Jeremy W.
Yelp
Since being named a semi finalist for the James Beard award, I have been eagerly waiting for an opportunity to dine at Heirloom with my family. Seeing that this is one of the few, if not the only, prefixes in Old Bridge, I had to take my Mom since she doesn't adventure much out of the city. Overall, my dining experience had a lot of ups and downs, but in the end, I decided to give this place 4 stars.
Upon entering, my brother, my Mom, and myself were warmly greeted by the maitre d, Amanda. We actually had a cool vibe going on and she even went above and beyond to get us a seat at the chef's table even though Resy showed no open spots. She is awesome.
After being seated center stage of the chef's counter, we were met by our server Noah. Noah didn't give me the greatest first impression. He quickly introduced the prefix to which I then was about to give him my order, but he stopped me, took my drink order, then promptly left. Shortly after, a newer employee discussed the drink menu to us. He spoke a bit fast, a little evident that he was new and trying to compose what he could off of memory. But, props to him for staying calm, he did great. Noah came back, took down the order, and was reciting things from the Resy, which I admittedly messed up because I hurried to make the reservation that day. I made 2 mistakes, I stated a shellfish allergy and a birthday, marked from a previously reservation I made. He made a remark that could have been delivered better. He said, "So you lied to me twice?" He seemed serious and a bit annoyed, which I didn't appreciate, but I gave it a pass because it was my bad and maybe he was having a rough day or his and my humor don't align. Okay great, let's get onto the food.
Bummer...there's a text limit, so I'm only giving ratings per dish. In case anyone is interested in hearing the full description for each dish, feel free to ping me. I also can't add the desserts because there's a photo limit too.
Bread Service:
Everything Spiced Bialys: (3/5)
First Course:
Baby Gem Lettuce: (5/5)
Scallop Crudo: (4/5)
Beef Tartare: (3.5/5)
I have to take a break here and mention a comment from our server that didn't rub me the right way. As Noah was collecting our plates, my brother decided to help out and start stacking dishes and silverware to give to him. As he was doing so, Noah stopped him and said "You're helping by not helping." My Mom didn't appreciate that comment and felt it was rude. I also was not a fan of that. It felt unprofessional. Maybe say it a better way if that was not your intention. Now I'm all eyes on him.
Second Course:
Spinach Agnolotti: (4/5)
Charred Hamachi: (4/5)
Banh Bo: (4/5)
Third Course:
Salmon: (4/5)
Duck: (5/5)
Pork Tenderloin: (3/5)
Fourth Course:
Chocolate Cremeux: (4.5/5)
Beet Velvet Cake: (5/5)
Thai Tea Cream Puff: (5/5)
To conclude on our server, Noah, he definitely left a sour taste in my mouth. Coming from a semi finalist of the James Beard Award, I would assume Heirloom would be as welcoming as Amanda, the front desk, and be prepared to go above and beyond to prove itself. His unprofessional comments transported me out of the fine dining experience, especially the comment "You're helping by not helping." The table felt belittled and felt he was being rude. I will say, halfway through the evening, he did become a little more professional and eventually would be replaced with a waitress whom I didn't catch the name. I would say, slap on the wrist and hope it was just an off day.
So overall, I felt Heirloom performed as expected. It is a nice experience for locals to get a taste of what a prefixe is and to experience fine dining. Is Heirloom "Michelin" worthy? Personally, no. It needs to address a few things to be considered, but maybe that's not their goal and that's okay. (As a side note, a restaurant needs to be in a Michelin city to achieve a Michelin star, so Heirloom, no matter how good it gets, will not officially get a star because of location). Maybe it was this particular prefix, but for me food was good for the area and demographic. If you were thinking of trying their pricier menus, I would maybe put some more thought into it. I feel at that price, I personally would spend it a little more north. And if you were to go, you can't go wrong with the chefs counter, or even the bar table. It's a tad warm at the counter. It's a really cool experience and definitely a great conversation starter.