Bin189

Bin 189 is located inside the Lake Arrowhead resort - a posh hotel nestled right at the edge of the lake. The restaurant is decorated in a similar... more

as THE resort of lake arrowhead, i came here for sunday brunch (no buffet) after reading some good reviews. overall, i i left fairly disappointed b... more

Upon entering the restaurant, we were excited about the beautiful lake view and feeling of an upscale breakfast experience. The hostess told us that they were slow that morning, so it shouldn't take long to get breakfast. With only four tables of people and five servers/wait staff walking around, we sat there for 10 minutes and were never acknowleged. I eventually had to flag a guy down and ask for coffee. We ordered at that time because we were worried it would be even longer if we didn't. After that I had to flag down a girl to get a hot chocolate that was brought and slammed down on the table. it was the worst hot chocolate ever. Foamy and cold. Once our food was brought over, the fruit plate was sour and my waffle was cold. When our server finally appeared and asked how everything was, he seemed confused when we told him the fruit was sour. All in all, the service was the worst we have experienced anywhere and the food was a joke. I am still in disbelief about our experience there. Pros: Beautiful Lake View Cons: Food and service more

as THE resort of lake arrowhead, i came here for sunday brunch (no buffet) after reading some good reviews.... more

Bin 189 is located inside the Lake Arrowhead resort - a posh hotel nestled right at the edge of the lake.... more

If only the food matched the service. My wife and I had dinner at Bin 189 last week. The service was very pleasant and attentive, although a bit amateurish. I found the menu incongruous and unimaginative. The menu is the same for lunch and dinner, and I would suggest the restaurant would be better served with a more extensive dinner menu. Sandwiches and burgers do not belong in this setting for dinner and should be left to the lunch menu. We shared a wine flight of what was advertised as ?big reds?, but two of the three wines were completely undrinkable. There is no excuse for having this poor quality of wine on a wind list or serving it at any price in a restaurant with a wine theme. I had gumbo as an appetizer and it was quite good, but well oversized for a first course. My wife had a Cesar salad that was the single worst rendition of this that either of us has tasted in about 3 decades of eating this type of salad. It did not taste of lemon or quality olive oil. There was no cheese on it. It simply tasted of unseasoned romaine lettuce and cheap vegetable oil. Frankly I could not find anything on the menu I wanted to eat. I ended up ordering a New York Steak out of fear of ordering anything else listed. It was certainly a nice piece of meat, but smeared with roasted garlic paste, which I did not think was an appropriate garnish. It was served over pasty mashed potatoes that could have used the roasted garlic to spiff them up a bit. My wife had a flat iron steak that was nicely presented and well enjoyed. The setting is quite lovely, and again the service attentive, but the menu and its execution definitely need work. Pros: Great view, pleasant service. Cons: Incongruous menu, poor execution of food. more

Granted, it was only 1 week after the big fires they had in the Arrowhead area but this does not excuse the quality of the food served that night. Seems as if Chef Redhead was seriously challenged in the seasoning department that night. We had the Meze, Corn Chowder, Meat Loaf, Salmon and the Lamb. \r The Hummus with the Meze tasted like the Costco version, the egg plant ""puree"" was sticky sweet. Same goes for the Meat Loaf and the Corn Chowder (overly sweet). The Lamb was bland and the fried bell pepper rings seemed a 100% mismatch. The Salmon turned out to be the winner of the evening. In general the menu was boring, uninspired and why a Ruben Sandwich makes it on the menu is beyond comprehension. Nobody in our party could find a theme in the menu. Excellent wine list (though the first 2 bottles I ordered were not in stock which was blamed on the fires and delivery problems. A bit hard to believe with US$140 bottles of wine). Very heavy on California wines, which is great. Staff generally nice, yet a bit on the slow side. The bar seemed very well stocked. Based on the experience we had that night I would not recommend BIN 189. Maybe the kitchen had a ""night off"". I will check back for more reviews and maybe we will give them another chance. Pros: Wine list, decor, out side seating Cons: Quality of food more

I have been to Bin 189 twice, once for lunch and once for dinner. Both meals were phenomenal.\r For lunch I had a seared Ahi sandwich on niscoise olive bread- which I was told was baked in house- . The bread was absolutely perfect and made it one of the best sanwiches ever- the crust was crunchy but not too thick and the olives were pronounced without being overbearing and all was balanced by a rich, nutty-delicate yeastiness. For dinner my wife and I shared many fine dishes, but for me the stand out was a beef tenderloin with bordelaise-normally a yawner except the bordelaise was the best I have seen and tasted in years. The plate came with a generous layer of sauce which was so glossy and concentrated it resembled black lacquer (that level of sheen in a sauce takes time and care- a rushed sauce quickly becomes cloudy and dull) yet still tasted vibrant and juicy.\r The decor and mis en place (plates, flat & stemware etc.) were all superlative- thouroughly contemporary yet evincing a mountain charm. Throughout our meal I noted no less than seven different brands of plateware which, like the sauce from the kitchen, demonstrates a keen focus on detail.\r The one dark spot on both of my encounters was the service, however, being intimitely familiar with the service in the mountain communities this is par for the course. As they say: ""You can take a waitress out of the diner, but you can't take the diner out of the waitress"".\r Case in point: when I recieved my steak knife for the above mentioned filet it had dried food matter on the handle. When I asked my server for a new one, one was brought out that was not polished. At this point, not wanting to appear overly anal-retentive (which I am) I asked a different server for a new one. When the second server brought me a new one I was brought the one that I had rejected in the first place!\r Overall, however, for Lake Arrowhead, Bin 189 is right on point. Pros: world class decor Cons: working class service more