I visited SUD Mar Mikhael three times so far and I must say, the service has come a long way. On my first visit, I was somewhat disappointed. The waiter who was assigned to our table seemed inexperienced and not well trained. I needed to inquire about one of the items on the menu, to which he did not have the answer. Instead of asking for support, he literally froze. Thankfully, a more experienced waiter who was overseeing the interaction from afar quickly jumped in and saved the day.
On my second visit, we were seated on the patio and the atmosphere was simply lovely. It was a cold January evening but the area was pleasantly heated. Even though it was a table for two, we were greeted and served like royalty all throughout. The service was great from start to finish, with our waiter carefully catering to our needs in a respectful, professional and timely manner. With a sleek yet discrete sense of humor and a lot to offer in terms of recommending dishes based on one’s specific cravings, it was a real pleasure interacting with him.
I ordered a dish of Ravioli à la crème de truffe, the salted seabass and two scoops of ice cream (rose loukoum and chocolate) for dessert. The Ravioli dish is simply exquisite, but the portion is tiny, even if ordered as antipasti! I do realize that it’s a truffle-base dish, but with the price tag on it, I’m sure throwing in a couple more ravioli squares would make truffle-lovers ecstatic and still allow the restaurant to remain within budget. The salted seabass on the other hand is not a big hit in my opinion. It was a hassle to eat with way more fish bones to tackle than anyone would expect or want to put up with in a dining setting such as SUD’s. As for the salted outer crust and the diced tomato sauce, they added no special flavor or textural dimension to the dish whatsoever. In fact, the dish felt like a loose superposition of elements that did not marry well together. Nonetheless, the fish itself was fresh and tasted great and I would have gladly had it plain as a boneless filet with a simple squirt of lemon! As such, I would strongly recommend serving this dish as a fresh boneless filet topped with a delicate sauce, baked “en papillote” to guarantee a perfect blending of the wonderful flavors the Mediterranean regions have to offer.
As for my dessert, I simply fell in love with the rose loukoum ice cream, which, believe it or not, overshadowed its neighboring chocolate scoop, very tasty in its own right. You can easily discern both the loukoum and the rose water flavors. Thumbs up for the creative twist!
On my third visit to SUD, we were a group of 8 people seated indoors. I ordered the Australian beef filet and I shared the pain perdu and the cheese cake with two of my friends.
When I was ordering my filet de boeuf dish, the waiter asked me which sauce I preferred. I couldn’t quite decide whether to go for the pepper sauce or the wine sauce so I asked the gentleman what he would recommend. He suggested the pepper variant and I gladly went with that. To my surprise, the plate arrived with both sauces on-board. That’s what I call tactful service done with passion! Now for the meat itself, I was somewhat disappointed. To my surprise, there was a strip of fat on one of the outer edges of the cut. Furthermore, I had asked for a medium well filet; although it came butterflied, it was not evenly cooked all throughout. The inner parts were bordering on medium while the outer parts were rather well done. A coeur de filet would certainly be a nice alternative and adding whole peppercorns to the pepper sauce would certainly take it to a whole new level.
The cheese cake and the pain perdu were great, although I would re-baptise the former as “Tarte aux fruits rouges” since it looks more like a French pastry (tarte) rather than a cheese cake, all in keeping with the Mediterranean identity of the restaurant. The dessert has the perfect balance of tartness and sweetness; we were literally racing each other on getting the next bite of it! The pain perdu is also good, with a firm texture and not too heavy at all.
Please keep the improvements coming. I can’t wait to try the new menu items that are out!
