“When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist.”
― Dom Helder Camara, Dom Helder Camara: Essential Writings
I wanted to go with my husband and long time college friends for an outdoor brunch and we decided to try this place. (They are big foodies, just like yours truly :)) This place is located in Weehawken, NJ on top of the ENVUE Hotel. It is a rooftop restaurant that has beautiful views of Manhattan and the Hudson River. Chef Marcus Samuelsson is the owner. (Chef Samuelsson is the acclaimed chef, cookbook author, TV personality, philanthropist and food activist behind the iconic New York City restaurant Red Rooster Harlem and Marcus B+P in Newark.) His menu is inspired by locally sourced seasonal items from local farms and suppliers.
Starting with the appetizers… the best one was the Mac and Cheese! The taste was creamy, warm, and delicious! The pieces of lobster were generous and paired nicely with the creaminess of the cheese. The Cornbread was not out of this world, but it had a nice, moist taste. The honey butter for the cornbread… amazing! So creamy and light with a touch of sweetness from the honey. I felt the butter elevated the muffin. The Watermelon Salad… loved the freshness of the watermelon and vegetables! It is a perfect summer salad. The Broccoli was cooked well and the buffalo sauce had a nice kick. However, there was supposed to be a taste of coconut, but I and none of my guests tasted any of the coconut flavor.
On to the Entrees. The best one that was popular with our party was the pancakes. They were soft and moist. The combination of the fresh berries and the white chocolate was perfect. The homemade whip cream added a nice touch as well. The cornbread waffles from both the Ed Slam and the Fried Chicken dish were amazing! The waffles were crispy on the outside yet soft on the inside. The cornbread flavor of the waffle was buttery and sweet. Delicious!! Unfortunately, the Fried Chicken that accompanied waffle was very dry and it lacked flavor. The rest of the Ed Slam was ok, but the sausages and bacon were prepared nicely. The Baller Roll bread was “ok,” but the crab/lobster filling was good and not heavily soaked in mayonnaise.
Unfortunately, our overall experience was not spectacular. The time we went was not at all crowded, yet the service was a bit lacking. For example, I ordered a drink called the Lavender Spritz. Unfortunately, a good time had passed and I still didn’t have my drink. Then our server finally approached us and said they were out of Lavender. While it’s definitely possible the server did not know about the lack of Lavender, it took a VERY long time to get that info back to the table. This happened quite a few times when we asked for something. It just seemed uncoordinated. The staff was very friendly… just seemed overwhelmed on a day when it wasn’t too busy.
Our entrees were not delayed, however they made several mistakes with some of our parties’ dishes. One of our guests is lactose intolerant, and he informed the waitress of his allergies and worked out a perfect dish. However when his dish arrived, there was cheese on it. Another member of our party is allergic to garlic. She also informed our waitress and the waitress stated that the dish she ordered had no garlic. However, when our meals were delivered her meal was missing. The server informed her the reason it was missing was that there was garlic in her dish. This was something that should have been known prior to her ordering the dish. It’s a miscommunication between front of the house and the kitchen. I will say, even though there were several mistakes, the staff and management did all they could to rectify the errors in our dining experience. Beautiful place for the scenery and the ambiance. However, I’m not sure if I would return for this dining experience. It wasn’t a terrible experience, but there were a bit too many misfires for me to return. Thanks for reading my review and continue to chomp away!
-Chomping Chica_