The Coffee Bar — Restaurant in Town of Hempstead

Stopped by for Lunch today. Here's what I had and what I thought.

We walked in and got seated right away. It's quite a large space and only 4 tables were occupied. Waitress came over really smiley and happy with menus and started us off with coffee and bread.

When she came back with my coffee in a Starbucks to go cup with a starbucks holder I was taken aback for a moment and thought this is going to be crap. But then I read above the coffee maker a sign saying "We brew Starbucks coffee" I was cool with that.

We shmoozed and then looked at the menu a little. I wasn't sure what I was in the mood of, so I asked the waitress to call the Chef, Albert out. He came out. I introduced myself, and he was so nice and helpful in suggesting what to order.

So we ordered as follows.

Mac N Cheese Egg Rolls - I know the idea might be cute and probably could work but I took a bite and spit it out. Something was seriously wrong with the flavors and cheese.

Salmon Tartar - Wow! An absolutely amazing dish. I love that it is covered with black salt. It compliments the salmon and gives the avocado flavoring it wouldn't have. We stripped that dish!

Eggplant Parmesan - Also, really liked this dish. It was big, flavorful, I love that he added the pasta at the bottom of the dish topped with the eggplant. Didn't go cheap on the eggplant either.

Maple Glazed Salmon - I don't think I've ever had a maple glazed salmon. At first I thought it might be too sweet; but not at all. I do think the dish was more oily than necessary but the salmon was cooked to perfection. The green beans were flavorful and the ginger gave it that extra kick. I didn't taste the sweet potatoes.

Yuka Fries - Concept is great. The chef sprinkled the fries with thick salt. It was really good but I couldn't eat more than two as it's super starchy. But it's a great side to order to go around a large party.

So, in conclusion, I was really impressed with service and food. And I would recommend it to friends and family in the...

French onion soup - Looked nice and was hot, but the onions were not caramelized and tasted like soup water

Mozzarella basket - looked very good. As I looked more into it. The whole thing was doused in sauce. Way too much sauce. And yet again the onions were not caramelized. The tomatoes did not belong in there. Was not a fan of this dish

Arugula salad included with feta, onions, tomatoes, cucumber, roasted sweet potatoes and sunflower seeds. If you get this, you are getting more than what you are paying for. There was so much feta and onions in my salad that it was too over powering. Every bite tasted like feta and onions.

Funghi pizza - the dough was crunchy and airy. Other than that, there was nothing special about the pizza. You can go to local pizza shop and get the same experience there for cheaper.

Porcini Chilean sea bass w/ sweet mashed potatoes and avocado corn salsa - the fish was glistening white on the inside. The avocado corn salsa was probably the best thing tonight. It was salty, spicy, and fresh. The display of the food was old fashioned. Looked like they just put the sides in a ring mold. Could have done so much more with the creativeness.

Lasagna rollatini - was very oily and the pasta was undercooked. Had one bite and that was it.

Apple martini - When I got the martini it tasted 100% vodka and 0% apple martini. This cocktail is my wife’s favorite because, you can not taste the alcohol. Here we MOST definitely tasted the alcohol.

When I requested for another apple martini, it felt like they just took a little more apple martini and put it in. When I received the apple martini a second time it was still very clear. Yet again they weren’t able to make a simple apple martini.

Overall I would give this place a 2 out of 5. This place overpriced their food and there is nothing special about this place. That being said, the ambiance was nice and they have good coffee!

The staff wouldn’t stop staring at me as I ate my food. I felt very...

Picture a restaurant that’s not even halfway full.

We, a party of 6, arrive, sit down, and begin to wait. And wait we did.

It took almost 45 minutes for a waiter to come to us, and that was after I had to wave someone over. It was like they were deliberately avoiding eye contact. We ordered two desserts, drinks for the table, and one main (mine).

About ten minutes later, another waitress comes, asking us if we wanted bread. Almost an hour into our night. Needless to say, we say yes, desperate for anything.

By this point, people next to us had been seated, ordered, and received food.

My main came within the next 20 minutes, which is…the lower end of acceptable for pasta, if I’m being charitable. But the desserts took another 15, and the drinks were staggered— it was another 2 drinks every 15 minutes. One of the last drinks was a GLASS of WINE.

Then, to add insult to injury, another 15 minutes later, a waiter came to inform us that two of the drinks weren’t available due to a lack of champagne. It took almost two hours to get that information.

Suffice to say, perhaps the worst level of service I’ve ever had for the least amount of food I’ve seen a...