Ports Cafe — Restaurant in Town of Geneva

I decided to treat my girlfriend to a nice evening here for her birthday. I will simply say this first for those who don't want to read: our experience was FANTASTIC!

That being said, here are the details: We were greeted by a very enthusiastic and professional waitress. She was very personable and skillfully listed the specials menu she had clearly memorized. If we had questions, she answered them fully. She understood there was a lot of decisions to be made since this was our first time at Ports and we needed to carefully craft our chosen dinner experience and gave us plenty of time without hassle.

We decided on an appetizer, two specials, and two desserts.

The appetizer was a cheesy seafood stuffed ravioli with a very creamy (vodka?) sauce. The flavor was out of this world! Quality so rich that it left you wanting a whole tupperware full of it to eat in the corner of your room where nobody can watch. It was a LITTLE awkward that Ports only served 3 raviolis for a party of two. I can tell you I was not happy surrendering the last bites to my girlfriend, being her birthday and all.

For my entrée, I had a wild caught salmon (can't remember the name) cooked medium rare coated with a sauce (that I can't remember) with a variety of roasted veggies and a kind of rice (I cannot remember the specifics for the life of me). The dish was great. Flavors were incredible and left me desiring more. Veggies were not impressive but I blame that on my natural aversion to cooked greens. Portion sizes are what they should be for any meal you eat in a day, however the price paid for the entrée left me feeling cheated. Price aside, I was very impressed with this dish. I cannot speak for my girlfriend on her entrée. I tried a piece of it and it was good. That's all I can say.

For dessert, we ordered the tart and the chocolate mousse torte. The tart was essentially a (very small) slice of a fruity pie. I believe I remember raspberries, strawberries, and a puff of whipped cream. The tart itself was unimpressive but the whipped cream was surprisingly of a higher quality. The torte was incredible. Thick flavor you wanted more of and no ability to self restrain.

Overall, food quality was out of this world. Very masterfully crafted dishes fit for recognition. I wish I could come back sooner rather than later, however, I may need to start a savings fund to do so, considering I nearly hit 3 figures for a dinner between 2 (without buying wine). I suppose that is the trade, though, for such exotic and immaculate craftsmanship.

In terms of atmosphere and environment, our reservations were made in an area closed off from the main service room. The lighting was dim and romantic. The room itself: cramped and loud, as if customers were dining in your typical Denny's. The reservation room was also placed with a window facing outside next to the parking lot. Someone's truck parked right in front of the window and the light absolutely demolished any feelings of privacy that weren't tossed when we were seated in the crowded room. This was by far the part of the evening that was the most damaging for this establishment's reputation and this review.

Too long;didn't read: Amazing food, great service. Be prepared to empty your...

This place has a specific type of guest in mind. If you are a party of four or more and you like to drink wine, you're at the right spot. If you're like me and my wife, who stopped in during our honeymoon this past week, and you don't drink and generally just want good food and atmosphere, I would go somewhere like Aurora or Glenwood Pines.

Service took 10-15 minutes for anything to happen. Again, if you've bought a bottle you aren't going to notice/care but if you have a flight the next morning and you know what you want and you've pushed the menus aside and you're just looking around...you get what I mean. Part of this, I think, is there is minimal support staff service wise. It seems like if it's your table, that is your table. There aren't server assistants filling water or running food, it's all servers.

To the food, I've had a lot of swordfish in my life and this was one of the more ordinary ones I've had. While tender, I could tell it wasn't fresh. No taste, covered in herbs in an attempt to hide that fact. I should have taken my grandfather's advice, "ask them where they caught it. If they don't know, don't eat it." In general the vegetable accompaniments were of good quality, but the 14 dollar scallop appetizer had two scallops on it, so the succotash, which was again not bad, was a little cheapened by the fact I paid seven dollars for one scallop that wasn't fresh.

Dessert looked pretty good but it was already 10:15 by the time our plates were taken and I'd had...

This was one of the most underwhelming/embarrassing dinners I’ve ever had. I am completely at a loss for how this establishment has high reviews. First off, no lake view, but you get a nice view of the parking lot. First course lobster ravioli was literally 3 floppy noodles with 2 completely empty and 1 having the smallest amount of filling only $16. Strike one. Salads were subpar with the Caesar lacking much dressing and abnormally small hard croutons topped with a random baguette? House salad was also bland. Panera would be 5 stars compared to what I was given. The main course was the Delmonico and flank steak and 2 measly scallops. Now, look at the photos and tell me which one was medium and which one was medium rare. You guessed it, both could still be brought back from the dead. How any type of “chef” could possibly serve a steak that was supposed to be medium looking like either of these showed should be swimming with the fishes at the bottom of lake Seneca. Around $90 for this entry level culinary school dish. Actually these dishes probably would be denied entry for any culinary school. Strike 2. Our server was basically a military robot with less then 0 personality. Strike 3. If this is the standard of Geneva then this shows the true lack of any exquisite palate in this area. A very pathetic display of “culinary arts” at this overpriced...