I took my wife to Vlado's for her birthday expecting big things from the restaurant's reputation and fixed price to boot. On arrival, the small converted terrace house was packed to the rafters with a stressed waiter informing us that our reserved table was upstairs. We made our own way up to a small room where yet more people were crammed in. Granted, the setting could have given an intimate and authentic dining feel, the place was just too damn busy at the time to even think. Not a minute after we sat down, the waiter slapped down a sausage for each of us on an empty plate. This I discovered was to be the first course. There appeared to be a salad in the middle of the table that was present before we arrived. It looked tired, unimpressive and not fitting of a reputable restaurant. The 'second course' came in the form of liver, hamburger patties and some diced steak, again slapped on an empty plate without garnish or any other thought. The meat was well cooked and had a fine texture but was unfortunately only warm by the time it reached the table. For the third course we had a choice of steaks which was a nice touch. The waiter displayed each of the raw meats and we made our choice. 40 minutes later I asked what the delay was and received two steaks almost dropped on our table by a disgruntled waiter without a word. Again, the steak was amazingly well cooked with an incredible texture but was warm like the previous course. After seeing two other couples walk out without receiving their mains, we decided it was time for us to leave as we suspected the average sounding dessert would most likely be just that. Unlike the couples mentioned, we proceeded to pay our bill of $204 (set menu with two glasses of wine). I mentioned to the waiter that, while the food was to a good standard the service was very poor. The cherry on top was the waiter's smug response of "well we can't serve what we haven't cooked"! I'm blown away by the amount of favourable reviews this restaurant has received, it is an absolute lemon of a steakhouse relying on its good name and location.

Approximate cost: $94