Mortons - The Steakhouse.....in San Diego

There are times when I wish that I were a food critic. Today I get my opportunity.

Last night I dined at Mortons - The Steakhouse in downtown San Diego. I don't anticipate returning there any time in the near future.

To be fair the food I had was wonderful. We started out with a Lump Crabmeat appetizer that was fantastic. Iced Vodka shots stuck in the sides of the fancy serving dish would be a nice touch but not a requirement.

The Filet I ordered was tender and cooked as ordered as was my wife's. The serving size was large but then so is the cost. There are a lot of steakhouses around these days and many have meat just as good, perhaps better, then Morton's in my experience, not that Morton's was bad, it wasn't, just that they aren't above the bar like they might have been once.

Now to the problems as I see them. When I was younger I would spend good money to go to a rock concert to have my hearing damaged. When I go to a top rated restaurant I don't expect the same experience. The noise level in the restaurant was mind numbing. I thought I was sitting in the middle of a club on 5th Avenue, not the Morton's dining room. Some acoustic damping design features are sorely needed.

While working on design features the glass partition between the bar and dining room needs some attention as well. Being a party of two we were seated along the bar/dining room wall. The top portion of this wall is glass with some designs etched into the panels. The bar itself is set slightly above the dining floor or appears that way with the bar height tables and chairs in that section. What this does is give the bar patrons a birds eye view of the dining room. I don't particularly care for someone staring over my shoulder when I am eating unless they are the wait staff and then it shouldn't be noticed.

The wait staff is a hard working group of individuals who were constantly on the move. This has more to do with a lack of structure in the organization of the roles and responsibilities then in a need to be rushing around. Our service was poor. When we had clearly finished with out bread there was no one to notice and remove it. I was surprised when our server actually removed the bread and assorted dishes that went with it and the appetizer. At a truly top restaurant the servers are serving the food and meeting needs, not schleping dishes.

My wife had been suffering from an upset stomach most of the day and by the time we reached the main course she was feeling full and only had a couple of bites. The waitress never noticed and never asked if everything was alright which it was but they couldn't have known that. Someone ignoring their steak deserves a little attention. During this period our waitress actually disappeared. I ate a bit of my steak and some of the vegetable and then stopped as well so that we could wrap things up and my wife wouldn't have to sit there feeling bad. Still no one came to our table. Eventually our waitress did reemerge and simply asked if we wanted everything wrapped to go. No questions on how was it.

This issue with the staff actually began with the hostess. Upon entering the restaurant her opening was, "What Can I Do for You?" with a bit of attitude reflected in the tone she took with us. What she can do is lose the attitude. We weren't exactly dressed up for the night but we weren't dressed down and in comparison to several other diners we looked downright respectable.

My final issue is with the food cart/menu. The idea of showing a diner what they have to offer is fine, I actually appreciate it generally speaking. What I didn't appreciate was the live Lobster. I grew up in Maine, I have relatives who earn a living as lobsterman, I have handled many a lobster. This lobster was a magnificent specimen who was being tortured and slowly killed to act as a display for diners. The lobster sat still on a platter, never moving. I was wondering if it was dead until the waitress picked it up and it reacted. I have never seen a lobster that would sit still for any length of time while out of it's natural environment unless it was very cold or just about dead. This specimen was warm. That display was just cruel.

I don't really have a problem with the vegetable display but I did find it odd. They had whole vegetables like a potato, an onion (I think) and asparagus laid out. You really had no clue what you would be served other then one of these items prepared and looking very different - like the potato that came in 5 variations. And they made a big deal out of their Jumbo Asparagus. If I see jumbo asparagus in the store I keep on walking. Skinny asparagus is more tender and in my opinion flavorful. I passed on the asparagus although I do love it as a vegetable.

Morton's says it is The Steakhouse and they had magazine covers on the walls showing how one of it's restaurants was picked as the Best of or some such award in various cities. The San Diego location deserves no such award and is coasting by on the reputation the chain already has established. If San Diego is any insight into where these restaurants are headed that reputation is in for a bumpy ride.