Oak & Reed — Restaurant in City of Middletown

Dining at Oak & Reed was a complete and beautiful sensory experience, meditative in a way- nourishing for body and spirit.

My husband and I walked in peak dinner rush on a busy Saturday evening and fatefully were given a table with a View. I highly recommend both reservations and a table by the kitchen, if available, so you can watch the MAGIC.

I’ve worked in restaurants for over 23 years and have never witnessed such a calm and present team, both on the floor and in the kitchen. It was really special to watch and says a lot about owners and management in how they run their establishment and how they treat their staff.

When the Chef and your server are smiling, that says a lot. 
😄

The ambiance felt grounding with big floor to ceiling windows giving an indoor/ outdoor feel, wood paneling, dim lighting and soothing sounds of soft jazz trumpets filling the air.

I looked around and saw all tables full and everyone enjoying each other, fully Connecting.

Phones were where they should be- not in sight at the dinner table. I felt guilty picking mine up to capture my husbands reaction to the best cappuccino ice cream we’ve ever had.

We shared the Korean Fried Broccoli and Broccoli Gouda Soup. Both so amazing I’m still thinking about them today.

Burgers for dinner came with real “Chips” (aka thick cut fries) fully approved by my ‘straight outta Dublin’ man. He even said possibly the Best Burger he’s ever had!

I was overjoyed that my burger was exactly what I wanted. It was actually PERFECT. Cooked Rare just like I ordered and perfectly seasoned, topped with cheddar and caramelized onions.

I cut it in half and took a bite right out of the middle to savor all the juices. It was everything I had hoped for.

This was a big moment for me as I have not eaten a burger since 2015 and I sent silent gratitude out for the life that was now nourishing mine.

Though I am not a vegan, I love that there are vegan options and variety, a little something for everyone. Everyone deserves the opportunity to eat this Chef’s creations!

I also love that there are mocktails on the menu, though I was enjoying Saratoga Still Water.

The service was excellent. Julian was our server and really hospitable, great warm personality. Everyone worked as a team which was nice- even the lovely manager brought us bread and oil.

Details are important and Oak & Reed has done an excellent job at giving attention to detail… from start to finish. Clean menus, table and silver (I really appreciate that!)…Timing was on point. Not too fast, not too slow. We did not feel rushed, nor did we mind waiting… The recycled paper rather than a napkin on the underliner plate…The wooden check presenter with leather pocket was a sleek final touch. I had to admire it for the final impression it was intended to be.

This was my second visit at this restaurant and the only regret is that I didn’t come back sooner. They fully encompass this message on their website:

“We believe in the art of crafting every dish to perfection. Embracing the philosophy that good food takes time, we invite you to sit back and relax.”

We walked in after a tough day feeling pretty drained and deflated on all levels. We walked out changed and renewed, like we had just had a mini retreat.

Thank you so much to all at Oak & Reed for the meaningful work you do in this world. You’ve made a...

Oak & Reed showed some initial promise -- I've been here at least six times since it opened -- but is now highly overrated and underperforming in both service and overall customer experience. Our party of four had a reservation for 6:30 p.m. on a Satuirday night; the table wasn't ready and we stood around waiting to get seated for at least 20 mninutes. After being seated and drink orders taken, no bread for the table was offered/brought until we asked and received the answer that there wasn't any available, currently, "because they're backed up with it and 7 tables are also waiting." Eventually they brought the bread. The drink order, for me, was wrong and they corrected it letting me keep the wrong drink along with the right one. There are hardly no vegetarian entrees -- I went with Tofu Curry, which was okay but not as standout an entree as you would get at either a good Chinese restaurant or an Indian one -- and I found myself wondering why you can order a hamburger here with about 15 variations of add-ons, but can't order a veggie burger with any of the same because there are no veggie burgers on the menu. This the kind of old-fashioned mess in which a vegetarian can order, say, two or three appetizers and try to call that a meal because of a lack of choice of entrees. My friends who were looking forward to fried chicken with mashed potatoes and collard greens were told there were no more collard greens -- at 7 p.m.? -- so they'd have to accept broccoli instead. Finally when it came time to be done they were really slow with picking up the check. They felt disengaged the entire time and it just like customers don't really matter here much. So...a restaurant on a busy Saturday night with no idea that bread would be needed for 8 tables, reservations not able to kept up, collard greens unavailable when they're featured on the...

Truly the worst service I’ve ever received at any restaurant. The server, Nicolle, was rude and inattentive. She pulled the plate from underneath my mother as my mom was letting the server know she IS NOT DONE with her food, yet she continued to take it away. It took 20 minutes to get service, then our food took about an hour to come out. They also forgot an item. When the food came out, one dish was cold. We then proceeded to wait an additional 5 minutes for ketchup after asking RIGHT AWAY UPON THE FOOD’S ARRIVAL for the ketchup. We had to ask twice at that because she forgot again. After being obviously upset (without acting like a Karen), the server came over and passive aggressively asked NUMEROUS TIMES if we would like to speak with her manager, then continued to ask if we were sure after we said “no” multiple times—which ultimately made me want to speak to the manager. After closing out our bill, we decided to let the manager know of our experience, just so there’s room to improve as I understand it’s a Saturday brunch, which can be a busy shift. The reaction from the manager was absurd though. Instead of coming from a place of understanding and reasoning, he got defensive and basically told us our experience is invalid because he “has over 25 years of experience in the food industry.” As a current server and bartender myself, I understand this is NOT how a server should treat their customers, and I hope to see this place improve as my first experience there was absolutely terrible.

Overall, the rude waitress, the egotistical manager and the long wait times ruined my experience and I will not be recommending this place to anyone, and will probably...