La Mondina — Restaurant in Brielle

A gem to behold and embrace if one desires fine dining quality Italian food to satisfy and take home for leftovers at reasonable prices without the fuss of staring at a very large plate with only a dollop of food and a painting of sauce that leaves you hungry later.

La Mondina is like a Cheesecake Factory restaurant, large portions, but delivers on serving consistent amazing food that rivals any white table-clothed fine dining restaurant. It’s no wonder that this place is always packed and reservations must be made at least 3 weeks in advance if you want a non high top (bar) table.

The complimentary freshly baked bread with olive oil and roasted garlic can easily be eaten completely and leaving you full before your meal arrives. I have not asked for more out of respect but would have paid if required. It’s that good.

The apps are portioned enough to be substituted as a meal and well worth the asking price. The calamari is succulently tender yet crisp and abundant. This is not your local bar style rubbery calamari that’s been over fried. I noticed a diner who ordered the eggplant parm app and it was enough for their meal.

The special on one night offered lobster arancini and was among the best I’ve had. Most I’ve had are dry and could easily be noticed that it was last nights risotto. Not at La Mondina.

The octopus with gigante beans was simply divine, tender and creamy beans and a large tentacle enough to satisfy one’s craving. Most are served with a heavy tomato sauce. Not at La Mondina. This bright dish is perfection for a lazy summer evening.

The gnocchi with truffle cream sauce is enough for two and will leave you a lasting impression as the standard if you desire to replicate this at home. A special one night offered a risotto with duck that made one wish this was a staple. Perfectly cooked medium rare and plenty of it. Their portions for risotto is plenty and not just a dollop one tends to receive at Daniels Bistro.

A coworker who initially recommended the place to me, his wife always orders the veal parm and it’s the size of a very large plate. It’s no surprise to me that he and his wife always frequents this place. He recommends the branzino.

My only regret is that they don’t serve gnudi. Easily the best Italian restaurant in Brielle and in Ocean County. An affordable place with excellent food and great portions for those who can’t have a seating at Vetri.

You definitely have to try their drinks. The Pear Pressure Martini is amazing and addictive. The Noble and Poise is good as well, not on par as the Old Fashioned at Shipwreck Grill, if you like Manhattan Martinis. The place can be loud and not a romantic place is why full stars wasn’t given...

Visited on 1/14 for an anniversary dinner with my girlfriend and was extremely hesitant to leave this review because the food was truly a 10/10. However, unless you like being talked down to by your server at a restaurant that treats their customers like fools, you probably don't want to spend $250 on a dinner for two here.

They require your credit card info to make a reservation, and will charge you $25 a head for no-shows, as if it's a doctors office. Never heard of that, even at a Michelin Star restaurant.

Tried to put three appetizers in for my girlfriend and I and was told by our waitress, "We don't do that here, we only take full orders, so I'll come back" and proceeded to walk off before I could get a word in. Hm, never heard of that either.

And when it came time to pay our check, I handed our waitress both my Amex card and a $100 Visa gift card, to which she replied, "I'm sorry we can't take those here, they don't work in restaurants. You have to try using them places like the grocery store or a gas station. You can't use them at restaurants because it doesn't work with the gratuity."

I looked at her dumbfounded. It's one thing to say, "I'm really sorry but our policy here is to not accept those kinds of gift cards." No problem. But this server truly thought I was dumb enough to believe that she couldn't do a simple $100 Visa debit towards our check. I think she was genuinely concerned that I was going to tip based on the adjusted total, which is an absolutely shameful and embarrassing way to treat your guests.

I had to let it slide at the risk of ruining the dinner for my girlfriend, as she was now visibly embarrassed by our server and could tell how unhappy I was.

The food is absolutely delicious, but you're far better off taking your...

My wife and I had a 7 pm dinner reservation mid week in the first half of July 2023. The place was a madhouse. The parking lot was full, so I parked on a side street. The noise level inside was very loud (and only slightly less on the outside terrace), and the "ambience" was that of a sports bar. Definitely not a place for a quiet relaxing dinner, at least not at the hour we came.

The food was excellent! The charred octopus appetizer was wonderful, the arugula salad nice and fresh. The fried veal chop parmigiana on the bone was thick and tender, and probably one of the best I've had. It was also super expensive, though I did have two additional dinners from what I brought home because the portion was so large. I did think it was kind of tacky to charge $5 extra for spaghetti, which every other Italian restaurant I've even gone to includes at no extra cost with a dinner.

My wife's branzino was expertly done and a generous portion. But it came with nothing else, and the side dishes were pricey, as was her dinner.

The lemon sorbet for dessert was nice and smooth.

Service was attentive, but since the place was so packed, dinner was slow in coming out.

This is not a BYOB and there is a $50 corking fee, so we ordered a bottle of Santa Margherita from the menu. The cost was 20% more than we have paid at the most expensive fine dining restaurant we go to.

The menu is fairly limited—no other veal dishes besides the one I ordered, no shrimp dishes at all other than shrimp cocktail.

Bottom line: Our food was excellent but overpriced, and the noise level was unpleasant. Not sure if we would go back. We prefer a more intimate dining experience, and a more...