Madera

We were there to celebrate my wife's birthday. We decided to go there for brunch on Sunday. Every thing was amazing. The wait staff were very friendly and helpful, the food was delicious. My wife is vegetarian and even though they had a set three course menu for Easter, they made a lot of accommodations for her. I highly recommend this place. There was one thing I was annoyed about. We asked if we could be seated outside and the host said that all the outside tables were completely booked up. But the whole time we were there, about the half the tables were empty.

My husband surprised me with a reservation to Madera for our anniversary on a Monday. Our reservation was at 5:30 pm but they suggested getting there about 15 minutes early, so we got there around 5:15 pm and was seated right away. They have an open kitchen close to the entrance and lovely dining room with vaulted ceilings as well as outdoor patio spaces as well. I requested to sit inside but closer to the windows for the beautiful green scenery in the background. The menu is nice and small which was great because I am typically overwhelmed when the menu is endless. We ordered the smoked deviled eggs, grill octopus, Ora king salmon, liberty farms dry aged duck breast. The smoked deviled eggs were really good and topped with trout roe so it was a great combination. The grilled octopus was perfectly cooked and have a nice Smokey taste to it as well. The star of the night were the large dishes, Ora king salmon and livery farms dry aged duck breast. The Ora king salmon was hands down the best salmon I’ve tried. The skin was very nice and crispy, while the salmon was perfectly cooked. The salmon quality itself was the best I’ve had. I wasn’t served a belly piece but it sure feels like it with all of the omega oozing out of it. This was perfect paired with small cuts of citrus and a type of herb sauce. The duck breast was also perfectly cooked and amazingly flavored. The duck skin itself was very nice and crispy while the duck breast meat was still juicy. My husband and I both would come back just for the salmon and duck breast. And of course we had to celebrate our anniversary with dessert! We were so full that we ended up getting just 1 dessert to share. I unfortunately don’t remember the name of the dessert but it was a cheesecake made out of sheep’s milk. The cheesecake wasn’t a traditional cheesecake. It was just soft cheesecake with no breading served on some type of glazed with strawberries and topped with pistachios crumbles. I didn’t think I’ll like sheep milk but this cheesecake was amazing and out of this world. For two people that were too full to look at the dessert menu, we ended up scrapping the plate clean! Service was amazing here as well! Our server, Andrea was very kind, patient and attentive. She made the experience way better with her recommendations of the menu, drinks, and constantly coming back to check in on us.

We celebrate one of our friend’s birthday here on Sunday. The menu is more like a brunch which is understandable. 1) The avocado toast was really yummy. 2) bread and butter was so good. 3) cheeseburgers was really yummy and well made. 4) French fries was very disappointing for a upscale restaurant. It was more like those frozen fries at burger places. 5)service is good. 6)view and the outdoor sitting is great. 7)egg Benedict was so bland.

Not a memorable experience. None of the dishes we ordered stood out for us. The prawns dish was dry, had a strong burnt taste, which overpowered any other flavors. The chicken was extremely extremely salty, and we couldn’t eat it. How can a Michelin star not get the salt right? The risotto was good. Service was slow. After handing out the menus, no one came to our table for 15mins. Our server didn’t bother to explain the menu, or tell us anything about the dishes we ordered. Only saving grace was the desert.. it was delish, and the views are great! Probably my least favorite of all Michelin restaurants I’ve been to.