Velvet Belly — Restaurant in City of Rochester

First visit here (Wednesday). After reading the reviews. Meeting my date, first time meeting her. Figured should be perfect.. Eh..

Pro: Atmosphere is spot on. Looks amazing. Feels amazing.. Looks high end. Costs High end.. Drinks where good, presentation was amazing of foods and drinks.

Con: Cost: I knew going in this was going to cost a lot, but was looking to impress, so understand that for two people to have a normal meal here it will cost about $150 dollars. Appetizer, Two drinks, "two small plates" meals and no desserts.

Food: Their menu has no appetzers, so yeah. we ordered a "Small plate".. I got shrimp and she got clams & a side of asparagus ( because there are no sides with the small plates included ).. My food was good,. Her's (who is a fish person) she said she couldn't eat it.. Just ick, and the asparagus was not cooked correctly. Both items taken off bill by staff without issue..

Atmosphere Con: Already talked to the pros. But the noise level was so high "I had to sit next to my date" (LOL) vs across because the noise level was so high. First date, unsure so.... but this gave good reason to touch physically, hands, sholders, arm around. That worked out ok.. But yeah.

Summary: Great place to come if your not really hungry and have money to burn on gambling on good small food maybe.. Good drinks, great staff..

First Date: She had 1/2 of her asparagus. I have my food. Tasty but not worth the cost for what hapened. After she said next time Red Lobster. I agree, not worth the Risk, Cost, & Small portions.

Don't think I will be back. Made dinner for her the following night, she was more impressed with my cooking. Than above..

FreeBee recommendation! Date was saved, after we went to "Scoop N Twist" ice cream. Would recommend! Saved my...

Updated Review: Unfortunately, I was disappointed during my second visit to Velvet Belly. I found that their prices continued to rise while their portions and quality decreased. We had the duck meatballs, which really tasted of nothing other than salt. Way too salty. We tried the crispy rice, which was a bit overfried and lacking in crab flavor. The fried rice cake really overpowered it. That complaint goes on to sum up our sushi experience. Ingredients simply overpowered the delicate seafood. I think you can get much better sushi elsewhere, and for less money. My favorite part of my meal was the melon smash cocktail, however, it was $14... I can't say that I recommend Velvet Belly. They don't have a right charging what they do and if they want to keep that up, they need to really get some mind-blowing dishes.

Initial Review 2022: The food was amazing! Our server was fantastic. It was like everything that came to our table was timed perfectly. She did a great job explaining the menu and specials. We got the Chef's special "dynamite roll" - omg, put that on the menu permanently. It was so delicious. I love restaurants that encourage sharing, and we had the perfect amount of food. The atmosphere was also very nice. Overall we had a few rolls and some sashimi. The fish was very fresh and flavorful. We also started with the wood fired calamari (the only photo I managed to take). It was so good, and I really liked that it wasn't really a traditional Japanese dish, yet it fit with our...

Okay...update to my previous review! Y'all, I DID go back! Awesome 2nd trip to VB! You gotta give a res at least 2-3 tries imo. Yeah, so...the T.N.T roll was unique and hella delish. (it's worth it...close your eyes and order it.) Unagi bowl was very, very tasty with a nicely balanced sauce and the rice had that ideal chew (some of y'all kwim). The servers there are SUPERB. I stand by my opinion of the calamari tho. Don't bother. Can't wait to go back for the S. F. G. roll and another CFW cocktail!!! Updated 11/8/22* Soo if you are looking for fantastic cocktails...emphatic YES! Def go. 5 stars itc! Ftr, I was pre-warned...don't go there starving. Neither of us was impressed with the food...ended up only getting appes. Fwiw, I don't eat oysters, nor beef...maybe that's their 'jam'?? Lobster buns were 'ok'...calamari was a 'oh, hell nawh'. Fs, it's breaded like chicken fingers instead of 'dusted'! Idfk what I was eating, just hard fried ??...js. FFries were the best of the 3 items I hate to say...I'm sorry VB.😞 If the appes were better we would've ordered entrees, but I lacked confidence atp. And no, I'm not b*n about cost and I never expect comp'd food. I'm just being real, sharing my exp. Thumbs up for the duck fat "Well" drink...it was🔥! And my co-foodie enjoyed the Calypso. The staff are awesome and I love their 'sizzle'. I would def go back for the dranks! I'm not from Roc...maybe I expected too much. Y'all, I'm sorry I can't agree with the other...