The Cricket Club — Restaurant in Cape May

We went here for the New Years Eve three-course dinner and unfortunately it was really bad. We were excited, the menu looked great. It was a major let down.

The good: We both liked the first course -- curried cauliflower soup and grilled romaine salad. We got a great bottle of wine, which was priced pretty fairly by the bottle. These factors bump my review up to two stars.

The bad: Basically everything else. For second course, we ordered scallops and the tuna roll. The tuna roll is just a poorly conceived dish in my opinion (although I see in the comments that someone else posted a picture with a positive review , so perhaps that's an agree-to-disagree thing.) It's a fried sushi roll with some kind of indiscriminate mush on the inside. It was lacking in both texture and flavor. The scallops tasted like they were a day away from going bad, but relative to everything else, they were relatively OK.

Our main entrees -- the filet w/ butterfly shrimp and halibut -- were really poorly prepared. Both of them were way, way, way overcooked and cold when they arrived at our table. My filet was missing a demi-glace sauce as I observed it plated at the tables beside me. Sides were a mixed bag -- the mashed potatoes were cold, but maybe they would have been good if they were hot. The asparagus was good. The risotto was fine.

For desert, the sorbet was was half-melted when it arrived at our table. My companion wondered (half-jokingly) if they were messing with us for some reason by serving these clearly poorly prepared dishes. The creme brulee was fine, although it was more like lightly-flamed pudding, lacking the satisfying-to-crack cap of carmelized-crusted custard.

Maybe we just got bad plates on a night they were overwhelmed and trying to do too much. The plates we observed at some nearby tables seemed a bit more properly cooked, but I'm hesitant to give much benefit of the doubt based on how bad-to-mediocre most of our meal was.

Overall, I suppose I could have complained and sent the food back, but honestly it's just not my style (and not something I think anyone really wants to do on a festive night out for a special dinner.) My companion and I are pretty easy to please! We are neither food snobs nor new to "nicer food." But I think I can safely say it was the worst $200 meal I've ever had. At least the...

Anniversary Dinner In our quest for good dining experiences, we decided to try the Cricket Club. We were greeted by the hostess, but her flat affect was a portend of things to come. Arriving early, we decided to have a celebratory cocktail prior to seating. My wife usually likes to have a Manhattan. The bartender was excellent, but the glass the Manhattan was served in was reminiscent of the kind one would use to toast at a wedding reception. Not a "true" martini glass which is standard for most places.

For dinner, we decided on some appetizers to start. I had the Octopus medley and my wife had the Apple Onion soup. My octopus was tasty, but needed the balsamic glaze I requested in order to cut the acidity. (Note: always ask for balsamic glaze with your octopus.) I would have liked a char on it, but it was tender and tasty. The soup was executed very well - nice cheesy crouton. However, the broth was overly sweet. But our waitress did caution us about this.

My dinner, Braised Short Ribs, had a nice thick slab of short rib with the requisite gravy (needed more). The sautéed green beans needed more time in the pan as they were barely cooked through. My wife ordered the Spicy Tuna Roll which was prepared with a breading of panko and then deep-fried. This method caused the minced tuna on the end pieces to become hard and inedible. The tuna in the interior pieces had congealed a bit, making the texture a bit strange. The taste was OK, but we decided to take it home to see if it could be salvaged. (No.)

So overall, it was an 'adequate' experience. The ambiance was great. But our waitress was dour and didn't even introduce herself. I got her name from the bill.

Some places I am willing to give a second chance (See my reviews of Port.) I'm not so sure...

Since there is no choice to reply to your reply....this edit will serve as my reply. You totally didn't address the spinach & fig salad, nor your waitress or the situation, except in contradiction. If the bar is open till 9pm on Thursday's, it should have then been open at 8:30 when reviewing the dessert menu. Also, the waitress should have asked before the bartender was closing up (early) if we would be liking anything else from the bar. This incident will not necessarily keep me from returning, but please address your waitstaff in not pouring beer on the table without apologies and again the contradiction of timing to fully service your patron is not correct.

My husband said the tuna was a bit fishy. Although the flavor was delicious, I was hard pressed to find more than three nailtip size pieces of figs in the spinach fig salad. The lolliop chicken app was very good. To make space on the table the waitress took my husband's can of beer and turned it over into his glass, causing it to over foam and run all over, to which we were sort of ignored. Fast forward to "would you like to see a dessert menu?" Sure! Upon looking a desserts and after dinner drinks, the waitress says, "the bar is closed, the bartender cleaned up." I said, "I wish we knew that ahead of time." She answered with, "well, it's Thursday and after the holidays, and you can see you're the last one, we close at 8." So, it was 8:30. You take reservations to be seated up to 7:30. So, if we sat at 7:30 (instead if are actual 7), would someone have told us to hurry up? All of these things should not have occurred. The menu is pricey, but most places are these days, that's not the issue, but if you want to charge $21.00 for a burger, act your price. $258.00...