Sirenuse Euro Bistro - What Are They Thinking?

January 19, 2009

There's a new place hidden in the Woodlands' Waterway Square: Sirenuse Euro Bistro.

We stopped by recently on the way to a film. After browsing the menu and listening to the waiter, we were put off by the level of pretentiousness, especially from a brand-new restaurant. The menu is filled with prose describing the wonder that is Sirenuse... and they've just opened.

Example: There were some interesting pastas on the menu, such as a butternut squash mezzalune, for $12. When I expressed interest, the waiter said that it was an appetizer portion, and that if I wanted it as an entree, he'd double the size... and of course, double the price, he added helpfully.

I asked how big the regular portion was: "Four ounces" was his reply. I was shocked. It's not as if pasta is a particularly expensive ingredient, so why the miniscule portion? (And if they knew the tiny portion was a problem, why not address it, without doubling the price to the customer?)

Another example: Their web site has an "About" page, with a "Background & Story" section. I'd hoped to learn something about the team behind the restaurant; perhaps their culinary credentials, or where they'd come from?

Nope. But here's the useful stuff I did find:

A lesson on how to pronounce the restaurant's name (if you've gotta teach this to your customers, you've picked the wrong name)

A story about the Roman legend of Jason and the Argonauts, and the Sirens that tempted them.

Oops. Jason was a part of Greek mythology, not Roman. And this confused story tells me nothing about the restaurant

So we've got dreadfully overpriced pasta, an undisguised sheen of pretentiousness, and a back story that the owners don't seem to have bothered to research.

Amazing.

I've never had this sort of surreal experience in a restaurant before, and hopefully never will again. I thanked our waiter for his time, and we headed over to the Goose's Acre for a good meal without the attitude.

Side note: The OTHER brand-new restaurant in Waterway Square, Hubble and Hudson, had an hour wait for a table. Sirenuse was 80% empty. Just a coincidence?

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