Manhattan of Camarillo — Restaurant in Camarillo

We were looking for a date nite destination dinner and some music when we found Manhattan quite by chance. We really wanted this to be a home run. It was not.

We checked all the boxes but one. Music was just what we wanted. Hollywood and Pam we're really well matched with the room. The service was passable at first and excellent when our first server clocked out and Maria stepped in. We made little connection to the first server but Maria was a force of personality, service and competence. +1 Maria.

Greeting was tepid lacking personality, we ordered a glass of wine and my fav martini. The bar is on point. The martini was potent but tasteful and cold. The chard Jacki ordered was surprisingly less than freezing.

Pet peeve = every restaurant in the western hemisphere serves white wine too damn cold and reds too damn warm. + or - 10⁰ and the wine tastes hugely different and as the maker intended. Shame on the restaurant industry for not correcting this atrocity.

Began with Lobster Bisque motivated by reviews raving about this offering. I found the dish perfectly cooked and seasoned. Really satisfyingly curated but lacking ANY lobster meat. The absence of was sufficient to overcome all the good. At $6.95 it's a really enjoyable soup, at $12 without anything that can be identified as real lobster ... it fails.

Jacki ordered Lasagna on server recommendation and I enthusiastically ordered the Manhattan Stroganoff. Both dishes were well constructed with top taste profiles. Unfortunately they both lacked appropriately saucing. Way, way too, too dry. Both dishes quickly became inedible after several bites. The good news was we asked for and staff quickly and appropriately provided supplemental sauce. It transformed both dishes. My question is how could a sous chef finish a dish so lacking in balance and greatness when the chef laid the blueprint. This would not happen in my "go-to" house. Maybe this is personal thing, but I need the taste and texture profile of flat noodles in heavy cream sauces like strogonoff. This dish came with round macaroni. Not sufficient to deliver the necessary sauce to the palette in my opinion.

Therefore, I must come back with the mindset of giving them one more chance before I go elsewhere when I wanted so bad for this to be a permanent "go-to". It so fits Jacki and my wheelhouse. We'll be back. Either only once more or once a month forever. Which is up to them. I'm rooting for them ......

First time visitor to this Manhattan restaurant.

Making a reservation: Easy as pie. Greeting by Hostesses: Personable & professional, we were promptly sat at an excellent table for listening to the music. Service by our server: Personable enough - but mostly, very professional - he knew the menu well. Entertainment: Michael Falcone - piano/singer. Superb. Thought Michael Buble was at the piano. This guy is fabulous - and I understand that he's a concrete contractor. Go figure that!!!!!! He spent time at our table visiting with us. Don't miss this singer!!! Management: Impressive. GM - Diana came to our table and was so congenial and knowledgeable, we invited her to sit with us. A very pleasant, and personable visit. We felt like family. And, as a bonus - this charming, well designed Manhattan style restaurant with great acoustics - has a sommielier - Fred. Very, very knowledgeable. As a gesture of kindness, thoughtfulness - he saw our desert - vanilla crème brulee - he offered a glass of Dolce on the house (Dolce's by the way go for as much as $700 a bottle). A fabulous ending to a delicious dinner. This is a * star place. A hidden GEMM Ventura Resident - TA (unaffiliated with anyone at...

Nice place. The inside is upscale and aimed at an older crowd. The outside, dubbed Maddison Beer Garden, is more casual. The 'happy hour' prices last from 3pm until close and are reasonable. I have never eaten inside so I can't really rate it.

Maddison Beer Garden Decent selection at fair prices. Large selection of beer on tap and a full bar besides. They also maintain a long list of bottled beer. The food is basically upscale bar food, way upscale. The prices have gone up since the last time I was there but so have the portion sizes and the quality.

The seating is a little close and I felt pretty rushed otherwise this would be 5 stars. By rushed I mean we sat down were given 1 menu for 2 of us (which is fine they were packed and it's a new menu ) and were given about 2 minutes before we were asked what we wanted to drink. They have at least 20 beers on tap, I needed a bit more time, and was given very little... So I guess this is the first case of someone griping about too MUCH service. At anyrate not a huge deal and is incredibly variable. On the plus side of all the times I've been there this is the closest thing to a complaint I have. Go and...