Char Steakhouse — Restaurant in Raritan

First off, I'll admit there may be some bias in my review, I had a bad, unrelated experience prior to attending this restaurant that put me in a bad mood. I want to give this place more stars. I really do. But I can't. On the outset, I could tell this place was going to be expensive: the prices for their items were not listed on their menu on their site.

The exterior decent given the area, tucked away on the side of the highway. The parking isn't the best & there seems to be some sort of valet for the location. I'm not sure if that's unique to events that go on in the evening or if they get backed up due to reservations & such - I didn't really read their sign. Random cones were strewn about as if the spots were for someone important or valet spots.

When visiting, I was promptly seated. It's clear they spent a lot on the decor inside & out to make this place a lot more upscale than it is & the surrounding location. Fancy if you're into that sort of thing or are trying to impressive someone. There's a decent sized bar area people seem to schmooze at.

I ordered their blackened steak. I was told that it was dry rubbed with seasoning/spices to get it blackened that way. The steak didn't have much in the way of flavor. I'd expect, even with how blackened it was, it would still have other flavors with it. The steak was cooked properly at medium temperature, although, if I were to do it again, I might do medium rare.

While devouring my food, I felt somewhat uncomfortable, as the location I was seated at was a corner table by the door that lead to their outside seating in the back. There was someone standing right behind me, during the entire meal that was watching tables and/or seeing if people needed service, chatting with other employees. It was bothersome & annoying - I don't really like when there's someone in my blind spot, feeling as if I'm being observed like an experiment.

For completeness sake, I'll update this review when I go back & try the other steak. The side that I ordered were mushrooms, along with some shrimp & a soda. The steak was massive & excellent, except for some of the flavor, but I will update this once I've had their other options, I don't believe it is fair to say anything bad about the steak or how it was made until trying all options they provide.

The mushrooms were great, albeit a little expensive. The shrimp were somewhat bland despite their attempt to flavor them a little. The glasses for soda were extremely small, considering the price you pay.

As far as value, these were not worth the cost, as you can see evidenced by my bill. Other similar steak houses that I've been to do not charge for one side that comes with the meal (much less, at such a high cost). Note that, when ordering the steak, they don't list that it comes with any sides, which is unusual & extreme unless I read the menu wrong. The price, even for such a large cut of meat, seems slightly high as well. It was large, however.

Perhaps I need to broaden my horizons & go to more steak houses. Perhaps I have standards and/or are used to a different level of service. Maybe it was my mood when eating this food. Maybe, the area & region - Bridgewater, one of the more expensive parts of the county is right down the road are to blame for the costs & pricing of such an upscale establishment (gotta get all the money from those rich folks!. Whatever it is, I can't in good conscious give this place anything higher than 3 stars - they need slightly lower prices.

Minor update: Second time around I had the Cowboy Steak, which was slightly better priced. Steak sauce selected (char sauce) is Peter Luger steak sauce, with a less fishy taste. This steak was filling. Be warned, that if you plan on having a steak this size, you will have leftovers. Alternatively, plan ahead by skipping lunch on the day you intend on going. I liked the little 'doneness' wooden stake indicator placed within the steak - it was a good finishing touch. Preferred this flavor over the...

I had an interesting experience at Char steakhouse to say the least. It was a combination of disappointment, surprise and indifference. I’ll attempt to shed light on my experiences to give some credibility to what I feel I experienced at Char. Firstly, I’ve been going to high-end steakhouses for the past 10 years. From my first experience at Houston’s, Morton’s, Ruth’s Chris, then eventually, my being stationed in Kansas and enjoying some of the best prime dry-aged beef in America at 801 Chophouse, Char falls short in relation to their hostess staff. I’ve also dined at many high-end steakhouses in Germany and eventually Prague, before heading back home to NJ. So that being said, I am well aware of the standard of service that should be provided given a certain price point. I have never once, anywhere in the world, in 10 years of dining at high-end steakhouses, been told to wait for a table that I’ve reserved and already confirmed the day of. The hostesses at Char are, to be bluntly honest, unprofessional and rude (in my opinion, inexperienced and too young for such responsibilities). When I entered, I informed them that I was meeting family and they pointed me to the location that my family was waiting. Upon my return to the hostesses to be seated, they acted as if I had no reservation at all, “we are working on getting your table ready, just go sit at the couches and wait.” Now, I thought their demeanor to be somewhat disrespectful, especially considering that I had made and confirmed a reservation, prior to my visit. Their demeanor though, was what bothered me the most. I received, not one single apology for my table not being held. They seemed extremely pompous and as though they were doing me some sort of favor by hosting me. This is unacceptable considering the price-point. As I have already stated, I have never had this problem anywhere else in the world. My summation is that they are simply used to treating Central Jersiites as if they are doing them a service and that their food is worth being treated like trash. Regardless, once we were seated, our waitress Sameerah was extremely attentive and knowledgeable. She and the food, were the only things that redeemed our experience. I suggest that Char Steakhouse take a long hard look at their hostess staff and hostess management and further improve their time management processes. If it weren’t for the hostesses and time management faults, they would get a much higher score. Unfortunately, given the price point, they fell unreasonably short for a steakhouse of...

The service was really great, our waiter was attentive, friendly and knowledgeable about the menu. The vibe was dark, moody and intimate which I really enjoyed. The only issue with the ambience is the patrons at the bar had a very casual feel about them and were quite loud at times. It didn’t quite fit the feel of the restaurant.

The food didn’t blow me away. There were a couple of things that were really good - the charred oysters from the specials menu were amazing and definitely the best thing we had that night. The seafood tower is not worth it, it’s $35pp and you get one piece of each seafood per person. It was underwhelming. For mains, I got the Chilean Seabass after it was recommended by my waiter (I’m pescatarian) and I didn’t like it at all, I couldn’t even finish it. The sauce is barely present and the fish felt jiggly. My boyfriend got the cowboy ribeye medium rare and it came out fully rare, which I guess is better than overcooking the meat. He still enjoyed it. For sides, the death by potatoes was really good, I don’t even like mashed potatoes but these were tasty. However, the “shaved truffles” on top were more like truffle sprinkles and felt like a cheap topping, it wasn’t what I was expecting from the description. We also got creamed spinach which was more like a spinach soufflé, there was no creamy texture to be found. It tasted fine but definitely not up to par.

My biggest issue with the experience was that I booked through open table and made a note that it was for a birthday and they didn’t do anything with that information, they didn’t even ask. I kept waiting to see if they were going to do anything to acknowledge it and they never did. All in all, my boyfriend enjoyed his birthday dinner and that’s the most important thing. I’m happy about that.

One other thing to note, they charge an exorbitant credit card fee, I think it was like 10% or something and I didn’t see any (obvious) note of this addition anywhere, maybe it’s in the fine print. Completely out of place for an establishment like this.

I acknowledge this isn’t the most expensive steakhouse, but it is still a steakhouse, and for the surrounding area, it is one of the higher class establishments, so I was...