Valerie R.
Yelp
We went to Kubel's for the first time on 9/16/2023, as it was close to our rental house and seemed like a good low key choice for our first night.
Got seated right away in the dining room and had drink orders taken. We ordered appetizers - French onion soup for my husband and a cup of lobster bisque for me. The French onion soup was fantastic! Rich beef broth and lots of cheese, just how my husband likes it. The lobster bisque was...terrible. It looks like pudding, it was far too thick, it was bland and not anything like lobster bisque should be. I knew it was lobster bisque due to the one solitary piece of lobster suspended in the thick goo.
Salads came with the meal and were fine. We had to ask for bread in order to get it. Meals came while we were still eating salads, huge pet peeve.
Oh the meals. It took a major turn to nasty town at this point. My husband's beef stroganoff was supposed to be "tender beef tips" but they were chewy and had a gross flavor. The sauce on the pasta was terrible and flavorless. He tried adding salt, but it was still inedible. He took a couple bites and left the rest.
My "paella" was not in fact paella. Paella is a specific dish always prepared the same way, with saffron turning the rice yellow, and cooked in a pan until the rice is crispy. This was some sort of seafood stew in a soupy tomato broth with white rice mixed in. The scallops and shrimp were over cooked. It was all entirely flavorless. Not at all what I anticipated and not a good surprise. And not at all worth $38.
Service was good. They didn't appear to be short staffed, as some other places on the island are in September. Lots of staff, everyone hustling. Our server was good, I actually feel bad for her that she spends her day serving people this terrible food.
Our total before tip was $124, which is insane given the lack of quality in food preparation. This food was terrible, other than the French onion soup. They want to charge upscale prices, but serve subpar food. Stick to burgers or something like that if you must go here. Not sure why they offer items on the menu that they clearly can't execute. It's not like I special ordered something that they've never made before, these were menu items ordered as is with no modifications. And, the guy who sat with us told us the specials were "where it's at" and we had to try them. Falser words were never spoken. I'd never go there again.