Nicholas Barrel & Roost — Restaurant in Middletown Township

I want to start out by saying my Fiance and i absolutely loved Restaurant Nicholas. We have gone with our best friends and family no less than six times in the past 2 years. This last time we went for an engagement dinner was the exception and why we will unfortunately never go there again.

I valeted my car as i always do and we went in to meet our best friends for dinner. Dinner was excellent as always and we got in our separate cars to leave and head across the highway to our friends house for the night. Upon arriving there 2 minutes later i got out and went in my backseat to grab my overnight bag and realized it was not there. I remember specifically putting it on my backseat before leaving my house and heading directly to the restaurant that night but it was not there after leaving the restaurant. I promptly returned to Nicholas and asked the Valet if he had perhaps put it in another vehicle or it had fallen out. We looked around the parking lot and no bag was found. He said he thought he locked the vehicle as he always does but didn't seem very sure. The manager said he would review the cameras and call me the next day. He did not so i called to follow up. He said the car was not in view on their cameras as they have them pointing at their back door and fridges, not customers cars..

I came back that day to look around again for the bag in the parking lot and surrounding neighborhood with no luck. Upon speaking to my fiance after this she also told me that her new Tori Burch bag that she got for Christmas was also missing, still in the new box. I went to the Middletown Police department and filed a report for stolen items and called the manager back with the case # to ask if there was any update and he said no. I politely asked if we could file an insurance claim and he said he would have to talk to their lawyer and he would call me back. He also said he was sorry this happened but it didn't happen at their restaurant!! This was on January 2nd.. 22 days ago.

We are beyond shocked at how the Restaurant handled this and we could never go back. I would at the very least like people to know if you eat there DO NOT Valet park and if you do not have ANY valuables in your car. I wish this didn't happen and it was a lesson learned and made us see who Nicholas Restaurant is at the core, A Restaurant with amazing (an Expensive) Food and Management with no Customer respect.

As a google local guide i may have only given out 1 other 1 star review if any, so obviously this experience was so bad for us it warranted this .If we had been an older couple driving an S class i guarantee this would haven been handled...

We have dined at Restaurant Nicholas many times since we moved into the area in 2007, and it is one restaurant that just keeps blowing us away every time we go back. Last night, my wife surprised me with dinner at the "Chef's Table" for my birthday and all I can say is it was probably the best dining experience I've ever had. The Hamachi Tartare was impeccably well balanced, the Scallops were taking a dip with spring vegetables in a light butttery sauce that was out of this world, and the salmon and halibut were both cooked to perfection as always. And that describes only four of the 16 small plates, each one a masterpiece, that the two of us were able to enjoy over the course of the evening. In general, Chef Nicholas, his Sous Chef Kevin and the entire kitchen staff are somehow able to develop rich deep complex flavor profiles while keeping things simple at the same time. And as usual, the service staff was top of the line and at our table whenever we needed them, but disappearing from sight whenever we didn't. They acted with precision and appeared to effortlessly guide us through the numerous courses with smiles and warmth rather than the snooty attitude of many other fine dining establishments. And when you dine at the Chef's Table (with the kitchen as your entertainment), you truly realize just how much attention to detail Restaurant Nicholas demands of its food and staff. They were never "in the weeds", operating like a fine-tuned Maserati engine throughout the entire night of service, accommodating all sorts of special requests, all while putting out consistently amazing food. I'm lucky I live in the area so I can dine here as much as I want, but even if I lived on the other side of the world, a single night at Restaurant Nicholas would be well worth the trip! Congratulations to Nicholas, Melissa, Kevin, and the entire kitchen and service staff .... you continue to ensure that we are customers for life and I hope you won't mind seeing our eager faces at the "Chef's...

This was our 1st visit here, based upon a friend's recommendation. We arrived 1.5 hrs before our reservation, checked in with the maitre d, and told him we were going to enjoy a drink at.the bar. The bar was crowded and we patiently waited for 30 minutes to have our drink order taken. During this time the bartenders completely ignored us, not even glancing our way but making conversation with seated patrons literally 2 feet in front of us. Finally our order was taken by a waiter walking around thru the bar crowd. A couple to our left gave us a spot to rest our drinks and told us they were leaving but not to attempt to sit in their chairs as we would be asked to get up by what they called the "Nicholas Police". They explained that they were removed from their seats earlier as there is apparently some waiting list that no one had mentioned to them, or us. They were annoyed and left before ordering dinner and told us good luck, we will not be coming back here again. After waiting an hour at this point, I observed a couple walk in, start talking to the bar waiter, and shaking hands with him, thanking him and tipping him! 15 mins later, they were given bar seats! I confronted the waiter and he denied the tip and proceeded to tell us there was a waiting list for the bar! How bizarre! No one at this point had even mentioned that to us. And yet, the tipping customers got seated ahead of us...hmmm. My BF went up to the maitre d to inquire about this and the man got confrontational and rude when questioned about why we weren't told this by him when we walked in, or while standing waiting for 1.5 hrs. We wanted to walk out but I couldn't get an online reservation anywhere else at 8:15 on Sat night. We were finally seated at a table and had a lovely waitress, Gabi, who was great. Dinner was ok, but the experience was already ruined. They lost us as customers, the other couple and all my friends who live...