taking bertrand at mister a's off our list. currently on vacation insandiego. had booked two dinners at bma during this trip as it had been very good in the past (2010 was the last time that we ate there). had our last dinner there this past saturday night.
the evening started off on the wrong foot entirely. i had requested a table outside, if possible, while making our reservation on open table. the maitre d' made no mention of our request when he sat us at what is arguably their worst table, on the upper tier by the water station. we complained and magically a table at the window became available. we moved to the table at the window and noticed that there were empty tables outside. wtf?
the next disappointment came with the wine list. i noticed that the 2009 kongsgaard chardonnay was double the price that cucina urbana was charging (we ate at cu on fri night - excellent value, food and atmosphere). bma's wine list is not what it used to be! as an example, their selection of italian wines was relatively pitiful. we ended up ordering the oreno for ~$175 as most of the other italian wines were either not rated over 90 or were not "ready", i.e. their earliest drink by date was 2014 or later. unfortunately i know that the oreno "costs" around $60, which exposed bma's mark up.
the final disappointment was the food. suffice to say that it was ok but lacked "soul". there really was nothing imaginative as an example on my $43 new york strip loin plate. we understand that they have a new chef. we had expected to see something interesting from him.
bma still has the best view insandiego. too bad that the $450 price tag left us feeling highly abused by our experience.
bottom line - we cancelled our second dinner reservation and will not be returning on our next vacation.