VELE — Restaurant in Springfield

I'm a bit torn on this one b/c there were some distinct highs and lows on this dining experience. Started with a complimentary sampler of champagne, which turned out to be the perfect amount for us b/c I don't drink champagne and my wife wanted to have just a little bit. Ordered the olive oil tasting appetizer, which was really good when we finally got it. It took a while b/c there was an issue in the kitchen where they burnt the bread and had to prepare another loaf, but the communication on the issues wasn't great so we were sat waiting for a while without knowing what was happening.

Main course we got the mushroom linguine. The flavors were excellent, but it was a bit heavy on the cream. It was a bit soupy, and I think it would have really helped to serve it in a wider, shallower bowl in addition to having less sauce. It was really hard to get noodles, mushrooms, and greens all in one bite b/c everything kept slipping off my fork.

We got the tiramisu for dessert, and it was one of the most unique presentations for any dessert I've ever had. The ladyfingers came on a plate surrounding a large chocolate ball. Then they poor hot chocolate syrup over the ball and it melts to reveal the creme in the middle of the chocolate ball. In addition to looking super cool, it tasted delicious.

My last comment is the table. I get the restaurant is in a really old building and that's part of the character/charm of the restaurant, but you've got to level out your tables. If I'm going to a nice dinner like that, I don't want to spend the meal trying not to spill a drink b/c the table keeps wobbling back and forth the whole night.

Generally a good experience, but I can't give it the five stars I think it could have with a few tweaks to...

Last night, the Love of my life and I decided to go out for dinner. This is not uncommon. But the experience we had at Vele is very uncommon. After I took the first bite of my entree I knew that I needed to write this review. But before I get to the entree. Let me begin with the appetizer. We ordered grilled oysters. This was my 3rd time ever having oysters and yet it felt like I discovered something new. Those oysters were impeccable!! The moment I scooped those oysters of out the shell with my teeth I felt like I was in ecstasy. Everything and everyone around me faded. Nothing mattered anymore. Until… the main course arrived. I ordered the Shrimp and Spicy Sausage Orecchiette. After I took the first bite, all my stress and worries from the day became nonexistent. I almost dropped a tear. Have you ever had food so good you wanted to stop eating it and weep?!?!? The amount of flavor packed into one dish should be a sin. It almost felt wrong to be eating something so delicious. My boyfriend said that his food was so good it made him mad; he had ordered the Spicy Seafood Spaghetti. So I had to try some of his. And that spicy seafood spaghetti was something else. Forget what you think you know about spaghetti. In fact, that spaghetti doesn’t even look like your average spaghetti because the noodles are infused with squid ink. Overall please let this review serve an my unequivocal recommendation for Vele. When it comes to flavorful seafood , you better believe Vele understands the assignment. And the restaurant’s service and ambiance is definitely superb. I even left a $20 tip. I’ve never done...

We had an excellent dinner and experience at Vele. The restaurant was classy, the food outstanding with no weak links. We shared the grilled Cesar salad, octopus and ravioli. All were excellent. We also shared a reasonably priced bottle of Pinot noir. Our order of infused olive oils with decent, not great, bread was a bargain. Will definitely dine there again. Vele is a welcome addition to the Springfield, IL dining scene - not exactly a hotbed of fine dining. Highly recommended.

Update 8/13/24

This is the fourth time we have experienced Vele and by far the least enjoyable. In the past, we enjoyed it quite a bit and made a 60 mile journey to celebrate my spouse’s birthday. The first disappointment was that they were out of the octopus dish which was the main reason we were there. The second disappointment was the goat cheese salad, which had so much vinegar. It was basically inedible. We followed that with the highlight of our dinner, which was the eggplant bruschetta. The last item we ordered was a mushroom pasta (not the ravioli) in which the pasta was way overdone for our tastes and the sauce was very salty even though on my reservation, I stated that we wanted lower sodium. The final disappointment was that the restaurant did not offer any sort of complementary item for my spouses birthday even though at other tables near us, people were obviously getting a complementary dessert for some sort of celebration and the server acknowledged that she knew we were celebrating a birthday. While this restaurant was our top restaurant in Springfield in the past, we probably won’t be returning...