Montage — Restaurant in Cedar Falls

We appreciated being accommodated on a Friday (at 5:30) without a reservation. The bar area decor was a mix of casual/upscale. Our server was pleasant and accommodating. Sadly, the menu disappointed on several levels. The seasonal bruschetta appetizer screamed garlic, lacked a flavorful tomato, and would have benefited from a balsamic drizzle. The Iowa chop was poorly seasoned , and for Iowans not much of a chop. I chose the risotto as my side. It somehow ended up being more of a rice casserole, not creamy and just a gelatinous glob of cheesy rice. The cashew crusted chicken with orange horseradish sauce was a better with a good crusty top. However, the breast underneath lacked color or flavor. The Montage potato side dish was much better, both in presentation and flavor. The bright note was the wine. E Evolution winemakers Lucky No 9 White Blend was a great add to our meal. Light and summer refreshing! Two espressos and a chocolate soufflé with vanilla ice cream sounded like the perfect dessert, except that we received a chocolate microwave cake! I held my tongue through the meal, but could not hold back when the sever asked how the soufflé was. I pointed out that it wasn’t it a soufflé and clearly embarrassed, she acknowledged it but walked away. Even though management was visible, no one touched our table. I was terribly...

For a fine dining establishment, it was pretty standard. The waitress was friendly, but not very knowledgeable of the dishes offered. She merely suggested the highest priced items on the menu in, what I can only assume, an effort to jack up her tip. Although money was not an issue, we saw right through it and simply ordered whatever sounded good to us without knowing much about it. Luckily, the food was tasty and hot, and the restaurant as a whole was well-kept, albeit empty. Still, we were seated at a large table by the kitchen despite the room being void of other customers and a beautiful table being available away from the clamour of the staff. Since we were on a date, a large table near the workers was very inappropriate, but I suppose that waitress simply needed the business in her section and that was more important. I should also mention that she was wearing yoga pants (yuck) and sported nails that were so long she nearly dropped my martini in my lap. . . twice. Although the kitchen staff was obviously talented at preparing and presenting the menu, they weren't very skilled at keeping the noise down. I'll just say that things got very casual in there, and thus the conversation taking place became the subject of ours. We may return in the future, but only for the appetizers that...

Great atmosphere and service. I was very disappointed in my main entree, however. That day, they were offering beef stroganoff. I LOVE beef stroganoff and have for years.

I'm not convinced they knew how to prepare this dish. Beef stroganoff is made with a very thick sauce of beef gravy( seasoned beef stock thickened with starch or flour) and either heavy cream or sour cream. Some recipes call for red wine, which I didn't detect here(which is fine, as that's optional). Seared tender steak cuts and mushrooms are in approximately equal portions. It's served on flat egg noodles typically. It's then topped with green onions.

Montage served it with tubular pasta, which is fine, and it was perfectly cooked.

The sauce, though... it was thin, about the consistency of broth. The steak was okay. It wasn't tender, so I'm guessing they used sirloin rather than tenderloin. I literally found only ONE thinly-sliced mushroom. The flavor was barely detectable.

Our server was fantastic. The soup was world-class, and we enjoyed the crab cakes as an appetizer.

I will likely go again, and I recommend this restaurant.

I do suggest ordering only what's on the...