The Robinson Ale House — Restaurant in Red Bank

As a professional from the field I generally never write a critique- I actually would have asked to talk to the chef myself but the lack of any professionalism from the waitstaff deterred my enthusiasm. Unbiased as I am, a lover of good pub food and a restaurant owner myself I feel that someone needs to address some FUNDAMENTAL issues here. Firstly the waitstaff should be schooled about your wine selection. Not knowing the white wine selection is....a bit of shame. Also, no one asked at the end if we liked the food either. No resonance = uncaring. So. We ordered soups as a starter. A great soup shows the quality of a good chef. The squash soup with banana tasted like baby food. Squash is sweet enough and balancing that sweetness means introducing either an opposite (acid) like orange zest/ginger etc.. or a compliment: nutty: (walnut créme fraiche) Balancing is important. Over kill is dumb. The French onion soup- a classic- was ...butchered. instead of velvety smooth it was: Insipid, the onions falsly cut, not sweated properly whilst cooking and dumped in a canned broth then topped with crunchy-out of place - spring onions(!)eeek. The crouton and cheese were mixed in the broth and not lovingly placed on top and browned properly! THAT is the work of a non professional. And a seriously poor presentation. Next. The ceasar salad was very boring and zero creativity. Giant portions are ugly and wasteful. I had the "seared" scallops with risotto. Ok...firstly, anything hot should be served on a hot plate not cold. So my scallops were cold and over cooked when they arrived. The consistency of the risotto was good but too salty, too much grana and the pancetta added more saltiness. Better would be have been, again, complimenting the sacred scallops. Cheese and scallops don't mix. Lemony risotto with a creamy avocado walnut pesto on a bed of spinach would! Motto: be true to your main ingriedient- compliment it and think of an opposite that enhances the balance. Think: a chocolate cake on chocolate sauce with chocolate whipped cream = no balance, no acid and no variation for the taste buds. Your chefs need some better training as does the wait staff. If you want some help- just ask me. Good luck! S. Bowden Ps. Pls don't dump bread rolls and red sauce (I thought it was sweet chili sauce) before asking if we want any. Food...

Let me first give credit where credit is due, the restaurant itself aesthetically was very nice and The vibes were just right. unfortunately for us, that was as good as it got. After ordering it took 20 minutes to drop calamari and bread for appetizers and an extra 20 for the food with ZERO unprompted check-ins from the server. Once the food arrived my medium rare ribeye revealed itself to be a well done ribeye (if I were to be generous you could maybe clear it for medium well). After noticing I politely let the server know and she took it back, less than one minute after the manager came out with a somewhat hostile energy trying to assure me that the steak in front of me was in fact medium rare and the lighting was just affecting my vision. Coming from an extensive culinary background and working in the food industry I can easily and confidently say the steak was much much overdone (as could my family who hardly knows food). A manager trying to defend the food they serve is understandable and almost expected. What was not expected was this managers insatiable thirst to try to prove me wrong. In the food service industry even if the customer is wrong which does happen, you do your best to make them happy and just bring them what is needed. I don't see the need to argue back and forth with a customer. He pushed me to order something else in an attempt to appease but at this point I did not feel the need to spend more money so I simply said that I did not want anything else and I told him I know it was not his fault the steak came out this way but the bickering made me lose my appetite. The worst of it was on our way out this manager and our server, whom we gave more than generous tip to despite her lack of effort, were saying very rude things about me while I was in the restroom unknowingly in front of my wife and mother. I understand mistakes happen and food comes out wrong, that always deserves a second chance. what does not deserve a second chance is a manager who allows himself and his team to argue with guests to the point where they have to write a review as a PSA.

Bonus* Every single dish that arrived with salt-less and gave my whole family the runs

Of course if you feel so inclined check it out for yourself, hopefully the service is better for you but I don't see us returning...

We have been here a few times before and had a good experience. However, last week, with our friends visiting from Canada, we were treated like garbage. We came in close to closing time and ordered burgers. One of our burgers came out extremely rare when it was supposed to be medium. No big deal. We told our waitress, who was immediately surprised by how raw the burger was on the inside and called the manager over. This guy says, “oh wow, that’s really rare,” and walks away. Our waitress says that the kitchen is completely shut down and they can’t fix the problem. Still no big deal...we didn’t expect a miracle. We thought she would wrap it up and they would help us with the check. Instead, they threw away the sandwich and “comped” her meal. At this point, I was confused because she didn’t have any dinner and it was like she never ordered any. That’s not complimentary. Complimentary is getting something for free. While one of our other guests was trying to explain this to the manager, he tells her to “be quiet and listen” and that he “couldn’t do anything” to help us. When her fiancé said he was being rude and asked for his name, he gives it and follows it up with, “I don’t care what you write about me”. He was visibly angry at our table. This is not the way any manager at a service-based business should act when they are in the wrong in the first place. We kept discussing it with him calmly while he just angrily hung his head. He then concedes, says he will give us a family and friends discount and walks away, never coming back out. He never apologized for his behavior, leaving it up to our waitress to awkwardly deal with us the best she could. We overtipped her because she tried, even though she threw away the burger, and was apologetic when we asked her about it. Honestly, we are local and never coming back again. It was...