Eating Out

Watercress, Ithaca, NY
http://www.watercressithaca.com/
Price: $$$
Cuisine: Eclectic
American?

General
Recommendation: If you don’t go out to eat a lot, I wouldn’t recommend this restaurant-
there are several better restaurants around here. However, if you’ve already been to most of
those and you’re looking for something new, the food’s decent and the servers
are very nice. 

A friend discovered this place recently and no one I’ve
talked to has ever heard about it. It’s
been open for about a year now and it has only just gotten on to our
radar. I went with four of my girl
friends on a Tuesday night around 9 and there were two other tables with people
at them and though it was late, it seems like we’re not the only people who
haven’t heard of this place. It’s in a
weird location (just past the Triphammer Mall) and the sign is tiny. You may have driven past it before and never
noticed it. It’s a pretty good sized
place and there is plenty of parking there, however.

The Food:

The menu offered quite a bit of variety which is why I’m not
exactly sure what to call the cuisine. There are fish, steak, chicken, and vegetarian options, though most
items contained fish of some sort. The
restaurant uses a lot of locally-grown produce and organic items. The quality of the food was fine but no one
raved about any of their own dishes once during our entire meal. I see this as a pretty strong sign that none
of the food was offensive but everyone had definitely had better before.

Here are details on our order:

First Course: Soup
Special (tomato and pesto), watercress salads
The soup came in a large bowl and was a lot of soup. It was tasty but it was heavy and would have
been better as a smaller portion. The
salads were good sized and well received.

Second Course:
Fettucini with mussels, crab cakes (appetizer), swordfish special, salmon
I actually enjoyed my fettucini quite a bit- the sauce was
good and there were plenty of mussels in the dish. Two of the people I was with ordered the
appetizer crab cakes for their main entrée. The cakes were reasonably sized (2 per order, each about 3 or 4 inches
across and fairly thick) and they came with a fairly spicy sauce that was a
little much for one of my friends- it was a lot of the same taste. This would have been a better dish to order
as an actual appetizer (not an entrée) and share with one or two other
people. The two fish entrees were fine-
though I hear that the swordfish was better.

Dessert: Flourless
chocolate cake, bread pudding, orange frozen thing
We were having a good time talking so we ordered
dessert. The menu had some interesting
options which was fun. The cake was
pretty standard- good, rich, and appropriate in size. I didn’t try the bread pudding but those who
like bread pudding said it was good. The
orange frozen dessert hit mixed reviews- it was quite good at first but the
immediate aftertaste was a strange spice that sort of burned the throat. It was certainly one of the strangest
desserts I’d ever had and most people couldn’t really eat it. 

Drinks:

Fairly small wine list, but choices were fine and the prices
were reasonable. The red options were better
than the white options and we ordered a bottle of red that was quite good. They also had a variety of different beers,
including some interesting micro-brews. See “Service” section for notes on pouring the wine.

The Service:

Though the service broke several rules, they were pleasant
and didn’t rush us out, even though we were the last table eating. Unfortunately, the broken rules made the
overall experience a bit less pleasant. First, they cleared plates while others were eating. Obviously some of us were eating faster than
others (that’s what happens when people order appetizers for dinner), but it
just became more obvious when the plates were cleared quickly. Secondly, they didn’t keep water glasses
full- I was so thirsty all dessert! It
would have been fine if he left a carafe of water at our table since we were a
“larger” group but we only saw water come by once. 

I also had issue with the way they poured the wine. Basically, they over-poured the wine in all
the glasses and left a tiny amount in the bottle. This was annoying because I had received the
smallest of the pours and didn’t want to look like I was hogging all the wine
by pouring myself some more but any pour out of the bottle was going to be the
rest of it. I do NOT condone overpouring
wine at all- in fact I’d almost prefer an underpour- but the way he served the
wine was just unpleasant overall. 

I have no complaints about silverware and we all had bread
plates. They had hummus and oil dipping
sauces so we didn’t really need a knife (but with 5 people, two plates of
dipping sauces would have been appropriate). And we had no problems splitting the bill- our server even brought them
out individually as they ran and had plenty of pens for us.

The Atmosphere:

The atmosphere of the restaurant
was kind of strange. It’s a big space
and you sit in a big, open room. We had
crayons on our table- there was brown paper on the table tops to write/draw on-
which was kind of strange. The walls
were nice (sponged gold/orange color). In
general- it was like the owner couldn’t commit to a look. It could use a more intimate setting or less
so- it was too casual feeling for the menu. If it wants to be a more family space, booths and more noise-absorbent
things would have been more appropriate. To be more fancy, a dimmer, more intimate space would have been
appropriate. There is also a bar at the
front of the restaurant, apart from the dining area which is a neat idea-
though I’m not sure anyone uses it. It’s
a good spot to have if the restaurant became popular and there was a wait- it
keeps the noise away from the dining room and was nice looking- I wouldn’t mind
hanging out in there for a few minutes if I ever found myself in there again.

Dijon Bistro, Ithaca, NY

http://www.dijonbistro.com/Menu.html
Price: $$$
Cuisine: French
General
Recommendation: Pretty good but don’t worry if you don’t get there for a while. Probably best for a date or with a group of
3-5 friends. You’ve had better
everything elsewhere but for a small town, it’s a nice change of pace.

