The food is pretty good. However, it's not meaningfully better than the food at the Rainbow or the Seafood Palace on Nicollet ave (in fact, it might be worse). I have had whole fish at those places that were at least as tasty, and certainly about half the price. (the decor and service at those places is also kind of better.) Service was ok. Nice guy, but a bit inattentive. Didn't really care though, since i was with great company. Window is very cool, but not big enough to afford everyone in the restaurant a great view. I had a great view, so i can't complain, but it would be worth waiting for a different table if you weren't near it, since the alternative is a stark white wall. That leads me to what I really don't understand about the place: the decor. The place screams corporate cafeteria. The carpet is ugly. The chairs are like from a waiting room at an airport, and the splotches of color are just sort of cheesy and out of place. also, the lighting is totally underwhelming, especially given some of the architectural interest in the room (plus, the bar is lit up with basic rope lighting which can be bought at lowes for like $3/yard. The ceiling is also very low. It's an awkward space. For it to be as expensive as it is, and for it to be in such a highly regarded museum, which itself is something of an architectural and design marvel, i found the decor to be completely unimpressive (and somewhat disappointing) and without charm or character. Certainly not the decor of a place with $30+ entrees. This is especially troubling since most of its competition are beautiful spaces (e.g., cosmos, chambers kitchen, la belle vie across the street). One other thing -- the kitchen is totally exposed, which normally is cool, but here just resulted in it making the room very hot and imparting a sort of fried food smell. I think this restaurant has some potential, since the food is pretty tasty, but I think they need to rethink it a bit.
Pros: tasty food; cool view if you are right by the window
Cons: Ugly decor, only decent service.
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