The Bungalow Kitchen Tiburon

Vibrant and busy at sunset on a Saturday night. Beautiful room, full patio at 5. Great service, elegant presentation, terrific food, we had sea bass and panko crusted sole, fun ambiance. Wonderful evening. Will return.

We live within a 4 minute drive to The Bungalow Kitchen Tiburon. We’ve been there, probably 10-15 times since they opened. Of course the food is delicious. What do you expect from a Michael Mina restaurant. So that gets 5 stars right off the bat. It’s delicious and constantly so.One of the other amazing things about this place is the ambience. They play the absolutely best music of any restaurant I’ve ever been in. The couches are amazing and the view can’t be beat. At its best this restaurant is terrific. We’ve gotten to know some of the staff; mainly the front door and waitstaff because we’ve been there so often. When it’s all working it can feel like your sitting in gorgeous restaurant or your friends living room over looking the Bay watching the setting sun reflecting off The buildings in The City eating amazing food with great friends.The service, that’s another thing altogether. The problem comes when they get busy. Twice now we’ve had to walk out on a meal after sitting for over 90 minutes and still not receiving our entrees.The first time this happened to us was about 9 months when, after sitting for almost 2 hours waiting for our main course to arrive, and having asked several times about where our food was and still nothing, we decided to leave. That time we did stop at the front desk to offer to pay before we walked out. Correctly, they “ comped” the meal and we took it with us because somehow they scrambled and miraculously got the food finished before we left. That time the waiter was very sympathetic but the management were nowhere to be found. It felt almost like they were hiding from us.The last time when the exact same thing happened, which was last night, we just walked out. This time the order was screwed up too. The waiter brought the amuse-bouche not at the start of the meal but after our starters… weird, but ok. Then we waited. And waited. And waited until, after asking the waiter and a manager twice what was going on with our food and both of them deciding go “ say hi” to another table before even pretending to go to the kitchen to check, we just left. We were told “ it will come out when it comes out…” not very sympathetic. We felt like they didn’t give a rats “ you know what” about us or our experience in their restaurant.Unfortunately, in my earlier life, I spent several years working in fine dining restaurants Wolfgang Puck, Jeremiah Tower) so I know how it should be done and it was not like that. We go to Bungalow Kitchen for a meal on a fairly regular basis and for many others it’s a special occasion which means they don’t mind waiting and drinking and waiting some more. Not so when it’s two people and it’s just our Saturday night dinner out.The other problem is inconsistent staff . New people all the time so chances are your waiter will be new and still “ figuring things out” which means s/he’s afraid of the line cooks and the chef so too timid to go do whatever it takes to get the food out . When you frequent a restaurant often, it’s nice when the staff recognize you and at least say hi….. you don’t want to feel like your money or the fact that you’re choosing to go back over and over again means nothing to them.In the early days of BK the meal would go very well, food service etc, but then once the dessert order was taken we’d never see our waiter again. That’s fixed, thankfully, and when they’re not super busy it is a great place to enjoy a night out. Sadly, they still haven’t figured out the service piece well enough to offer the same consistent service when they’re busy.So I say absolutely go and enjoy The Bungalow Kitchen when it’s not so busy . Mid-week or Sunday or even a Friday night. But if it’s busy or they’ve got large tables of guests tables of 6,8,10 or 12) stay away because as a smaller table of two, chances are very good that you’ll just get lost in the shuffle. And that doesn’t feel good to anyone.

The staff was especially attentive and the food was delicious, as always. Thank you!Dietary restrictions: When you make a reservation here they give you the option to input dietary restrictions. Neat!

Exceptional restaurant and bar on the main floor with the most beautiful lounge area upstairs where there are views of the water and the San Francisco skyline. The lounge has a pool table, and a DJ was playing on a Saturday night. Thanks to the maitre 'd for being such a great host!

Upon seating, we were given one cocktail/wine menu to be shared amongst the four of us. It was a robust menu, so it felt like there was a bit of urgency to make a decision and then pass it on. The first round was fine, expensive cocktails, but pretty. We ordered appetizers which the server spaced out nicely. The Caesar salad, which we were told was easily shareable, was very run of the mill, even though the server's description made it sound elevated. The “onion” dressing/crema was buried under the little romaine boats. The lobster toast was good. The server heard us talking about the duck wings and very generously brought us an order. The second round of drinks were ordered but off menu—a couple mezcal margaritas, and one of our party asked for a glass of Chardonnay. The server recommended two, and in a 5 or 9 ounce pour. The entrees were mixed. The phyllo crusted sole was delicious. The chicken was very dry, and it's described as having gnocchi as part of its accompaniment. There were very few pieces of gnocchi, and they were not exceptionally flavorful. With the last round of drinks with the entrees, another one of our party requested a glass of Merlot, and again the server recommended two. It was fine—nothing exceptional but a solid red. Our server also brought dessert free of charge. When the bill arrived, we were surprised to see a $99 and $60+ (I can't remember the exact amount) charge. Upon conferring with our server, it turned out that the two-9oz wines that he recommended, but never pointed out on the one cocktail/wine menu provided, were the culprit. It didn't feel good and it left us disappointed.