fusion cuisine a mediocre mixed bag. went at an oddtimeand finally got to taste the fusion cuisine. even though the place was fairly empty, service was lacking and server seemed distracted and indifferent. we ordered a variety of appetizers and dishes and got a mixed bag as far as taste, presentation and quality. the overall result was not impressive, especially when you add the excessive waitingtimeusually associated with this place, which is from my personal observations on previous occasions mostly due to the inability of the kitchen to turn tables over in a timely fashion.
-----01 aug, 2014-----
this place will waste yourtimewith a smile. very disorganized.. this is a new restaurant in a suburban neighborhood and it's normal for many people, including me, to want to try it out, but there seems to be serious issues with the way this restaurant handles its patrons and it's going to hurt them bigtimewhen the novelty wears off.
the first impression when you arrive is of a vibrant place where everyone in the neighborhood wants to eat, thus the waiting crowds. i've been there twice and figured out that the waiting crowds exist because this restaurant has a very difficulttimeturning tables over and they outright lie to patrons about waiting times. i went by last saturday at lunch time. we were told a 40-minute wait, but gave up after an hour passed and not many tables had become available. perhaps the kitchen was overwhelmed and slowed? ok, we'll try it again.
this thursday evening, we decided to give it another try. we were told the wait would be 25-30 minutes for a party of three. forty-five minutes later, i checked with the hostess and she told me, very nicely and with a smile on her face, that "things had slowed down", so we would probably have another 30-45 minute wait. this is after we had already lost one person from the group and were down to a party of two. needless to say, we told her no thanks and left.
while we were there, only four persons got up from the bar counter and only two tables got up and left in 45-50 minutes. a group of friends of mine celebrating a birthday sat down when i arrived and had not been served dinner when i said bye to them 50 minutes later. the other parties, many of whom had finished their meals long ago, lingered on deep in conversation, waited long times for dessert and coffee, etc. that is all fine if you have a large place and/or you truthfully inform arriving patrons that it may be more than one hour before a group vacates a table. they won't tell you that because they know people turn around and leave. can't tell you how many grumbling patrons waiting with us got disgusted and left without ever sitting down. how many of them will return? probably not many.
we eat dinner at restaurants at least three times a week and i eat lunch out every weekday and most weekends, so i'm no novice when it comes to patronizing dining establishments of all sorts. unfortunately, the seating arrangement at finka is designed to accommodate larger groups of 6 to 10 and these groups tend to linger after consuming their meals or drinks. therefore, the parties of 2 to 6, which is a great part of a restaurant's patronage, wait for long times to sit down.
the owners operate successful establishments in miami and move large crowds with ease at their other restaurants, but something is fundamentally wrong with this place and i urge them to fix it before people give up on their place. i live nearby and would like to see the place succeed, but i seriously doubt that it will unless drastic changes take place.