The moment we stepped in, despite being very dark, I appreciated the spaciousness of the foyer. We approached the reservations desk. The super-duper, self-important reservationist continued her conversation with her colleague, took a call on her headset and when she finally decided to speak with us, she did so without eye contact and with a condescending tone I didn’t care much for and proceeded to ask us twice for the name of the reservation and how many people. Still no eye contact or smile. Not impressed.

Since we were 15 minutes early, we decided to have a drink at the bar and were taken through by another hostess. Once seated we ordered drinks – a mojito for the boyfriend and a vodka martini for me. "A martini rosso" she asked with her hands in her pockets, whilst looking around the bar. Come on, this isn’t 1972! Why on earth would I want martini rosso (especially since I specified exactly what type of martini I wanted)!?

Ten minutes later we were taken to our table upstairs and informed that our drinks would follow. After being seated, we decided to move tables because we were far too close to the grill and there was an empty table available 5 metres away. Still no sign of our cocktails (by now we’d been there for 25 minutes). Still not impressed.

So our waiter comes over, a chap named Altin. When given the wine menu, we explained that we had yet to receive our drinks. As I suspected, he had no idea we’d ordered anything downstairs but offered to find out where they were. We declined and decided to choose some wine to go with our meal. He was able to choose the most divine red wine, which perfectly complemented our dishes. He was helpful with the menu, very friendly and provided a service that was far above anything we had experienced with other employees.

I started with a tiger prawn ceviche and since I’m not really used to eating too much meat (the steaks are huge), I went with the lemon & lime spatchcock chicken. I already disliked the resto and its arrogant staff, had decided never to return and so wanted the food to be bland/mediocre/crap, so you can imagine my frustration/delight that the food was prepared and cooked to perfection! The ceviche just melted in my mouth, the flavours were so delicate and perfectly balanced. I eat meat 1-2 times per month because it doesn’t really do anything for me, but to say that the chicken was good would be a huge injustice. Succulent, tender, tasty and so fresh with the seasoning gentle enough to balance perfectly with subtle flavour of the chicken. Perfection.

As we talked - my boyfriend had finished eating and I simply paused to talk - a waitress approached our table, picked up his plate despite the fact that I was clearly still eating (I still had the fork in my hand!) and asked if I was finished. In response to my "No", she took his plate anyway. So rude and improper.

So this resto gets 2 stars only – 1 for Altin and 1 for the food. Whilst both were great, I would have had a nicer time at home, with a great atmosphere, good food and wonderful company. For those people who go to restaurants because celeb X went there, it’s fine. For those people like me, who want the whole package - ambience, great food, faultless service and happy times - I advise you to go elsewhere.

And what is with those hideous light fittings in the restaurant?! Oh my goodness, it’s like something out of Happy Days!