My wonderful and beautiful daughter sent us a gift card for RH as an anniversary present. It was a very thoughtful gift because she knew that we write a date night blog and found a special rooftop experience near us to enjoy (thank you kiddo). Now, on to the experience.
Well, I think I found my limit of Boujee (slang for something “luxurious in lifestyle yet humble in character,”) and this was it. Only, I would describe it as missing the humble part. The funny part is we pulled up in a Ferrari and I still felt out of place here. My good friend Jason laughed when I told him about the experience and said, “you can buy the clothes but that doesn’t mean you will feel comfortable or fit in”. He was totally right.
Located in downtown West Palm Beach the RH building is 4 stories of retail, design and restaurant. They offer valet service, and the entrance is quite beautiful with a large water feature, big glass windows and oversized crystal chandeliers. The entrance is quite something and leaves a grand impression. I will admit that the building itself with an amazing aviary glass ceiling at the top is quite impressive.
We arrived early to walk through the design showrooms. They have everything organized by room design and inspiration. It occurred to me pretty quickly that everything seems to be duplicated side to side apparently to maintain balance and symmetry (I actually found it off putting, as if we are so simple minded that we cant handle an entire room design). While we did find some beautiful things, we also noticed that the prices were nothing short of outrageous (we noticed our master bedroom bedspread only it was RH brand and 10x the price we paid at Macy’s). We also noticed that this was a pattern for everything and seeing knock off designer brands (especially the lighting) with the RH brand (white label directly from China) with huge markups made me wonder why anyone would purchase anything here. As we were walking around, I noticed that many of the patrons were dressed in high style (as if this were a nightclub or somewhere to “show off” your designer clothes).
The check in area for the restaurant is on the fourth floor and is quite impressive. The main area has trees with chandeliers in them and a huge oversized chandelier hanging from the glass top ceiling. There are different styles for different sections of the restaurant, and we were seated in what seemed to be the wine cellar area. I get that they were going for romantic and comfortable but the lighting was so dim and the menu’s text was so small that I couldn’t read anything (It felt like it was a 5 font). They sat us in a small section with 4 other sets of customers and I immediately felt crowded and even though I am not overly concerned about Covid safety in most restaurants, this one made me uncomfortable. The seating (which was apparently intended to be more of a casual experience with couches and chairs you would put in a sitting area) was clearly more about look and design than comfort. I sat on the couch and my knees felt like they were in my chest because it was awkwardly short, the table was too small (like 24” round) and great for drinks but inappropriate for eating dinner, and all the seating was far too close together. I was immediately uncomfortable and confused and couldn’t understand why they would seat us in a crowded area when the main dining hall had many seats open (I got the feeling that they had judged us and sat us in the back corner). Overall, it was a very uncomfortable experience and I couldn’t hide my reaction and disappointment.
The waiter came over to make recommendations and get our drink order but I had difficulty hearing him because the overhead music was too loud and when I responded he apparently had the same problem and asked me to repeat myself (I found myself almost yelling at him). My wife noticed how uncomfortable I was and asked if I wanted to leave. My wonderful daughter set up this experience and I was determined to see it through. Hopefully, the food will make up for the rest…… Nope.
We ordered our drinks and quite frankly I don’t even remember what it was. We ordered Delice De Bourgogne cheese plate with strawberry preserve (which was good, albeit simple with one cheese and strawberry preserve, and probably the only thing I liked here) and the burrata. The cheese and tomatoes in the burrata were good (but that’s pretty hard to mess up) but the bread seemed to be more like toasted Wonder bread with a fake smokey flavor and left us confused. We also ordered the Lobster roll and had trouble fitting everything on the table. The lobster roll was good, not great, and I couldn’t understand why all the lobster was literally on top of the bread and almost none inside. And then I realized that they are more concerned about how something looks than how it tastes, overpriced mediocre products, food, and service, and that pretty much sums up our entire experience.
By now I was super uncomfortable and wanted to run out screaming. I clearly don’t belong here and am not nearly cool enough to find this a pleasant experience (my wife is a bit more boujee and cooler than me thought it was ok). Perhaps if I didn’t care about enjoying our experience, eating good food, or even sitting in a reasonably comfortable chair while not feeling underdressed or judged, I could have appreciated this experience.
Overall, it was a not so great and overpriced experience. We would suggest that you spend your precious time and money at one of the other great restaurants in the area.
Date Nights Palm Beach 