), but it was served lukewarm. His duck (entree) was so tiny and the side dish it came with was unidentifiable. One of our friends had steak: I saw him struggle with his piece of meat as he couldn?t even cut it. And I don?t even want to talk about the desert? Overall, the service was pretentious but not courteous: serving all people at the table at the same time (I appreciate that), but if the food is not good, I don?t care if it was given to all of us at the same instance. Go admire the ambiance (it is a masterpiece!), have a drink at the bar, but don?t eat there?the food is nothing like the restaurant?s beautiful setting. By the way, I still don?t know why they asked me what the occasion was as nobody even acknowledged it. I don?t usually get upset and write angry reviews (this is my first one)-I just make a note to myself and don?t go back to the places I didn?t like - but please don't waste your money. more

Before the show, we popped into Cue and made a 10:00 p.m. (post-show) reservation upon the suggestion of Cue staff. The show ran long and after shuffling our way down through the exiting crowd, we arrived to the restaurant at 10:10 p.m. and were turned away. We tried to negotiate with the manager, but after sending a party of 7 away ahead of us, he held his ground and turned us away, too. more

This restaurant is ideal if you have plans to attend the theater. If not, it probably wouldn't be my choice. It's very nice inside and the staff was accommidating, but the food was not the best. I like rich full flavor food and just found this place to be average as far as that goes. Overall, I would say it's good if you have theater tickets and maybe good to try at least once aside from that, but otherwise not my choice. more

I wish I had read the review of the reader who asked for flavor before I went - this is the first time ever I asked for salt in a restaurant to give some flavor to my lukewarm lentil soup. Thank god I remember it was lentil soup. I swear that after you read the descriptions on the menu you sometimes wonder what it is you will get - a glass of milk, a postcard of some quaint Wisconsin town, cheese, ravioli with Wisconsin cheese, a pork chop with ravioli with Wisconsin Creamery cheese made from the milk of happy goats? If I were to go again, and I doubt I will, I might take a highlighter to the menu, just to remember. Come on folks, give us a break, tone down the sourcing BS, and source some flavor. more

Ok...I had just been to Spoonriver the weekend before going to Cue. To be honest...I had to ask if Brenda, owner of Spoonriver, also owned Cue. The menu's are so similar that it really disappointed me. Pros: Serivce and Ambience Cons: Food and Price more

We went to Cue after a show at the Guthrie for dessert and drinks. The ambiance was very nice, and the service was excellent. Our waiter touted the pastry chef and all the recommendations she has received lately, so we had high expectations. They have a late night menu that includes 4 desserts. Our party ordered 3 of the 4. All were beautiful, but this pastry chef definitely goes more for presentation than substance...the cheesecake was described by my father (an avid cheesecake fan) as ""Jello Cheesecake"". I had the milk chocolate creme with pepper caramel. The caramel actually tasted heavily of cumin rather than pepper, and the rest of the dessert was average--nothing special. The portions for these two desserts was just right. The last dessert was crumpets. My aunt looked in dismay as they set the plate down. Seriously...there were about 5 ""crumpets"" in a single stack on the plate and none were bigger than a nickel in diameter, and there were a few dollops of other stuff that actually were bigger than the stack of crumpets. None of the desserts made our eyes roll back and exclaim ""oh my gosh this is fabulous..."" Very dissapointing. The wine menu was large, but expect to pay $10-15 a glass for domestic wine. Most bottles ran $60-100 from what I could see. Pros: Decor Cons: Pretty desserts, but not that special in taste more

Yes, the prices are a little high...but the location, service and food are well worth the trip. I appreciated the detail that the menu provided because many of their ingredients are locally grown. Our server was very eager to please and knowledgeable about the food. And most importantly, my steak was amazing. more

My friends took me to eat here before I moved back after a 15 year absence. I love the location, the Guthrie is amazing, and Cue is a nice compliment to its surroundings. The clientele can be a little stuffy (older dressed up crowd), the prices a little high (this meal wouldn't have cost me this much in San Francisco!) and the portions a bit small (huge portion of trout, but only 6 beans with it) - but the food was really good. Plus, the sommelier picked out a great bottle of wine for us and seemed really enthused about his job - I like that (nice extensive wine list btw). I would definitely go back whether it was before a show or just to have a nice night out. This place is classy and the food matches. Pros: food, view, location Cons: paying to park more

We felt this place was quite overrated. The menu tried too hard, down to every last word. The meals tasted ok, but just ok. Portions were normal to smaller size. The tomato risotta had little flavor, was just ok. The artisan cheese dish was quite nice. The staff were very polite, but not knowledgeable. It was a nice setting. Nothing to drive me back there. more

Admittedly, I was a bit skeptical of this new restaurant when I first heard about it... Having been disappointed by 20.21 and some other new-to-the-scene eateries that seemed to be ""trying too hard"", I had my doubts about Cue. But, after dinner there last Saturday night, consider me a full convert! more

Everyone deserves another chance. I reviewed Cue here on 8/2/06, and was not impressed. Even though we're Guthrie season ticket holders, I've made a point of avoiding Cue since my first experience. Now, I've been back last month, and again last night to give it another try. It is now back on my list, and we'll be dining there again. First time back last month, my wife and I tried the two course pre-theater items. We first started with martinis. They are down to $10 from the first time at $15.50. I can live with $10 for these well made, generous drinks . Wife had the risotto and I had the prime rib. The salad we each chose was very fresh and flavorful. The risotto was excellent. I usually avoid prime rib as mostly always lacking in flavor, and here was no exception. But, that was my mistake in ordering. We asked about wine, and the wine steward was sent over, and she was very knowledgeable about the selection. Steered us to a half bottle of Brunello that was very good with dinner. Last night, we ordered from the main selections. We shared the mixed greens. Again, very fresh, and dressing was excellent. Wife had the basil pasta with red sauce, and pasta had definate home-made freshness to it, with good sauce. I had the filet, medium rare, and it was cooked to perfection, and melt in your mouth tender. The fingerling potatos were dripping with butter and very flavorful. We each ordered a glass of wine, and were steered in a good direction on our choices. Wait staff was very attentive, service was impeccable, and overall experience was perfect. And, still can't beat the ambience and decor. After the play, stopped back for glass of port, and we are very happy to put this place back on our list of regulars and a place to recommend to others. Pros: Excellent ambience, attentive service, good food. more