Shadowbrook Restaurant

Reviews 3

PW

PW T

The following is our experience as it played out on the 4th of July: We arrived at approximately 8:30 P.M. and while waiting for the cable car, a patron that was exiting the restaurant struck up a conversation with my husband and said the lamb is excellent. So, my husband all ready made up his mind to try it. We arrive downstairs and we see a short-haired brunette who informs us after a few minutes of us waiting that it is open seating in the rock room. We were hoping to have a seat in the dining area, but it seemed to be closed, which was fine. We took our seats and noticed that it was pretty busy as there was a singer entertaining the crowd. We decided we wanted the vegetable spring rolls, baked brie, caesar salad, clam chowder, the lamb dinner and roasted vegetable napoleon. So, after deciding on the meal, we realized it had all ready been 20 minutes and the server had not come by our table. I saw her helping other patrons in the restaurant and she looked our way at least twice and it was obvious we were ready to order. I even noticed her taking the order of another table that sat ten minutes after we had. The couple sitting behind my husband even seemed to notice that the server blatantly ignored us. Finally, she came by to take our order and my husband told her what we wanted (all items listed above). She tells him that none of those dinner items were available. We were stunned. She then told us the kitchen closed at 9 P.M. Mind you, we arrived at 8:30 P.M. and the closing time is 10 P.M. My husband looked at his watch and it was still before 9 P.M. (and remember she ignored us for 20 minutes before taking the order). He told her this and she continued saying the kitchen downstairs had closed. The only items available were flatbreads and a few sandwiches; not even soup or salad was available. So, we ordered one herb flatbread, a steak sandwich and creme brulee--this is a far cry from what we had intended to order. The only reason I didnt want to make an issue of this is that it was the fourth of July and maybe the restaurant intended to close early for the sake of the employees, which I can understand (somewhat..actually not really...its a restaurant and its hours are clearly listed as closing at 10 P.M., not whenever the servers feels like closing). AND THEN... A woman was seated long after we arrived, just behind me. She ordered a salad with prawns and guess what? She was able to order this salad, when thirty minutes prior, we were informed salads were not available. Then, the server brought out my creme brulee before we even got our "dinner," which was more of a lunchtime meal than what we like to have for dinner. The creme brulee was also cold, which is not how I remember creme brulee last I had it (usually the custard is cold, but the sugar on top is torched just before serving--this was cold all the way around). The only reason I even placed an order for the desert was because we thought the restaurant was closing early and we were the last to arrive. And yet, three other tables were seated long after we had arrived with no issues. We ate the food, because we had gone out of our way to come here from Saratoga thinking it would be a special evening, but it was all wrong. We didnt have the meal we intended to have, the server, whose name is Chelsea was just horrible and it was just disappointing all the way around. The tab was $41.71 and I still left $50.00 (thats about 20% tip for Chelsea, even though she truly deserved $0.00). I would have gladly spent twice that, heck, even more if the service had been pleasant and the food half-way decent. The flatbread was way too salty and the steak sandwich with potato chips that were worse than Lays was not worth that trip. And to top it off, we didnt have a single dish that we actually wanted to try, because "it [wasnt] available." What a shame...This restaurant wont make it another 60 years at this rate.

MR

Mrs Csech

Decided to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary here with our kids. There was a group of 7 of us. We had a reservation for 6:30, we were sat early. The location of our table was nice. Took a few minutes to get a menu but I think they try to time it with other people who sat down around the same time. Our drinks came quick. Took a while to place our order. Food came in a timely manner after ordered. As for our meals. 2 Chicken Fried Pork Chops, 1 Prime Rib split, 1 Herb Roasted Chicken, 1 kids Fish and Chips and 1 bowl of New England Clam Chowder and a side of Calamari. 1 Long Island Ice Tea, 1 Strawberry Smoothie and sodas. I asked that 1 of the Chicken Fried Pork Chops not have the fruity chutney on top but they both came with it. It was too sweet for my husband but he wouldnt let me send it back. The meat was tough to cut as he and my older son both looked like they were chopping trees instead of meat. It was very fatty, so after cutting all the fat away my hubby ate less than half. My son on the other hand is an 18 years old garbage disposal who just wants to eat so he devoured his. He said it was good but he wouldnt order it again. For $27 the meat should be leaner and not tough. The Prime rib my daughter and I ordered was good. Cooked perfectly medium. A bit more fat than we are use to. The Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Creamy Spinach were really good. The Herb Roasted Chicken seemed to be a hit. Everyone who tried it said it was good and worth $24. Our youngest order the Clam Chowder, she is an eater and only ate half. I tasted it, we definitely have had way better else where. Our other son ordered the kids Fish and Chips, he seemed to be the happiest with his meal. The Calamari appetizer was yummy. The Long Island was really good but small for $9. Daughters drank the smoothie so fast, and said it was really good. The service was good, the restaurant is beautiful. We had a photographer friend come take family photos for us before dinner. We had lots of options for nice photos. The trolley up and down to the restaurant is cute and a life saver for those in heals or who cant do the steps. Lots of steps but a beautiful walk. I would go back. My husband would not. Our bill was $173. Kids said maybe. P.S. the worst part of the experience was there isnt a smoking restriction by the front door and of course there was a rude lady smoking the whole time we waited to be seated and not much room to stand inside without bring in the way.

A

A Private User

The trouble started at the front. Two ladies where standing behind the counter, one on the phone and one just standing. Neigher acknowledge us. After about 3 minutes of the lady talking on the phone she hung up. When the other lady went to seat us, the fellow diner by our table was so large there was no way my husband and I had room to set. Instead of the hostess realizing this, we had to ask her for another table by the window. She told us she had to call to get another table, so we were left standing in the middle of the room while she called. She came back and tried to set us at a table in the middle of the room, told her we had asked for a table by the window. Said she had to call again, and again we were left standing in the middle of the room. After being seated, we asked for the Duck that was on the the internet, and were told they did not have it. I stated we had just checked the interenet and it was updated that day, the waiter said they had ran out over the week-end and the person updating the internet had been ill that day! Ordered the prime rib, the meat was fatty and the au jus was tasteless, the creamed spinach was floating in the au jus the meat just got worse. The meal and service just got worse. If they want business, the service and food that night is not the way to get our recommendation. Expensive and a disappointment.