Rhea — Restaurant in City of Saratoga Springs

Last night I had the worst experience at Rhea. I tried to make a reservation on Resi, but couldn't, so I called the restaurant. I spoke to a man, who asked me when I wanted to eat. I said dinner time, or whenever he could fit my party of 5 in. The man suggested 7:30, asked me for my name and telephone number, and I assumed I had a reservation. When I showed up at 7:15, and said I had a reservation, the host, said I did not and asked me for my Resi confirmation. I said I had called and had not used Resi. She asked if my name was Bailey and if my reservation was at 8:30. I said no, and my reservation was at 7:30. She said there was no reservation, and made clear that my only option was to leave. Why would any group of 5 adults show up at 7:15 and lie about their 7:30 reservation? I said I had made a reservation by phone, with a man. She said no men worked at the restaurant, which was hard to believe because I could see two male bartenders at the bar. This was the second time this evening I was accused of lying. We left the restaurant and I checked my phone, which showed the call to the restaurant at 11:30. I went back to the host, who said that my phone showed the restaurant's number but no one would have been in the restaurant at that time. Trifecta - the third time I have been accused of lying this evening. Here is how this could have gone better. The host could have been trained to serve customers, rather than seat those with confirmed Resi reservations. She could have been trained that a table turn of an hour, is standard, and that the gender-neutral, non-employee, intruder that I had spoken to had realized that and preferred to take the hundreds of dollars in revenue that a party of 5 adults would generate, rather than leave the table empty for an hour. Worst case, she could have told us we needed to complete our meal by 8:30. If it is too hard to teach basic seating standards to hosts, she could have been trained to ask us if we would be willing to sit in the empty seats at the bar and have our meal there, which we would have. If the bar seats were reserved, she could have suggested that we could order take out and sit at the bar while our food was prepared. She could have acknowledged, that I was in fact not a practiced liar, that something may have gone wrong on the restaurants end, and bought us a beer while we waited. All of these solutions would have brought me back. Instead, I am going to spend my morning leaving negative reviews on...

My wife and I went to Rhea on a date night and boy was it fantastic. We started off by ordering a handful of apps. The tuna tartare came out on chewy rice with a combination of flavors that left us wanting 10 more. This was followed by the friend chicken bao buns which were amazing and spicy. The the Brussels sprouts... Oh my, the Brussels sprouts. Perfectly cooked with a sauce that made our eyes go wide. Heaven. The kung Pao chicken dip was good but not our favorite item it was quite smokey and the bbq flavor was a tad overwhelming. If they had made it a bit creamer with less in your face sweetness it would have hit the spot. Excellent consistency. The finally, the ramen. We ordered the Birria with shitake mushrooms and chili oil additions... Heaven in a bowl. I wish we hadn't ordered just one!

I do have one con, however. The cocktails we had were... Not great. I can see how they would work for some but the two I had (mother of Zeus and dunes of the cape) had a flavor that was off putting. The Zeus was FAR too herby and it took away from the flavor of the drink itself and the cape was good at first sip.. but something in it gave it very yeasty/bready aftertaste that was quite off-putting.

For dessert we ordered both items, the chocolate mousse and the crème brûlée. The mousse with kumquat was very good but the creme brulee left us wanting flavor. The consistency and texture were great, but it didn't taste anything more than something that can only be compared to a pumpkin puree with no sugar. We found it quite boring. Ultimately our experience at Rhea Was a 10 out of 10 and we will definitely come back. We left extremely satisfied. While yes, not everything was perfect, it hardly ever is! Even two days later, We're still talking about the food. Don't hesitate to make a...

I like restaurants that push boundaries, but this is not good product-market fit. Saratoga was hungry for a good Japanese or even Asian fusion restaurant that executes on fundamentals. This is not that. My wife who likes ramen said upon ordering one of their less "out there" versions (which was hard to decipher for her as none are traditional), that Rhea's ramen was solid but cannot speak to the Spanish style versions. And why serve Spanish style ramen anyway in a town that wanted the traditional recipes..free country and I encourage a chef's desire to pursue their visions, but risky and not landing well from what I can tell. Another diner next to us bellied up to the bar to say hi to a friend working there and had a beer, but passed on food upon a review of the menu because there was "too much going on". I agree. I tried some small plates and found they all had too many ingredients. They deep fried a portabella mushroom and sauced it up on a bao - I could not taste any mushroom just fried crunch and sauce. Charred green beans were spicy and salty and saucy (not terrible but aggressively flavored), but in the end I would have preferred some simple blistered shishito peppers. Cocktails were fun and pretty balanced, but very showy, and they are better at Seneca. My guess is that they will hear this feedback and course correct as I know on the right night Seneca (same owner) can be excellent for...