Restaurant Christine

10/11/09

Three strikes and you're out!

by judgler at Citysearch

The first time I visited Restaurant Christine was for my best friend's mom's 50th birthday. They squeezed 80 women into a 40 x 40 foot room. Food was nothing special. I then met the chef's mother, who was a delightful person so I decided to give it another try. Dinner was lackluster. One of our diner's was dissapointed and I thought the food was not fresh. However, we had a lot of wine, so I thought I'd give it one more chance (since I couldn't trust my opinion) and enroll in one of Christine's "cooking classes." This turned out to be a cooking DEMONSTRATION. $55 included all the wine you could drink, an uncomfortable chair, no information about the ingredients or techniques, and subpar food produced by the untrained sous chefs. Put a fork in me...I'm done with Restaurant Christine. Save your money and your time.

• Cons: Waste of money and time

06/06/09

Always A Pleasure!

by EDinRB at Citysearch

After having the pleasure to be a guest in this fine restaurant on numerous occasions, my Husband and I have fallen in love with the cuisine time after time. The menu is eclectic, and no matter what type of cuisine you are craving you are sure to find something on the menu that suites your palate. From the traditional roasted chicken to Asian appetizer platter, everything tastes phenomenal. The wine menu is full of interesting varieties. I recommend that you save room for dessert because they always have some delicious sweets to tempt your palate. I also recommend that you try the 4 course wine pairing meal. For a very reasonable amount of money you get a beautiful meal that has been paired very nicely with a few different wines, this is a truly delightful experience!

Regarding the service, you can't ask for more attentive and informative food servers. They are very attentive to your needs, and the table bussers are quick to re fill your water and clear your dishes when you are done. Overall "10" for service!

The ambiance is romantic, quaint, warm and friendly. You don't need to dress up, although I wouldn't walk in there in a t-shirt, jeans and flip flops. Think NICE CASUAL. I do recommend reservations, and if it is a nice day ask to sit on the outdoor patio.

Cheers to Christine!

• Pros: Fabulous wine pairing 4 course meal (changes every 2 weeks)
• Cons: NOTHING!

11/19/06

A word to the wise......Overrated

by faztnuf at Citysearch

My wife and I have tried Christine several times over the last few years, usually after reading the new reviews that have been posted. The restaurant does have a good reputation in the South Bay, but based on our experiences I can't figure out why. Each time we go there we say we won't go back, but for some reason we have. The food has always been mediocre to poor, and on two separate occasions I sent my meal back, which is something I rarely do. The service has usually been excruciatingly slow with poor coordination between the waiters and the kitchen. We decided to go there last Valentine's Day, and I can truthfully say it was one of the worst dinig experiences we have ever had, even allowing for the fact that it was Valentine's day. The bill for the two of us that evening, with less than my normally generous tip, came to over $250-. We dine out quite often and I do not consider this amount to be unreasonable for a fine dining experience for two, but giving them $250- for the experience we had felt like highway robbery. I have happily paid over $600- for lunch at the French Laundry and $1,100- for dinner at Joel Robuchon in Las Vegas for the two of us,and felt both meals (okay, experiences) were well worth it. In comparison ( I know its not a fair one) the meal we had at Christine should have been about $50- at most. I politely voiced my opinion to the person who I was told was the manager and got a shrug and " I hope next time is better" as a response. Well "next time" will definitely be better because we definitely won't be back. I don't feel good about writing this, but based on several experiences we had at Christine I feel that the overwhelmingly positive reviews here do not accurately portray what you might experience there.

• Pros: Cozy ambience
• Cons: Questionable quality food, poor service, indifferent management, overrated reviews