Ninety Acres

Reviews 3

AL

Aldrich Gamboa

If you want a New York Tasting Menu type experience, without the drive or paying the price, Ninety Acres at Natirar is perfect. Having dined at Per Se, Cafe Boulud and 11 Madison Park, Ninety Acres is able to capture that experience in a more intimate setting. This is not to say that the experience at aforementioned isnt exquisite (because they are amazing places to dine.) but Nintey Acres is comparable to a point. You arrive to Valet service only, which helps to build the mystique of the restaurant. Dress code of Business casual helps to keep the elegance of the restaurant. While a reservation isnt required, its strongly recommended as on the weekends they will be busy enough for no walk ins. You have your choice of Tasting Menu in the kitchen area (reservation almost always required) or regular menu and table service. The moment you step in, you can see how well designed the restaurant is. Its open and spacious. It has a classy, modern design to the decor. Welcome staff is cordial and helpful. There is a nice bar you can wait at, while they prepare your table with many different types of Beers (local, national and foreign) and Wine. A pared down menu is available at the bar if you are hungry and need to snack. I have twice done the tasting menu and the rest of my review is based on this. For Tasting Menu, you are seated at either a table or booth. Either gives you ample space to operate, though the booth has a more elegant feel to it. The Wait staff is incredibly friendly and helpful.They also have a Sommelier who chooses the wine pairing service for the tasting menu or is there to help choose the right bottle for your entire service. They are patient, attentive and helpful. Making sure to clean off the table between plates and make sure that all your drinks or bread are ready for your consumption. The level at service isnt quite at the level of Per Se or 11 Madison Park (as at those locations, you are waited on essentially hand and foot), but its still above most other venues which compare in price. The food that Chef David prepares is creative, delicious and well plated. His understanding of taste balance is impeccable. lastly his delivery and cordiality makes the whole affair worth its price. They make sure to get any allergies or food requirements out of the way at the beginning of service and provide a memorable experience, even for the seasoned foodie. In terms of taste, each course is perfectly prepared and helps lead to the next dish. When done with the wine pairing, it really gives you quite a memory. Each night is a unique experience in terms of menu, so its impossible to say how yours will be, but they usually try to bring you something that you will enjoy. If you dont enjoy it, they will gladly bring you out something else to appease your taste pallet. So overall, I highly recommend this place. With Alcohol, you will be spending anywhere from 150 to 300 dollars a person on average. So it is a bit pricey. however it makes for a wonderful romantic dinner or celebratory dinner if you have the money.

KE

Kelly Francini

I just returned to Ninety Acres for my second visit to celebrate my fifteenth wedding anniversary. The first time we went everything was impeccable: food, service and ambiance. My only complaint was the noise level made it difficult to talk. I was very excited to return and left very disappointed. The first time we went they offered wine and beer pairings for their price fixed menu which I thought was fun. I opted to do the beer pairing and was surprised at the fabulous beers they had. This time, despite sitting at the exact same table we got the first time, we were told beer pairings were not an option. We decided to do the price fixed menu anyway and ordered different options from each course so we could try as many of the offerings as possible. Some of the plates were truly amazing (the pork belly and scallop dish and the rib of beef were our favorites). We both felt that several of the dishes had too much on the plate. So many competing flavors drew away from the harmony of the featured items and muddled the dishes (especially with the octopus and the duck). Unfortunately I had multiple scales in my sea bass dish which detracted from my enjoyment of the dish. I take issue with being charged $38 for a dish where the fish wasnt even prepped properly. The desserts were a home run. I had the butter cake and my husband had the salty crunchy sundae. The ambiance there is beautiful. However, the restaurant is still exceedingly loud. Our service was HORRIBLE. All of our food took an eternity to come from the kitchen. We had to ask for simple things like drinks and additional butter several times. Our waiter never checked on us regarding our food and before our final course was served he left without telling us leaving us in the hands of another server who was obviously too busy to take us on. My final disappointment was that we watched the couple next to us receive little truffles and an envelope wishing them a happy anniversary before their dessert order was placed. It was a sweet touch. Despite getting verbally wished a happy anniversary from the hostess when we checked in and our bill saying "anniversary truffles" with a zero charge on it, ours never arrived. My husband finally jokingly asked our new server about the line item on the bill and she had someone rush two truffles over to us as we were getting up to leave. If I am going to spend this kind of money for a meal in New Jersey in the future there are several other places that I would rather go. I wont be returning to Ninety Acres.

LO

Lorraine Medeiros, Esq.

If I could give this restaurant zero stars I would. I went there this evening for a birthday celebration and it was absolutely horrendous. The waitstaff is very disorganized and the managers walk back-and-forth and ignore the customers- at least the customers that they dont know. After standing by a full bar for 10 minutes when we were finally seated we were told we had a wait staff of three different waiters to accommodate us this evening. Apparently this is the practice at this restaurant that every table has a team of waiters. After receiving one of our two appetizers 10 minutes after we were seated our waiters were never seen again. We literally sat there with a half eaten cheese plate for 40 minutes while our waiters walked back-and-forth never once stopping when we were calling out to them. One manager named Jose he may have been a maître d sat at the table right next to us and saw that we were trying to get a waiters attention and he proceeded to laugh at us. I was horrified. When another manager stopped at the table to our right to clean off crumbs we asked to speak to him and we were brushed off and told he us he would be back. Five minutes later he returned and told us that since our other appetizers were already made he would bring it out to us and we could leave afterwards. He knew that we were celebrating a special birthday and when I spoke to him about how awful the service was and how it was unacceptable to leave your diners sitting there for 40 minutes with a half eaten cheese plate he shrugged his shoulders. Needless to say we left but since our reservation is at nine and it was now 10 we really have no options and the birthday has gone uncelebrated tonight. The manager never apologized and when asked why the waiters didnt come by he shrugged his shoulders. This restaurant is absolutely not worth the hype and is staffed with rude and inhospitable staff. Go somewhere else where youll be respected and serviced well.