I recently went to Joe Muer Seafood for a group gathering in one of the private dining rooms. The first thing I noticed as I walked in was a large sign stating the restaurant's dress code. For this type of establishment, I thought it would be pretty obvious, but I guess they get a lot of people who need the reminder. I checked in at the front desk and was taken to the room quickly. Since the group was so big, there was a set menu ($115) in place with shared appetizers,a salad course, a choice of 4 different entrees, shared sides, and a choice of 3 different desserts. In total, the food consisted of: Shrimp Ilene - Well, they weren't lying about these being colossal. Huge shrimp covered in a nice savory and nutty brown butter sauce. Unfortunately, the shrimp were overcooked with tough and rubbery meat. Not a good start.Oysters Rockefeller - These oysters were served on a bed of sea salt - bad idea. These were not plated cleanly, resulting in the sea salt going over the top into the creamed spinach. Super salty.Roquefort Wedge - This is the laziest wedge salad I've ever seen. Everything needed to be cut and assembled by the diner. At least the French dressing was applied appropriately, with enough between each individual lettuce leaf.Oven Roasted Barramundi - Just look at the picture and tell me this is something you would be happy getting at a fine dining destination. This is the worst presentation for fish I have ever seen. Lobster/crab cake almost disintegrating, the fish looking as if chef was hungry and decided to sneak a few bites. I honestly can't believe they thought it was okay to bring out this dish. At least the Barramundi was nice and tender with only a hint of fishiness. The veggies were also fine - however, the waiters forgot to give me a knife to cut the haricot verts. The lobster/crab cake was complete mush but at least had a decent shellfish taste. Creamed Spinach - I'm normally not a fan of creamed spinach in the first place, so take this with a grain of salt. This tasted like spinach cooked in milk (super milky lactose flavor), with no aromatics and no cheese. At the end of the dinner, the serving dish was still 90% full, so I think that tells how much everyone liked this dish.Black Truffle Mac and Cheese - Taste-wise and presentation, this was fine. Nice cheese crust on top, Cheese sauce included visible specks of truffle with a strong truffle taste. Very one note truffle flavor: truffle salt + artificial truffle oil perhaps? The cavatappi pasta was severely overcooked and almost to the point of being mush. The pasta would fall apart as I spooned it onto my plate.Cheesecake - No complaints about this one. It's a cheesecake, hard to mess that up. Oh, one thing is they forgot to bring me a fork to eat this with. I had to take the fork from one of the guests who couldn't make it.Joe Muer Seafood has fine dining prices with presentation and construction worse than Applebees and service to match. I do not recommend eating here. The only reason they don't get a 1 is because at least some of the food was decent.
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