Monte

We had a truly spectacular experience at Monte. It saddens me to see the obvious spam reviews. That said, every expertly prepared dish showcased Chef Martins talent. An amalgam of flavor and art came through all 8 courses. What Monte is doing is truly spectacular and unlike anything else in Salt Lake. I hope they get the Michelin recognition they deserve!

My husband and I came here for my Valen birthday and were extremely disappointed! We have covered all of the lower 48 states and have eaten at a multitude of restaurants ranging from your local mom and pop dive all the way up to extremely high-end meals. Monte hit well on presentation, service and atmosphere however the food flavor was extremely underwhelming and at times almost inedible. We got the eight course tasting menu. Our top favorites were the homemade sourdough bread, the pallet cleanser drink made with Anaheim Peppers , cucumber and kiwi, and the best course of all was the dessert which came with a smoked goat cheese gelato which was definitely named wrong because it's far from gelato (I've been to Italy) and you could not taste the smoked goat cheese it was primarily cinnamon ice cream but still tasted good. A few of the worst dishes was the lamb loin that was nearly raw and extremely chewy so chewy that I could not even finish that course ( my husands lamb was 30% fat so that turned his 3 bites into 2), the venison tartar had zero texture or flavor and just tasted like raw ground hamburger. The butter poached scallop also lacked not only seasoning but texture in the dish as well. The take on the French onion soup was also underwhelming. The last dish I can think of off the top of my head was the charcoal beignet stuffed with rabbit and that was probably the worst bite of the night! It only tasted like charcoal that's it no seasonings, no flavor, no texture it was mushy I would never put that thing in my mouth again LOL. And to be honest without pulling up my pictures which I will attach to the review there's a few dishes I don't even remember. I did spend the extra $80 on the wine pairing which for me personally was the best part of the entire meal every wine was delicious however , it was advertised as 2 oz per wine but being a wine drinker they were definitely only 1 oz pours with the final wine being an actual 2 ounce pour ( but it's a shame that none of that was produced by the chef himself but out of a bottle. Also keep in mind they do charge $10 for bottled water after all was said and done are total bill was $600 and absolutely not worth it!!! We've spent well over that amount at La Caille in the past and we're much happier. If you're going purely for the art and the visual of your dish then this is a great spot , if you're going for flavor and texture I would probably look elsewhere. I had seen a few reviews on Instagram which is how I heard about this place (from some of the Foodies in the valley) saying that this will be Utah's first Michelin star restaurant and I couldn't disagree more and will definitely rethink the reviews I get from social media.