Jane At The Marketplace — Restaurant in Goleta

DISCLAIMER: what I ordered and the service I received are my experiences and the rest of the menu could be amazing I may have just been unlucky. Now I have had better looking and tasting Caesar for cheaper at pizza parlors the entrees were nothing special I had a chicken sandwich with as much cheese as chicken and a side of fries that could only rival in n out rejects, they were overcooked and the sheer amount of them could have demanded a plate of their own. Wifey got the chicken piccata and I can’t really knock it it was just a bit too tart and everything on the plate was the same flavor or lacked flavor completely. We were offered bread and butter and while we accepted it never made it to the table. I don’t want to bully our waitress I’m sure she had a lot going on but it felt like serving was an afterthought and we could not wave her down for any reason. Honestly if you don’t have any prejudice chili’s is right next door. If you think jade has better food it’s only marginal and the environment seems family oriented so not much different. jade has a lot of very simple improvements that they can make fairly easily. 1. Learn how to make a Caesar salad you can make them in bulk after getting a rough sense of how many are ordered in an hour 2. When someone orders a grilled chicken sandwich they don’t want something that with send them into cardiac arrest seriously a quarter pound of fried cheese is something you should mention in the name of the sandwich and pairing that with the sesame bread and onions with mushrooms the first three bites are great but after that it is a struggle. 3. Balance and flavor are a must in a good meal please add a palate refreshing item or recommend a side in order to avoid experiences like...

Got seated quickly after arrival, however, despite trying to make eye contact with staff, and people cleaning up dishes around me for solid 10-15 minutes, I didn’t even get a water nor anyone came by to take my order. Hence literally walked up to the font desk and asked whether there is any chance I can place an order.. not a great start but gets worse. Buckle up.

The complimentary bread was not only cold and tasted stale, I highly doubt it actually was from a “nearby bakery” unless the Target across the street counts. I can only hope it was made within 3-5 business days of my visit.

Ordered the duck special for my main course - which came out not-that-special and instead pretty raw. Some bits were cooked ok, but most of the parts that were at least reasonably safe to eat were often un-chewable and tougher than David Goggins himself, resulting in a frequent use of the napkin to discard the matter. Personally, I found the kumquat sauce too sweet, but this could be just personal preference. The sides of beets and potatoes were decent and edible.

Still starving and trying to end this train wreck on a somewhat positive note the flourless, but very rich chocolate cake, dryer than Sahara desert and denser than depleted uranium was arguably the better part of this meal and hopefully provided enough caloric intake, but was far from a highlight.

Interestingly, no water was served since the first glass (that came ~20 min in) and therefore upon departure I had to go ask the bartender if I could possibly have a glass of water - which I did get. Yay!

Overall with the slow/non-existent service, undercooked/raw duck, and an astounding $35.55 entree price I wouldn’t call this even remotely worth it. Thanks for coming to...

This was such a fantastic dinner! From fast, friendly service to delicious food and scrumptious cocktails! We enjoyed our appetizers so much I forgot to take pictures until we were digging into it! We had fried calamari, panseared scallops with tomato, basil, and pesto, and the artichoke with a lemon garlic aoli. Then we ordered the swordfish special (which was by far the BEST DISH!). We also ordered the veal marsala, the chicken picatta and the linguine and classic dish. It was very delicious food. My veal marsala was a little salty but I was able to balance it out with the side of pasta and seasonal vegetables.

Since I was pregnant I also ordered virgin cocktails of the ones they had listed. And OH MY!!! They were so flavorful! Ita because they have house made syrup so any of the cocktails on the menu, they could make it non-alcoholic! The mayan margarita was the best because it was spicy, and tangy with pineapple juice and it was just everything I wanted. The passion fruit mocktail was also really fresh!

Then we had dessert, which was the coconut chiffon cake with creme anglaise and the creme brulee which is the BEST creme brulee o have ever had in my life, I thing because it was warm and the sugar on top was perfectly caramelized (it must have been baked in the oven and not torched).

It was a great evening with phenomenal food...