The Cozy Taberna — Restaurant in Salem

I have been wanting to try this place for some time, and now that Rudy's closed, I had a reason to try and find another fine-dining restaurant in Salem - a daunting task. So why just three stars here? It is primarily due to flavor and menu selection, and a bit on price.

We started by ordering a Caesar Salad, but did not realize it is all cabbage (we misunderstood that Radicchio was cabbage thinking it was a type of lettuce). Neither my wife or I can eat cabbage, so the restaurant was nice enough to change out the cabbage for bib-lettuce. It helped, but I was expecting something from the Caesar dressing and it was very bland, so the salad was a bust. Maybe cabbage is common for salads in Spain, and that's great if it is, but cabbage for me is like eating a bowl of the old "colon blow" cereal that was a joke on Saturday Night Live. So it would be nice for the restaurant to offer a Caesar salad made with Romaine Lettuce as well.

For the main course I ordered the flat-iron steak and my wife ordered the scallops. My steak was an excellent cut of meat and it was cooked perfectly, but they used some type of marinade that reminded me of A1 or Lea&Perrins Worcestershire sauce. A lot of people like that, but it is a flavor that I particularly dislike. I may try the Teres Major Steak next time, but I will need to ask more carefully about the seasoning used for that one. I'm sure has heck not going to spend $120 on a NY Strip Loin or $180 on a Tomahawk Ribeye until I know I like the flavor of their other steak. Besides I can get those cuts for significantly less at Ruth's Chris and I know I like their seasoning. So their prices on certain cuts of meat here are ridiculously high.

My wife ordered the Scallops and they were prepared perfectly and she was happy with that part of the meal.

I was also disappointed in the seafood offerings. I initially wanted and inquired about the Salmon and was told it was "Atlantic Salmon from Norway". Why in all of creation are we IMPORTING SALMON (with red food dye if its farm raised which most of it is) when we HAVE FRESH PACIFIC SALMON RIGHT HERE??? Then the only other seafood offering were octopus (not my favorite no matter how its seasoned or cooked) or scallops (I'm not a fan of most shellfish). So essentially one fish offering.

One or two more salad offerings as well as one or two more seafood offerings (Rockfish, Grouper, Tilapia, etc), and some salad dressings with more flavor would make a big difference.

If this had been an $80-$95 dinner I'd probably provide a higher rating, but when you step into the +$100 dinner for two I expect a higher level of options and sophistication with the salad dressings (our dinner came to $160 for one Caesar Salad, one scallop dinner, one flat iron steak dinner, and one margarita, and tip). When prices reach that level, I expect a few more items to be available on the menu and I expect better seasonings. It's a shame we have to keep driving to Portland or fly to LA or New York to go to a fine dining establishment.

We realize a good restaurant will usually have a somewhat limited menu, so they can concentrate on quality. Unfortunately The Cozy Taberna menu is just too limited.

We will probably try this one more time. As I said, the chef knows how to cook and prepare nice presentations, I'm just not a fan at all of the chef's seasonings. I just hope if I order the other steak they have it won't...

Let's start with the look. The Cozy Taberna is aptly named. Tucked down an oddly chic alley, this restaurant is a nice size but still with a cozy feel. With a bar on one side and an open kitchen (which I love) on the other, you have a view of the kitchen no matter what side you sit on thanks to the huge angled mirror over the bar (great touch). The feeling is warm and welcoming. Not at all pretentious. Now for the service. We were greatly by a nice man who not only seated us immediately but thanked us for chosing to dine with them. Our waitress was even more lovely and so knowledgeable about the food. We had a very picky eater in our party and she asked the chef to make us something not on the menu. And the chef agreed. They had no problem putting sauces on the side either. Oh and one of the owners stopped by our table and was so genuinely friendly and kind that we didn't know she was the owner until she stopped by again and something she said clued us in. I don't have enough good things to say about the people of the Cozy Taberna. The food.... Oh dear God. I know when someone reads this they will think I'm exaggerating but it is the absolute truth. This was one of the best meals of my life. I'm from Hawaii and we have amazing food there, including some of the best restaurants in the world. The Cozy Taberna topped them all. From appetizers to dessert, everything they brought out was the best I'd ever had. The brussel sprouts with caramel and fish sauce was amazing, the flavors growing bolder and more complex with every bite. The bacon wrapped dates made me wish there were more to an order, and the selection of wines was impressive. The garlic chicken,with its sticky sweet and smoky sauce was mind blowing but the bavette steak was a triumph. Cooked to perfection, charred lightly, sliced and covered in a mushroom sauce that was completely unexpected- sweet and savory instead of the usual buttery beurre blanc you find covering most steaks. It's the kind of dish you dream about. I am already planning my next visit. As for desserts, they didn't let us down. They had a very nice selection of things unique to them and a couple twists on crowd pleasers like cheesecake and molten lava cake. They even had a gluten free torte. I went with the Spanish French Toast which was actually a bread pudding sliced up and fried so that the outside was crisp and the inside soft. Three generous chunks came swimming in a crème anglais. Let's just say that I kept eating long after I should have stopped. Why did I take the time to write such a long winded review? Because it truly was the best meal I've ever had in Salem and this restaurant is still fairly new. I'm invested in its success now. Honestly, I think I'd cry if they closed. Please, go eat there and...

We have been here a few times over the last couple of years and have had poor service; last night was no exception. After our drinks and an embarrassing plate of toast points (garlic bread), we ordered our entrée consisting of 3 burgers and 1 squid ink pasta. The pasta for my wife came out first, then my burger was about 10 minutes later (medium well). Waiting…waiting…. about 15 minutes later the waitress told us that “we accidently served the other 2 burgers (medium rare) to another table, and they started eating it, even though it’s not what they ordered” and then said, “your burgers are going to be another 8-10 minutes”. I don’t believe this excuse, why? Because it’s the exact same thing that happened every time we have eaten here. First question: why would pasta be the first plate to serve? Second question: why would a medium well burger come out before a medium rare burger? You see, the excuse doesn’t add up or they’re just lying… Our options are to eat cold squid ink pasta with a raw egg yolk and a cold burger -or- eat in front of my brother and sister-in-law? I assume this is standard for Salem folks but not by ours. The time the other burgers showed up, the pasta was inedible, cold and rubber like and mine was cold as well but ate it anyway because I hadn’t eaten all day. Then after a very awkward exchange with what I understood to be a manager, she ended up removing the cost of our food from the bill… We didn’t go to this restaurant looking for a free meal; we were out spending time together as a family to reflect on the wonderful life of our youngest brother who is no longer with us. This is a substandard restaurant (Michelin star for Salem people) I knew this going in but thought we would give it another chance. We will never return and please spare me with the “we’re sorry ‘bout that” and “we strive as a company to achieve the best customer service” schtick. You have and will never get it right, however, by Salem’s standards you will be here for a long time. A word of advice to ‘Cozy’ be honest from the top down, don’t tell your servers to lie, if you were honest, I wouldn’t be writing...