The Exchange Restaurant — Restaurant in Town of Homer

Went in today (Sunday) during brunch, opted for the lunch menu. Husband had coffee and I had a bellini. My cocktail was quickly fixed by the waitress after I tasted it and it tasted nothing like a peach bellini. We ordered Beef Bone Broth Noodle Bowl $19.95 (pulled short rib, steak bulgogi, green onion, mushrooms, egg, spinach, carrots, sprouts, glass noodles, side of gochujang.) A. The noodles were most definitely not glass noodles. They were a flat rice noodle. B. The Beef short rib and beef bulgogi lacked any flavor. (By definition, Bulgogi is supposed to be a marinated, thin slice of beef.) This either wasn't marinated long enough, or not at all. C. The bone broth fell flat. There was a lack of seasonings and aromatics in the broth. The use of things like ginger or garlic for example would help. **I asked the waitress for chili crisp to add. She said, "the bacon chili crisp"? I said yes, if that's what you have. It came out full in about a 1/4 cup ramekin. I slowly added it and kept working it into the dish to tray and add more depth of flavor and some heat. It definitely helped the flavor, but it was very low on heat. I ended up with all of it added to the dish by the end. D. The egg was a 1/2 boiled egg. As you can see in the photo. A dish like this should have a soft boiled egg that oozes when you cut into it. E. Typically the sign of a good broth/noodle dish is the glossiness to the noodles as you slurp them. This didn't have that until I filled it with the bacon crisp. Over all it was a bland dish and not worth $19.95. Needs a lot of work. We ate it, because we were hungry and had a long ride ahead of us to go. Next we had the Braised Meats Ragu $28.00 (pulled short rib & bison, hunter sauce, mushrooms, carrots, pearl onions, pappardelle) A. What is pictured below is not a hunter(s) sauce or by definition a ragu. It was more of a fresh made tomato sauce, that like the previous dish lacked depth of flavor or any flavor besides tomato. A ragu needs to cook down with meats to build flavor. B. The meats once again were bland. They need more seasoning and I'm not sure if they actually cooked in the sauce, and if not, they should. C. The noodles looked dry and the sauce dumped on top. When the noodles come out of the water, immediately add them to a pan to toss with the sauce to coat. They should shimmer with the gloss of the sauce. D.There were peas in it. No peas listed on menu, please don't add them. E. The veg in this sauce once again lacked depth of flavor. If cooked low and slow with the sauce, they would absorb that flavor. **I added salt and quite a bit of pepper to the dish so I could eat it. Because we were hungry and I'm not wasting food. Took the rest home, will fix it to finish it later. The place is beautiful as many others have said. I applaud the attention to design. Even the restrooms are lovely. The staff are welcoming and attentive. Everything was clean and well taken care of. I think that either the "chef" had a bad day or is a little too eager and should stick to simpler dishes until they work more on how to add depth of flavor to their dishes amongst other things. I really wanted to love it, but for the price it wasn't worth it and seemed very amateur. Not sure we...

Lovely design, but service and food leave a lot to be desired. We were looking for a restaurant to celebrate my dad's 90th birthday and The Exchange showed promise: it's conveniently located on Main St in Homer in a very attractive building with loads of parking. I called three days in advance to make a reservation. The main number went to voicemail with no option to leave a message so I called the Bakery, which is a separate storefront. They helped me make a reservation for four and I indicated the special occasion.

Although the restaurant has a somewhat formal feel to it and the prices are definitely for an upscale experience, the service was what you'd expect at a much more casual, down-scale establishment. Our server was wearing shorts (September) for dinner service for example. Service misses: Charcuterie plate was served without the homemade crackers described on the menu. Wine was opened but glasses never refilled Soda was not refilled I asked for silverware to be refreshed between courses and it was not done until reminded. Instead of bringing silverware they brought new rollups so we had extra cloth napkins. The server was unaware of the special occasion even though it was noted in the reservation book and had to be reminded.

Food & beverages: For a restaurant with pretensions the wine list is very limited. With close proximity to Finger Lakes wineries one would expect a much wider selection of regional wines. The beer selections are not included in the beverage menu Calamari - crisp, light batter and tender squid, but served with a unremarkable aioli and not the traditional marinara Charcuterie plate - nice selection of cheese, meat and fruit. The advertised house "saltines", more like flatbread, were not served until asked for. Delmonico steak ($46) - probably one of the worst pieces of meat I have ever been served. I'm not sure what the cut was but it was very thin (1/2"), extremely fatty and very tough. I asked for it to be cooked medium rare but it was served rare. The fries were excellent and the baby broccoli was suitable. Quinoa bowl - nice dish filled with fresh veggies Fried chicken - nice presentation but served without white meat Chicken fingers & fries - overcooked, probably a frozen product, skimpy on the fries Side of green beans - not blanched before sauteed so underdone and oily Chocolate fudge cake - excellent! and the birthday "candle" was like a roman candle--very impressive!

The restaurant is striving to be an upscale eatery, but the service lacks training and polish and the kitchen is inconsistent. If you visit, stick with burgers and...

Stopped on my way to Syracuse airport. Short distance from on/off ramp from 81..

-Immediately greeted with smile & given the option to be seated either inside or outside. Could’ve put me inside as I’m sure it would’ve been easier on the server. It was a beautiful night and I appreciate being able to sit outside and enjoy a meal while it’s warm.

-waitress apologized for coming to the table late - which she wasn’t. I sat at the far table, corner of the patio. She was very attentive & stopped at the table at the appropriate times. Not overbearing but not forgetting I was there.

food came within 15min of ordering (fried chicken). *chicken meat was excellent-all white meat & a good amount. It came out piping hot. *honey sauce was the perfect temp on the heat index *green beans and mac & cheese were excellent *biscuit was delicious *key lime pie was perfect. I always order when out & am always disappointed. Only FL locals would know the true color of a good key lime - and this was spot on! Whoever made that pie obviously spent time in south Florida.

Little things -watching the Yankees game on my phone. Had it propped up against the cocktail menu..upon noticing this, waitress offer to get a phone stand from her purse -very good mix of music. Sound level was perfect. Loud enough to hear but not too loud. Very good mix of songs -interacted with 4 staff members ..all smiled and said hello -it was past 9pm and past closing but yet while typing this note, hostess came out and put a little lamp...