De Novo European Pub — Restaurant in Edgewater

This is the spot I bring all my NYC friends to when they’re visiting. Every dish I’ve tried so far is flawless, and the service staff is always accommodating & attentive (shoutout to Jackie).

I’ve been here for a late lunch, but I prefer to come here in the evening. The dusk completely transforms the view!

DRINKS As a lover of spicy margaritas I always start with the Spicy Mami. It’s the perfect ratio of spice, sweet, and tart. I’ve had a sip from my friends glass of the Pornstar Martini, their most popular drink, which I found too sweet for my taste. My friend, however, loved it. I’ve also had a sip of my sisters Lychee Chi Chi, which was very aromatic, but also a bit sweet.

FOOD The freshly baked bread is so fluffy and always comes out warm. I have to keep myself from eating the whole basket, and licking the little tomato sauce bowl clean.

I’ve been recreating the Heirloom Tomato Salad at home because I couldn’t get enough of it at the restaurant, obviously not doing a great job lol. Every ingredient is integral to this salad. A bit of spice cuts through the rich burrata and the sweetness of honey. I would never expect to like the mint, especially with tomatoes, but it’s so refreshing.

The Squid Ink Pasta is a perfect summer pasta dish, and my favorite. It’s very bright and not at all heavy despite the creamy sauce. Surprisingly, the broccoli pairs very well with the house made pasta and seafood variety. I get this dish every time!

The Prime Short Rib melts in the mouth, and the creamy polenta is in fact very very creamy and perfectly seasoned.

The Miso Black Cod is flaky and caramelized in a sweet & savory sauce. I wasn’t a huge fan of the mashed potatoes it came with, I’d recommend switching them out for a side of polenta.

The Skirt Steak was very tender. I only had a bite of my friends, but it was packed with flavor.

DESSERT The dessert has been disappointing relative to the perfection of the food. As a huge lover of creme brûlée and a unique spin on dessert, I tried the Sweet Corn Creme Brûlée. The texture was a bit grainy. The coconut flakes were overpowering, and also a mismatch. I’m not sure what the berries were glazed with exactly, but the different flavors and textures didn’t mesh well. The next time I tried the Tres Leches, one of my favorite cakes. It was moist, and creamy, but there was a strong taste of evaporated milk that lingered.

Honestly though, the food is so delicious, the portions are huge, the drinks are strong, and the view is gorgeous. I’m so happy by the end of my meal, dessert isn’t even necessary. I can’t wait to be back again and again!

Side note for, if any, managers or important Denovo people are reading this lol - You guys should do Friday dance nights or something in the front area by the cabanas. It would be...

I am SO glad I dragged some friends of mine here! I had been meaning to check this place out for months. I walked past it when I went to the park over the summer and realized how beautiful it was, so I had high expectations. Thankfully my expectations were made. The place itself is huge! They have two bars, an indoor area, an enclosed patio where the second bar is, another dining around and an outdoor patio (adding this to my list of places to go when the summer comes back around as they views are spectacular). I would look into hosting a large event here if the need arose because they have it setup for large parties. In any case, I arrived on a Friday evening and it was pretty crowded (but not unbearable). I sat at the front bar and chatted some people up who said it was their first time, but how pleased they were with the place too. I ordered a glass of wine to start - mighty impressed with their wine and cocktail menu - lots of options to choose & reasonably priced. At the rate NYC is going, I'm starting to prefer staying in NJ! Anyway, when my friends came, they happily sat us at a large table in the front room. We started with a truffle flatbread, calamari, and octopus. I really liked the marinara the calamari came with & the flatbread had a light crust and a lot of cheese - very tasty. We had a difficult time choosing entrees because OMG was the menu huge! I went with the duck ravioli with polenta and was very impressed. The dish was beautifully presented and very tasty. My buddy ordered the cacio e pepe and was very impressed - so much so that someone else at our table that wasn't even hungry, ended up ordering it last minute. Everyone seemed happy with their meal. Service was good overall - not perfect, but it was pretty packed. The manager also came over and asked how we were doing. Something I always applaud. I will definitely be back - I very much enjoyed my time here and I liked the clientele that was here too -...

I would give this restaurant zero stars if that was possible, but since that is not an option I was forced to give them one star. It was a terrible experience from the moment we walked through the door. Our party arrived on time for our reservation and had to wait 20 minutes to be seated at a table that was in unoccupied the entire time we were standing there (we watched another group who came after us get seated at the same size table. Once seated we had to ask 2 staff members for another place setting as the set our table for 8 and our party size was 9. One of the people in our party has a food allergy and asked very specific questions about certain dishes and was given very definitive answers then when the food was brought out by another staff member he told her that her dish did in fact contain cheese, which she is allergic to. They took the dish back and brought her something else, however they were rather unapologetic about the whole thing. Another person in our party ordered a steak medium well and it was served to him rare, when he asked to have it cooked longer it was taken back to the kitchen and returned to him RARE, at that point he didn’t even touch his plate and none of the 6 different people that came over to see how everything was even noticed that he had completely pushed his meal away. Throughout the meal they were turning the lights in the restaurant up and down, if you are prone to seizures, STAY AWAY. To end our evening, the woman who checked our coat was no where to be found, countless staff members walked past us as we again stood in a large group at the hostess station and no one asked us if we needed anything, we finally had to flag down one if the employees to assist us. The worst part of this whole experience was that the food wasn’t even that good, it was ok, but not worth the price or terrible service. I would however give the Valet 5 stars, they were efficient...