Rachel D.
Yelp
We had to give this one a 3, it just didn't live up to all of the great press. We came in for dinner on a Saturday night at around 5:45pm for our anniversary. It's a cozy looking interior, but I will say, it was actually pretty cold in there- most of the ladies in the restaurant kept jackets or coats over their shoulders. Our waitress was friendly, and she offered us a free drink since it was a special occasion. For food, between the 2 of us we ordered 9 of the dishes to share (they recommend about 3 dishes for each person). We got the white bean puree, the beets, oyster mushroom kebabs, trout, grilled sardines, ostrich, schnitzel, lamb neck shawarma, and chicken liver pate. Most of the food was okay, we just weren't especially blown away by anything, and most of it was overpriced for the quantity and originality of the food. For example, the mushrooms were tasty but there were 2 skewers, and literally you could finish the whole plate full in 1 bite... The beets were tasty, but I've basically created the same dish at home without even thinking, and it was way cheaper. The meats were good, our favorite being the lamb. Our favorite dish of the night was the trout which had a nice crispy skin, and the bed of lentils was a nice complement. The low of the meal was definitely the sardines. To be fair, our waitress did warn us that they come head and all, just simply grilled. My husband really disliked the dish. It didn't bother me as much, but my main gripe was that they were a little to big of fish to just chew the bones to stop you from choking, but they were a little small to definitively debone at the table... Just not something I'd put on the menu if this were my restaurant.
The food was just okay, but our overall experience was just sprinkled with small inconveniences. The actual dishes the food was served in were hard to get food out of (90 degree edges to the lips of the plates which would catch food in them; no spoon to clean a puree out of a bowl), and the silverware left much to be desired (the handle for the knives is so stupid. You'll see if you come here, it stacks with the fork pretty, but it's just clumsy to use. Also, definitely does NOT cut tougher meats. For example, the ostrich was nearly impossible to cut with the knives at the table, and they do not bring out a steak knife with that dish). Our last gripe was the pacing of the meal. Our waitress was very confident when she seated us that she would pace out the meal to make it a very enjoyable experience. Our first 3 or 4 dishes came out perfectly, just as we finished one, we received our next dish. The last 4 dishes were another story. We had a long lull of maybe 10 minutes without any food, got 2 dishes at once (we like each dish separately so we can finish each while it is still fresh and hot), had ANOTHER lull of at least 10 minutes, and then got our next 2 dishes at the same time. I wouldn't be as hard on them about that, except that the waitress seemed to take a lot of pride in how she thought she'd be able to pace the meal.
Overall, the food was fine. I just don't understand why this restaurant gets so much praise, especially when there are other restaurants like Jaja, Amba, Cordelia, and Zhug that are all small plates and have more memorable food as well as better value, as the plates at these other restaurants are more sizeable and more shareable. It's not bad, but I would not make a special trip to Lakewood to come here. I'd probably not recommend it to others, and I don't think I'll be back.