Holly Blue — Restaurant in Fort Lauderdale

First of all the atmosphere is great and our server was as well. Food was pricey for the portions provided and honestly some dishes had potential but did not live up to it.

Service:

Our server was great and offered us a good drink recommendation in the "drink for two" (i cant really remember the name). The problem was that the table we were seated at for our reservation was in a high traffic area and very cramped when the restaurant was fairly empty. We had to ask to move to another location.

Food:

Sweet and Sour Pork Belly 7/10

-The dish was nicely presented and the sweet and sour sauce had a good flavor to it. The pork belly itself wasn't very well cooked. It could have done with being crispier and it needed to be browned a bit more.

Short Rib with Mashed Potatoes 6/10

Again the dish was nicely presented and the mashed potatoes had a good consistency and flavor. The star of the show didn't live up to its $42 price tag however. Again the general color of the short rib was not optimal as it could have done with being browned/crisped more on the outside. The overall flavor was ok, just a bit on the bland side. It was not what i was expecting as a short rib enjoyer. It was a bit overcooked as well as it was beginning to be stringy and the inside of it was dry.

Seabass with Crispy Rice 9/10

-This was by far the best dish we had! The crispy rice was perfect and added crunch to the dish. The Seabass itself was perfectly cooked and had a nice brown sort of crispy color to the edges. I docked a point from this one due to the portion size being a bit lacking for $52 and unlike the other dishes we had, i think the plating could be better on this one.

Overall Holly Blue was a decent experience with a nice aesthetic. To me it lacked in the food department to the point where the other facets of this review were only able to make up for it to a certain point.

I...

The place looks great. I loved the outside part, although the DJ was pretty keen on boosting the music out there, to the point you couldn’t hear each other. I get it for the club side, but not the restaurant side. The cocktails at the bar were fantastic! I don’t know what happened when we sat down, I guess a different bartender, but they definitely dropped in quality, to the point that one was completely wrong! Our server was great. Very helpful and pleasant to talk to. However, our reservation was for 6.45pm. They didn’t seat us until after 7 and that was only after we had to remind them we were here. There were 4 of us, we all ordered starters and entrees. This is where it all went downhill. We ended up eating in shifts. A starter would come out with the promise of the rest impending.10 minutes later, another would appear, and then finally after asking where it was, the 3rd starter arrived. This was around 8pm. Over an hour after being there. We were then offered a side dish, then another side dish. Then after another wait, one entree arrived. Another 40 minutes later, 2 entrees arrived, and then our 4th entree arrived almost 2 hours after being seated. I understand a new place has teething problems, but everyone else around us were eating together, having a shared experience. We were not even close to that. We were then given the bill, with one entree removed and a free round of drinks. As much as I appreciate that, we had a terrible experience. The food was only ok. For those prices, I would expect to eat together at least! We talked with the manager, who begrudgingly took the food off the bill. I had no problem paying for the booze, but what a terrible experience. To sure I’ll be going back. Especially after the ‘pissy’ attitude from the manager. I have worked in the hospitality business for a long time. Not an experience I...

Instagramable ambiance, decent menu EXTREMELY loud, everything from that point forward leaves a lot to be desired. Holly blue has an issue with it's identity, what exactly does it want to be? It's limited, seemingly curated menu suggests fine dining, but it's music choice, volume (good luck talking to the person sitting next to you), raucous patrons suggests it wants to be a lounge type of establishment?

My date and I could not enjoy our dinner, despite looking forward to visiting this place. The restaurant was extremely loud, we had to ask the waitress and the hostess to repeat themselves several times, and conversation at the table was difficult without literally yelling at one another. Absolutely awful experience.

The food was hit or miss. The menu offerings and the dishes offered suggests fine dining, unique ingredients,flavors and offerings, however aside from two of the dishes we received, everything else was cold, as in below room temperature, and the crispy dishes were chewy as if they had been sitting for a good while before it was served. My short rib dish was underwhelming, the inside of the short rib was edible but the outside was very much over cooked and noticeably dry. The dryness was luckily(?) Masked by the garlic mashed potatoes and a sweet sauce that smothered the short rib.

All in all, friendly wait staff, the food in theory should be fantastic based on the ingredients and the suggested execution, but the entire experience was sub par. Again, EXTREMELY loud, to the point where it's hard to enjoy the dining experience. Hopefully Holly blue gets their act together and listens to it's customers and improves their...