Everybody’s been talking about Dijon lately. It’s new- it opened in November, 2006 and
apparently people are just starting to go there and the common view is that
it’s quite good. We went on Saturday
night around 8:00- there were 4 of us and we didn’t have reservations. It’s a small-ish restaurant so we had to wait
for about a half hour for a table and since they appear to only have a beer and
wine license, we ordered a bottle of white while we waited. I recommend reservations as there is not
really an appropriate waiting area for you to stand around in.

The Food:

In general, the food was good. The size of the courses was large- you do not
need to order as much food as we did- and the entrees were all very good
sized. Some of the things we ordered did
not taste like the classic versions of what we were expecting but overall, the
quality of the food was nice- it wasn’t heavy like some French food can be and
we certainly were served plenty of food. We probably could have stopped at just the appetizers- none of us were
really hungry enough for our entrees- so we didn’t order dessert. The menu looked pretty good for dessert,
however.

Here are details on our order:

First Course: Mussels, Frites, Steak Tartare, &
Pate. For some reason, our waiter
felt that because we had some white wine in our glasses when we sat down, he
insisted we order mussels and frites to start with. So we did. There were a lot of mussels- more than enough for the 4 of us- and there
were plenty of frites as well. Though
according to the menu the mussels come prepared in the standard way, these had
a tremendous amount of parsley that really overtook the plate.  More wine and garlic and much less parsley would
have improved this dish. So ordering the
frites was somewhat of a waste since we didn’t really enjoy dipping them in the
sauce. The steak tartare was large and,
as usual in restaurants, came with very few toasts- however the bus boy
immediately brought us more when we asked which was nice. The steak tartare itself had much more of a
pickle-y taste and less of the dijon and egg mixture that I’m used to which was
unfortunate- I probably wouldn’t order it again. The pate, however, was a good choice. It was a decent sized piece and it wasn’t too
creamy. I recommend the pate when you
go- but be sure to order some toasts or extra bread- it didn’t come with
anything to spread it on other than the starter bread you get which was kind of
odd.

Second Course:
Chicken Pot Pie, Braised Short Ribs, & Hangar Steak. I really have no complaints about this
course. All the entrees were huge (the
pot pie was more than twice the size of a regular one) and it seemed like everyone
in the restaurant was carrying out food to-go when they left- we did as
well. The Short Ribs were a special on
Saturday night- you can view their nightly specials online- and they were quite
good. The steak was prepared well and
the pot pie wasn’t too heavy.

Drinks:

As I mentioned earlier, it looks like Dijon only has it’s
beer and wine license. Their wine list
isn’t longer than a page but they do offer a nice variety of wines at
reasonable prices. We were pleasantly
pleased by the suggestion our server made for our red wine based on what the
group had ordered for dinner and enjoyed the white wine we started with as
well. Another interesting thing to note
with regard to drinks is that the water was flavored with fresh lemon which was
a nice and pleasant surprise. More
restaurants should do that.

The Service:

This is probably what will make or break Dijon. I wish it were not true, but they did manage
to break two of The 5 Basic Rules. There
were no bread plates. Interestingly
enough, however, instead of leaving us with a bread basket, the server brought
over butter (in a tiny cast iron pan which was cute) and then placed a slice of
bread on the paper-covered table in front of us. This helped me know that it was apparently
okay to put my bread on the table. Unfortunately, there was no butter knife so all four of us had to use
our knives to get the butter out of the tiny butter pan. They also neglected our wine glasses the
entire dinner. This rule is half broken
because the bus boy (who was excellent- quiet, quick and helpful), kept our
water glasses full the entire time. But
we did pour our own wine throughout the dinner.

In addition to breaking two of The Rules, the service, though
friendly, was somewhat awkward. Our
waiter was friendly but a little too involved in the conversations at our table
when he was around which some people may like but we thought was sort of
strange and uncomfortable. I was also
kind of annoyed that the mussels were sort of forced on us and would tell
people to order mussels if they want to try them but don’t let their waiter
talk them into ordering anything there. I was pleased when he offered to recommend a bottle of wine- I thought
that was nice and doesn’t often happen in restaurants when it should. As far as timing goes, I think the food came
out in a reasonable amount of time. I
suppose our appetizers took a bit long but it wasn’t a major issue.

The Atmosphere:

There isn’t really much to the atmosphere at Dijon.  This is probably one of the main reasons I’m not more excited about the place overall.  It’s meant to be a French Bistro and so the floors
have black and white tiles, the tables have white table cloths with dark
colored chairs and there are roosters everywhere. In fact, the rooster theme is so prevalent
throughout the restaurant (there was even a little puff rooster on my pot pie),
I was surprised that the name of the restaurant didn’t have something to do
with roosters. Other than that, there’s
not much too the place. It’s in a dumpy
little strip mall and is fairly narrow and short in size. It’s an open room so it’s certainly not what
I would consider intimate by any means. The lighting could be a tad bit darker and that might help but that
would also be hard to do in such an open space. It’s not a place to go in a large group- they only have smaller-sized
tables- and though some of these tables can be pushed together to accommodate
groups, the acoustics and atmosphere would probably mean that group would take
over the entire restaurant. I think the
idea of Dijon is nice and it certainly is a nice option for a small town like
Ithaca, but both the service and atmosphere could use some work.

