Michael’s Steak Seafood Wine, 25 Cuna St., St. Augustine, 904-810-2400

By Irene Merenda

Frank and I had a gift certificate and decided to use it while celebrating our recent anniversary at Michael’s.  We were there several years ago when it was “Michael’s Tasting Room” and remembered it to be an elegant and special place.  It has not lost its reputation. 

We had a reservation for 7:00 and were greeted warmly by the hostess who wished us “Happy Anniversary”, and showed us to our table.  We couldn’t imagine how they knew it was our anniversary until we saw a bottle of champagne chilling by our table. It was a gift that a dear friend had ordered to surprise us.

Our waitress joined in greeting us with anniversary wishes, poured our champagne, and told us about specials and additions to the menu.  We elected to have the all-inclusive meal for two ($200) which included everything one could want and more!

Our meal began with a charcuterie board appetizer, which could have been a meal in itself.  It had several delicious cheeses, meats, raw vegetables, stuffed dates, dips and crackers.  The appetizer was followed by a fresh and crisp house salad with a light lemony dressing.

After salad, our waitress came to tell us that the Tomahawk steak included in the inclusive meal was no longer available, and we could choose two smaller steaks as a substitute.  I chose a petite filet, and my husband chose a rib-eye.  Both were seasoned beautifully and were melt-in-you-mouth tender.  The side of asparagus was delicate and cooked perfectly accompanied by a red pepper coulis.

Dessert was a shared, beautifully presented flan in a caramel sauce.

The meal was, without a doubt, elegant, delicious and very special, and certainly fitting for an anniversary or other celebration.  However, when the bill came, our choices were itemized instead of being the $200 that we expected, and came to considerably more.  When we questioned the waitress, and then the manager about the discrepancy, we were told that the steaks we substituted were more expensive than the steak that was in the inclusive meal, and therefore, they had to charge us more.  If we had been told that ahead of time we might have chosen differently.  We most definitely would have skipped the dessert, as we were both very full by then.  The waitress’s exact statement was, “the tomahawk steak is sold out, but you can substitute two smaller steaks.”  The manager agreed to split the difference with us while agreeing that it was the waitresses’ error.

Michael’s accepts reservations and is open Tues-Thursday 5:00-9:30, Friday and Saturday 5:00-10:00, Sunday 5:00-9:30

The meal was fabulous, but the billing issue left a sour taste in our mouths.  Therefore, I am removing one Spoonbill away from what should have been a 5 spoonbill review.