Am I extremely critical? You bet, but I am also fair, so keep that in mind when reading this review.
I originally bought a Groupon for Christie's to take my brother and the girl he'd was dating out. It's near them, and I thought it would be a good outing for them and my girlfriend. They ended things, so the Groupon just sat until another girl came into his life. I looked at scheduling something with them and to use the Groupon, but discovered it it expires that day. So, I found a couple of people that wanted a free meal and off we were.
I figured that the $59 for four entrees and two apps was a great deal, but like most things that seem to good to be true, it was. I was really disappointed in the food and ambiance here. The service was good, but could use a little bit of improvement.
The ambiance here is really bad and a couple of thousand dollars could really improve it. The lighting could use some upgrades, and the walls are bear. To really make an improvement, they should invest in taking over the terrace walkways that steals the windows from the restaurant. The architectural genius that designed this place must have gotten his degree at Middlesex Community college with barely passing grades and then went onto design that mistake of a mall: Meadowlands Xanadu. It's confined, drab, and you feel trapped.
The service was pretty good though, and I really can't complain about much. The place was empty (Monday night), so I would have liked a little more attention. We had to ask for refills, and that should be a given at a quality establishment. Plates were also left on the table too long after we finished. The staff did however react kindly and quickly to our requests for olive oil. One major downgrade in points was when one of my friends asked for ginger-ale. We were told that the soda dispenser was broken for the ginger-ale. I suggested that Walmart is right across the street. Management should be a little more forward thinking.
The food was a disappointment to me, but my friends enjoyed it... mind you they were getting a free meal. I had the shrimp and crab chowder, shrimp and scallops wrapped in bacon, and the rib-eye with asparagus and broccoli.
A movie quote from Top Gun ran through my mind while trying a few spoonfuls of the shrimp and crab chowder. Stinger: "And if you screw up just this much, you'll be flying a cargo plane full of rubber dog sh*t out of Hong Kong!" I'm usually eat anything, but this stuff was rubber dog sh*t. It had the consistency of jarred gravy and even had some underlining taste of it. That underling taste was overshadowed by what tasted like a puréed gym sock that was worn 10 weeks straight in a tropical climate in gym shoes that are almost falling apart. It was rancid, and I have never had a chowder this bad before. I had three spoonfuls and thought i would get sick eating the rest. This was the first time I have ever turned back food. I offered to pay for it, but they took it off the bill. That was a kind gesture, but it should have never come out of the kitchen in my opinion.
The scallops were delicious, but it only came with two of them. They were very sweet, and cooked perfectly. I was really turned off at this point though, so it was hard to get to the next level with me.
The main dish was okay, but for a steakhouse I was little disappointed. The meat could have been seasoned better. It was okay though considering the price though. Had I paid full price, I would have been extremely disappointed. Price shouldn't be relative in my experience here though. A Groupon is a way for an establishment to open the door to future business, and I really don't feel like Christie's earned it from me. read more