The Cellar — Restaurant in City of Corning

This was our first visit. We met a couple of my significant other's cousins who were visiting from out of state. We spent the day at Corning Glass and chose this restaurant from the online menu, to satisfy a group of people with a vegetarian, a pescatarian, and person who eats low-carb, and one who only eats burgers. The Cellar's menu met those needs. I will say the cheese board we got to share was excellent. The sauerkraut was wonderful, a little sweet, with a hint of fennel and we all would have gladly eaten more. Everything on the cheese board, including the apricot chutney and the home made cracker assortment were amazing. The dinners were pretty good, we tried the coffee smoked salmon, a house salad, the butcher's burger, and the chicken and waffles. The staff was nice enough to fulfill our request for the half-plate of the chicken (so 1 breast) but the full plate of the waffle (which was 1/2 waffle instead of 1/4). This allowed us to share the second waffle, which 3 folks all wanted to taste because it was a savory cheese and chive flavor. Each element of the dish was good on it's own, with the sriacha syrup, the black pepper butter, and the smokey-sweet brussel spout and sweet potato 'slaw'; but the flavors combined were a bit overwhelming and became muddled into a kind of smoky, bitter taste. The salmon and the focaccia were enjoyable, but not as exceptional as we'd thought they'd be. We enjoyed the food, and the rest of the experience was okay. We had requested a quiet table, and we did have probably the quietest in the house, but the place amplified the patrons talking so that conversation across the table was sometimes difficult. The service was very slow, almost to being inattentive. We were asked several times at the beginning what we wanted to drink, but our menus didn't have drinks listed. While waiting for the waiter to return, we discovered the ipad on the table, and thought perhaps we ordered through that instead of wait staff, and discovered that was the wine list: no one had bothered to mention this, or even point out the ipad. When we finally decided not to order a bottle of wine, since we all had long drives home, and we'd now been waiting about half an hour to place our orders, the waitress seemed put out and lost interest in our table. The cheese tray came in a timely manner, along with one salad. We'd long since finished the appetizer and were waiting on our meals, which arrived nearly an hour after we sat down. We were almost to 2 hours before we finally got the check; this was one place the staff was on top of things, for they asked how we'd like the bill and were happy to split it, which was appreciated. However, we hadn't planned on dinner at 6;30 resulting in our not getting on the road to get home until nearly 9pm, and it truly felt as though since we weren't getting wine, our table became less important, as several other tables with 4 people came in after we were seated, had dinner, and left long before we did, and except for one quick "how are things" after the cheese plate was delivered, we didn't see our waiter again until the check-- some other staff member dropped the plates of food off. For what seemed to be a very high-end, elegant dining experience, I had expected service to match. The hostess the the original water-person who filled our glasses were the only pleasant servers we had, and the food was pretty good, but not so exceptional as to make the whole experience worth a...

What drawn us to this place was the reviews, especially when the word eclectic was mentioned. We were intrigued and wanted to give it a try when we were in the area.

True to the word, this restaurant wasn't disappointing. It comes with a rather fusion menu, tapas, ramen and steak, combining the few best food around the world.

We had the Wood platter to start with. Although we chose 3 from the menu (cheddar, prosciutto & pate), it came with other assortments, and the combination of all those strike the correct balance. Amazing exploration of our palate. The smokiness of the pate still lingering.

As for the entree, the Wagyu beef came out well, so did the duck fat fries and aioli (one can't go wrong with duck fat I guess). Didn't care too much for the accompanying greens though. However I pushed my luck too far when I ordered the pork belly ramen. To be fair, I have a high standard for ramen (I am not talking about cup noodles ramen, and even that I also hold a certain standard to the noodles). I was looking forward to a hearty bowl of slurping soup with bouncy noodles, and was very disappointed when I dived my chopsticks into the soggy noodles. That's just not what I was looking for! To be fair the soup base was good with pulled pork and the pork belly was good enough. Not the best pork belly I ever had, then again, my standard for that is very high too. The only thing in the bowl that met my expectation was the runny poached egg. I ended up finishing the egg, most of the pork and soup, leaving behind the noodles. I wasn't too impressed with the toppings either, which consist of a selection of pickled vegetables that were too acidic. Maybe if I had them with the noodles, they would have strike a better balance.

Luckily I like the molten lava cake and the salted caramel ice cream that came with it is smooth and creamy. So all in all I had an amazing start and a nice end, although regretted my choice of entree.

So one day if we revisit Corning, we might still go back to The Cellar, and reorder that lovely Wood platter however I definitely won't go for the...

First let me start by saying The Cellar has one thing going that most places in smaller areas don't have. They have niche that is mostly found in bigger areas. Rarely will you find tapas and dishes like Local Pastured Pork Ramen in small towns.

The place The cellar has that trendy upscale feel to it. A place that you would find in NYC or but lucky for is it is on Market St in Corning. They have really nice variety of tables and the bar so you they can meet most sizes of groups who come in. It is well taken care of of with nice decor and always clean.

The food I have had Local Pastured Pork Ramen, American Kobe Stockyard Steak with duck fries, and the Fried Chicken and Waffles. Everything I have had here has been solid to really good. High quality ingrediants are used. One thing I like is they try to source from local farms when possible. I love also that they change the menu I think quarterly which gives you more reason to come back and try new dishes.

The dessert I have a few including Raspberry Crème Brulee, Molten Lava Cake, and Raspberry Crème Brulee to name a few. I can honestly say everything I had has great. They even have really great ice cream that is top notch. One thing I LOVE is they have French Press! I cant tell you how many times after a good dinner I want coffee but most places have HORRIBLE COFFEE. Not so here they use Heavenly Cup beans which is a great local roaster.

The staff They are nothing short of great I have never had a bad waiter/waitress here. They are always patience and helpful. I will say sometimes they get busy due to the popularity of this place on the weekends.

The verdict This is tough for me for one the food is really good but the price is very high for what you get. I mean the Kobe steak half (4 ounce) is 27 bucks!! I had a maple dessert last time that was 8 bucks and literally was 2-3 small bites. If you want have really good food you cant get anywhere else the area go here. However don't except high value for your dollar. It is a really expensive for...