The Aurora Inn, Aurora, NY (Upstate NY)
http://www.aurora-inn.com/dining.html
Price: $$$
Cuisine: American Country
General Recommendation:  Highly Recommend for dates, visitors, or a fun
evening with a few friends.  The food and service were good, the
building and restaurant are elegant yet cozy and you should have a great time.

We went to the Aurora Inn on Friday on the recommendation of two different Cayuga Lake wineries (Kings Ferry and Montezuma).  Both recommenders mentioned that the food and atmosphere at the Inn would be wonderful and a bit romantic and they said it was okay that we were in jeans.  So off we went and in short, we had a great time and I do recommend going there if you’re ever in the area. 

The Food:
You can go online and check out the menu in full, if you’d like.  They call the cuisine classic American country fare.  You have a choice to do the prix fix menu which is $42 and you get an appetizer, a soup or salad, an entree and dessert.  Both John and I did this.  From a cost perspective, I thought it was a great deal considering the amount and quality of the food.

Here are details on our order:
First Course:  Baked Brie in Phylo Dough (me) and Calamari (John).  Small note: the brie dish takes a bit longer (about 15 minutes), but they bring you nice, warm fresh bread to keep you happy).  The calamari came with some sort of aioli sauce on it which was an interesting and different take on that dish.  John enjoyed it.  This course was fine but I’d probably order something else as a starter- maybe the escargots or the tuna tartare next time. 

Second Course: Spinach salad (me) and a White Wine Fennel Bisque (John).  I enjoyed the spinach salad- it wasn’t too tart like many can be and the sugared walnuts were a nice additon.  John seemed to enjoy his soup. 

Main Course: Filet Mignon and Sweet Potato Gnocci (me) and Pan Seared Sea Scallops (John).  My meat was cooked well and quite juicy.  I would have liked to have seen a slightly better cut of meat- this one had a fairly fatty section I couldn’t eat- but I didn’t need that much meat and I really enjoyed the good parts of it.  And the gnocci was fantastic- as was the sauce.  I would DEFINITELY recommend the filet.  John’s sea scallops were fine.  As usual for scallops, there were only a few on his plate so he probably would have ordered something more substantial but the scallops were cooked perfectly and presented well.  You won’t be disappointed with either entree.

Dessert:  This is where the prix fix menu gets you.  Neither of us wanted dessert but it was included.  I think that the Aurora Inn could have done a better job with this part of the menu- there wasn’t really anything I wanted and ended up going with a lemon tart which was fine.  John got the creme brulee and they did a nice job with it.  In my opinon, creme brulee is pretty hard to mess up but I’ve seen it done and this one was tasty.  If you’re a big dessert fan, however, this might not be your favorite restaurant.

Drinks:
The restaurant has a full bar but the wine list was fairly limited.  Considering that the Inn is located at the edge of NY State’s largest wine region, the list boasted few NY wines and a limited number of other wines.  This surprised us a bit.  Fortunately, the wines on the list were very reasonably priced.

The Service:
The service was friendly and our server did a nice job.  We had ample forks and no one took away our plates too early.  My only real complaint was that we had to refill our own wine glasses.  But they did a good job keeping our water glasses full.  Since it was just John and I, we didn’t split the bill but I have a feeling that we would not have had a problem if we had given them two credit cards. 

The Atmosphere:
This may have been a primary reason for me enjoying the restaurant so much.  It’s a cozy, beautiful Inn with a fireplace, a small bar and dark wood tables.  The view of the lake was absolutely wonderful- we lucked out getting there before it got dark out.  If you go for dinner, go just before it gets dark to take advantage of the great view of the lake.  The restaurant is like a house so there are several little areas which makes it both intimate as well as a great place to have a small gathering.  I really enjoyed being there. 

Stay tuned for reviews of the following in the next few days:

The Aurora Inn, Aurora, NY
http://www.aurora-inn.com/dining.html

Dijon, Ithaca, NY
http://www.dijonbistro.com/Menu.html

Maxie’s Supper Club, Ithaca, NY
http://www.maxies.com/index2.html

I have 5 main rules when I go out to eat in a restaurant.  They’re the underlying ways I assess whether or not I enjoyed my experience as well as whether or not I would ever recommend the restaurant to others.  I feel very strongly that you can have a wonderful time at a restaurant even if the food is just mediocre (and vice versa)- it’s all about the service and the ambiance and the company you’re with.  That being said, I thought it would be fun to start a blog based on my own contrived rating system for restaurants I eat at.  After reviewing my year end credit card statement from last year and seeing that I spent over 25% of my spending on restaurants alone (and that’s just my statement, not including what John spends), I feel that I have reasonable experience on which to base my judgements.  I have also worked at a restaurant before so I do have a frame of reference other than just as a consumer.

The 5 Basic Rules: