Dining With Roaches 🪳
My wife asked to go to Sunset Monalisa for our anniversary.
$400 USD later, we’re booked for the premium ‘Ocean Terrace’ experience right before sunset.
The Scene…
We showed up 25 minutes early, but the hostess was able to seat us right away.
On the walk to our “exclusive” experience, we passed tables with incredible 360° ocean views…honestly the best seats in the house.
Then we head down a flight of stairs and land on a narrow platform with four “love nests” tucked against the rocks.
Picture woven stick pods with a curved bench and a tiny table that feels more like a coffee table than a place to dine.
The view was stunning!
The bay, the Arch, the whole postcard scene.
But look to your left, or to your right, or behind you, or above you and everything is completely blocked (Including the ocean breeze) by the stick box you’re in.
Cute idea, poor execution.
The Experience…
The servers here are excellent.
Polished, professional, genuinely great at their jobs.
The food? Good… not great.
We each had the four-course tasting menu and tried six different dishes.
But you don’t come to a place like Sunset Monalisa just for the food- you come for the experience.
And that’s why I’m writing this.
The Roaches…
Our ocean terrace table (aka roach nest) was right next to the rock wall that borders the water.
After sunset, this area gets pretty dark and you only have a tiny table light.
During our second course, I noticed little black shapes darting between the rocks.
No big deal at first - we’re outdoors, bugs happen.
Then the third course arrives, and the fun begins.
A huge cockroach drops from the ceiling of our ‘roach nest’ right onto my wife’s shoulder.
She screams, jumps up, and the roach slides down her dress and ends up between her foot and her heels.
Luckily, she kicks it out before it gets smashed inside her heel.
The waiter rushes over, we explain what happened.
He apologizes sincerely, and brings over a female manager.
We explain everything again, and she honestly didn’t seem to care.
After she leaves, I turn on my flashlight to check around the cushions and under the bench. *see videos
There are roaches everywhere!
The waiter returns just in time to see one crawling out from under the cushions we were just sitting on.
He’s horrified. We’re horrified.
He immediately moves us to a well-lit, normal table — but at that point, we just wanted the night to be over.
We ask for the check.
They give us a 10% discount 😂
We pay, we tip, and we leave.