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Went a few days ago with some friends to the Riviera. After reading the reviews I have to react on some of these. I've been living in South-France for 10 years now in the Languedoc (which is close to the Riviera) and know this region well since 20 years. I'm familiar with the Spanish Mediterranean , but not with the Italian. I have to admit, the name does not cover completely the concept of the restaurant, which is Mediterranean. The Riviera is only part of it. The ambience is clearly a mix of (upscale) Spanish and French. The wall paintings remind me of Barcelona, Gaudi (one of the greatest architects) in special. I totally disagree with Mr Heizer. Did he ever see a French/Spanish canteen inside? Also the light is part of the ambiance and should (in style) be dimmed, favorably yellowish. Yet still being sufficient to read the menu ( maybe some people need to bring reading-spectacles for the menu-card?, or take a table near the kitchen, the light will help you to read). The open kitchen is well according the new trends, but is hardly seen in the Mediterranean. The walls could indeed have some more pictures and the owner told me she already was looking , but it is difficult to find the proper ones. Also shortly there will be Spanish wine on the list. By no means other than Italian, Spanish or French wines. This is a no-no in the Mediterranean. People should know how chauvinistic people in south-Europe are about wine.
I do agree the prices are not cheap, specially compared with a lot of good Chinese restaurants, but the food is very good. I had a Carpaccio, which was melting in the mouth. It was so nicely thin cut, I have never found in France nor Spain. The steak was very good. Quality doesn't come cheap. The amount of food is not big, but enough. If you want to get stuffed, you better go to eat in a canteen. The Mediterranean people put quality above quantity.
A satisfied customer.
(Reviewed by Lazipig, in French Restaurant section, on 27 February 2008)
Yesterday I went for dinner at Riviera with 3 friends. Jennifer greeted us with a great smile and the staff are friendly (SPEAK GOOD ENGLISH). She knew that it’s cold outside and lead us to table one which she said is warmer there. It definitely is warm.
They have long list of drinks and great menu for food.
We started off soup, Cream of Asparagus, French Onion and Pumpkin soup. They were Fantastic...... with escargo as appetizer.
For main dish we have, venison stew & paooardelle, lobster & crabmeat truffle..., signature maple orange cod fish and spaghetti a la Marseille.... best western we've had so far in Dalian.
Last but not least, dessert, we had Creme Brulee, Souffle Au Chocolat, Chocolate Ecstasy and Tiramisu. Oooooo....... yum yum....... would want to have more but stomache would not allow...
Its a bit costly thought, but it's definitely worth the price for the great food we've had. For the food we've had, it cost us RMB1500, every single cent worth!
We’ll definitely be back for more of the fantastic food!!!
Went last week with a couple of friends, however we did not know that the operating time is until 9pm only. We were there about 8pm, after dinner, and found that we have exactly 1 hour to view all the lanterns. We bought tickets for 20RMB/pax, and we quite excited, as we had high regards for Chinese Lanterns, which is very famous.
However after a while of walking around, we found that the designs of the lanterns are basically repetition of the previous, and due to the fact that this is a year of Rat, so most of lanterns are of Mickey and Minnie Mouse...boring after a while..
I never knew Labour park is so big, used to pass by but had never been in before.
On the whole I should say the experience is not bad, if we had more time we could walk to the other end of the park to see if there is any difference, but these lanterns viewing, once is enough.
The sad part was littering. There were stalls selling food stuffs, and all the wrappings and plastic bags are thrown onto the ground after people had consumed food...
Also known as Ajisen Ramen, they are always well known for their ramen, had the same thing back home.
I tried the vegetable ramen, very nice, the noodles is not like most restaurants here, which are very chewy and hard to swallow. The Ramen served here is chewy, with a nice texture, I would say well done, and not soggy, which happens when not controlled properly. Soup base is almost like what I had in Japan before, love it.
We decided to have some sushi, which is a terrible mistake... The fish were not very fresh, can see the colour difference when they served, so dull coloured. Had a bite and told my friend, not to eat too much, but it's okay, she have a stronger stomach than me..
Never expected an international brand to serve sub-standard food, so disappointed.
However, I will be there again for a nice bowl of ramen, but nothing else...
Don't know whether it's because we have chosen the buffet rather than ala carte, seems that the treatment is different, extremely long waiting time.
200RMB/pax for a eat all you can buffet is pretty reasonable, including sea urchin sashimi, sashimi platter, steamed egg, cold noodles, hot pots, paper pots, teppanyaki...etc.
We were warned after we placed our orders that "you must finish everything you order. No leftover is allowed!" So threatening...
We waited for a long time, about 20 mins, before dishes start appearing. Due to the fact that we were hungry when we arrived, we sort of can't really eat anymore, passed the hungry period.
We had a prawn tempura (tasty!), a vegetable tempura (tasty!), a sashimi platter (very fresh and tasty!), a cawan mushi(steamed egg)(very smooth and tasty!!), a cold noodles (soba), a beef teppanyaki(too sweet!!), and a steamed egg plant with stuffings (not bad only).
We didn't manage to finish all the food, so we asked the waitress, if there is a penalty imposed for unfinished food, and she smiled and said it's ok, don't worry.
So what was the threat about when we had chosed buffet? Is it a tactic to scare us such that we would switch to ala carte, and that would have cost us almost the same...I think, for the kind of food we have ordered.
I don't think I'll patronise this restaurant again, even though the food is good, but I can get the same food in other Japanese restaurants without being threatened.
aquiin
arsenepark
