Restaurant Review

[TomDel]

My wife, son and I dined at Route 130 South American Grill and Sushi restaurant last evening. Unfortunately, it was a somewhat disappointing and expensive evening.

We arrived at our scheduled reservation time of 6:00 PM and were promptly seated in an almost empty dining room. The room and the interior in general are very nicely decorated and comfortable. After being seated, a young lady approached our table and asked if we would like water, which we did and were subsequently served. We assumed that she would be back in a minute or two with menus and ready to take our cocktail orders. After waiting fifteen or twenty minutes, it became apparent that this was not the case. Finally, I saw her, got her attention, and asked if we could order drinks. She informed us that she would get our waitress. After a few minutes, another young lady arrived and apologized for the delay indicating that there had been a mix-up in table assignments. I thought okay, no big deal, but this was a bad omen and preview of things to come. We ordered drinks which were good, and perused the menu.

We started with appetizers. My son had the crab cake that he thought was very good. My wife had the lobster bisque in lieu of an appetizer and also thought it was excellent. I had the baked oysters with crab meat and saffron mayonnaise. This had the potential to be outstanding but unfortunately arrived at room temperature. The four oysters topped with crab meat and mayonnaise were still good but could have been great had they arrived bubbling hot.

The salads that came with the entrees were nondescript, mainly chopped iceberg lettuce, and only available with Italian dressing.

My son and I both had the “8 + 8 Surf and Turf”, an eight oz. filet mignon and same weight lobster tail. I should have known better and asked what kind of lobster was being served. I expected a cold water Atlantic type and received what I believe was a S. American species. They’re not bad but nowhere near as tasty as a “Maine” lobster. The filet was okay but nothing like what you would expect to get at a good steak house. The potato wedges were virtually inedible. They were extremely overcooked and completely dried out on the inside. I can only conclude that they were reheated a number of times. The asparagus was okay but nothing special. My wife had the rack of lamb. She ordered it medium, expecting a warm pink center. It arrived extremely well done, almost the texture and doneness of pot roast. She indicated that otherwise, it was excellent lamb and probably would have been great if cooked properly. Her roasted potatoes were also dried out and overcooked. The tomato ratatouille was okay but nothing special.

For dessert, I had a Grand Marnier soufflé that was delicious. My son had a banana cake that he enjoyed. My wife passed. We finished things off with espresso and Sambuca. The espresso was okay, but didn’t have the creamy head of a really good brew. My son and I ordered doubles. They arrived in standard demitasse cups, not the larger “double” cup. When queried, our waitress assured us they were doubles. Not wanting to argue, we drank up asked for and paid the bill and then left.

I guess my main complaint had to be the service. Our waitress was a lovely and personable young lady who didn’t have a clue on how to be a professional server. Looking around, most of the wait staff seemed to be high school or college kids. Nothing wrong with that if they were trained properly, but apparently they weren’t, at least not our server. She couldn’t answer any questions regarding how some of the entrees or sides were prepared. We had to ask for a number of things that should have been standard with our order, e.g., steak knives, drawn butter for the lobster, a glass for a beer that I ordered!, a lemon peel for the espresso, et al. All of these omissions delayed our meal.

I hope this review doesn’t sound overly critical or petty. The service and food preparation would probably have been okay in a casual bar and grill type of place, but our expectations were that we were going to an upscale destination restaurant. It was certainly priced as such. I doubt that we’d go back any time soon. I might try it in six months or a year if the word of mouth from friends and published reviews were good. It certainly has the potential to be a great restaurant.

[TomDel]

Since my review of Route 130 South was rather critical of their food preparation and service, I think it only fair to point out that I forwarded the review to the restaurant’s owners and have since had a response from one of them.

I’ll paraphrase, but essentially she read my review and shared it with their management team and staff. She also thanked me for bringing to their attention the food and service shortcomings, which she agreed needed to be addressed. She assured me that they were working to correct these circumstances presently. She also indicated that they have recently had a management change for the better, and if we did come back soon we would be sure to notice a difference.

The owner seemed very sincere in her appreciation of the critique, both the positive and the negative. Only time will tell whether or not they’ll be able to reach the level of excellence that they profess to be striving for. I’ll certainly give them another shot in maybe a month or two. But I think I’ll try lunch or maybe the Tapas bar before I try dinner again.