At a recent Yelp Elite event (shout out to the Elites out there), a fellow Elite shared her…read moreexperience in Calistoga and mentioned visiting an establishment called Robert's Tropical Table. With excitement in her eyes, she described the delicious tropical-inspired cocktails with good vibes to match. Since I had an upcoming birthday, I bookmarked the restaurant so that we would remember to visit it during our stay in Calistoga.
After arriving in Calistoga on a Friday evening, my wife and I thought that it would be appropriate to have dinner and drinks at Robert's. Upon walking through the entrance of the restaurant, we observed a nice backyard-style layout with televisions tuned to the NBA playoffs, patrons enjoying glasses of wine, and a DJ playing smooth yacht rock tunes. A friendly employee informed us that it was open seating, so we sat ourselves along the padded seating in close proximity to the DJ. Shortly afterwards, a server came by to take our orders.
My wife ordered the short rib, garlic fries, and the Sip It Slowly cocktail; I ordered the Jamaican Jerk Chicken, Dumplings (suggested by the server), and the Jerk Old Fashioned. While we awaited our orders, the server brought us a delicious miniature size soup - which was absolutely delicious and definitely a tease! Shortly after, our drinks arrived. I found my drink to be delicious, strong, and was intrigued by the flavor that the little piece of submerged jerky provided. However, I will admit that I was a bit jealous when I snuck a couple sips of my wife's delicious cocktail.
Up until the arrival of our meals, I was impressed. My wife found the short ribs to be just ok; additionally, her fries were lukewarm upon arrival and dry (as if they were overcooked). I have had Jamaican jerk chicken in Jamaica, so my expectations were very high. Unfortunately, the chicken was not flavorful and did not have the "kick (spice)" that I anticipated. Surprisingly, the highlight here was the dumplings (delicious!) and the Hint of Passion cocktail that I ordered (if I had a signature drink- this would be it!).
I really should have listened to my intuition when we initially observed that a majority of the other patrons were just indulging in drinks, no food. When our server brought us the bill totaling roughly $160, I couldn't help but feel like the food was not in alignment with the price point. I wanted so badly to like this establishment, but honestly could not see myself returning for anything other than one of their cocktails.