Somni NY Tapas - Mediterranean Fusion — Restaurant in Town of Monroe

So hard to leave a less than perfect review for Somni!

When we moved here, they were at the old location & from our first visit, it was one of our favs. In fact, we have a few favs in Orange County and Somni was one of our top two! We’d bring family with us, whenever they visited. Went there for some special occasions. And once in a while, would pop-in for drinks and apps after coming from work in the city. Drinks on a work night was rare for us, but we didn’t mind making the exception when in the mood for Somni. It was also a bonus for us when we found out that the owners were diverse (and very hands-on!).

LOCATION/AMBIANCE This new location is OK. We get striving for the high-end, ‘loungey’ look, but it just does not have the same vibe. Maybe it was a one-off experience? But our first and last time there, they sat us near the kitchen counter. There was no ambiance over there. Obviously the lights were bright compared to the rest of the restaurant. Shines in your face if you’re sitting on the far end of the table. Very off-putting. Not to mention the traffic of the servers (who of course need to move back & forth). Also, the smoke and the smell from all the food being cooked was not ideal. The latter we expected because of the open concept we read about, but was not expecting to have to sit so close to the kitchen with lights so bright. Really, truly did not like the seat. It had already set the tone for the evening.

The old location had a very beautiful, genuine, stone fireplace. This place had a gas or electric looking imitation fireplace and the bar is tiny.

Everything else looked as expected for what they were going for. Very loungey with long heavy drapery and deep colors. Very cool looking.

FOOD OPTIONS I also recall them having more vegetarian options at the other location. Including hummus and some other items. At this new location, they apparently removed a lot of those options (outside of just the usual salads). Vegetarians do not want to always eat cold lettuce when paying at an expensive restaurant; and in 2024 most restaurants (especially the pricey ones like this), have more options for warm dishes, than just salads for vegetarians and vegans. Extremely disappointed by this from a place that used to be one of our top favorites. My husband is a vegetarian and while we used to go to Somni often, it seems he does NOT want to go back anytime soon (if at all) because of this 😕

The scallops, somehow got a lot smaller. I recall ordering scallops at the old location and remember them being bigger. I would often leave feeling very full once I finished, unable to even finish the sides. At this new location I left feeling very unsatisfied with what used to be one of my favorite dishes at Somni. Inflation maybe?

All in all, we totally and completely understood the decision to relocate. They had been telling us for months they would be moving because the location was not easily accessible and not great for business and staffing. We were looking forward to having them in a central location in Monroe and were, as they say, counting the days! We were willing to accept no longer having the beautiful, absolutely gorgeous backyard seating and the wonderful ambience of the large bar and fireplaces, if the food and service remained the same. But so far they are 0 for 3 on the food and ambiance from our first experience there. Really breaks our hearts!

I would have given less stars, but did not because the service was still as great as we remembered and it’s Somni - - they are very near & dear to our hearts. Helped us like Monroe a little bit more when we first moved here as we felt the area was very lacking in culture. And lastly, being a mixed culture family and professionals ourselves, we like to be supporters of small diverse businesses and they, by no means were horrible (hence the 4 stars, instead of 2).

While we did not have the same feel as the previous location and definitely did not enjoy the food like we used to, I’m hoping my husband will be willing to give it one more try...

We used to hit 208 Grill quite often, so was dismayed to find they had gone out of business. I was glad to see that it was reopened as another restaurant and immediately hoped that they'd hired some of their old 208 staff who were wonderful. I was happy to see that they did rehire who they could. The decor is basically the same, but just a bit more upscale with the addition of place mats, fresh flowers, real tea-light candles on the tables and a wonderful ambiance of a cross-mediterranean/Middle Eastern music playing throughout. The overall prices are a bit higher, but this is not a complaint from me. It is all consistent with the the combined level of food presentation, preparation and food quality.

The staff, once again, was delightful and very attentive. We ordered the paella for two, a salad that included a combo of mixed greens and slices of roasted zucchini, red peppers, yellow squash, egg plant and red onion w/balsamic & olive oil dressing, french onion soup, banana pudding and a chocolate molten lava cake w/vanilla ice cream. EVERYTHING was incredibly tasty and VERY well presented. We also met the owner who was very gracious and out-going. All in all a really wonderful experience overall. I knocked one star off only because, while we thought that for the cost of the paella for two, was justified, there should have been more rice. This is a very minor criticism because there was enough seafood (calamari, shrimp, clams and mussels), but after the visual presence of the shellfish, we realized that there was really only enough rice for one person underneath all the seafood. Seafood, on it's own, doesn't fill you up, so you rely on the rice to do that. Yet, the flavors were right on point!...and that made you wish for that extra rice. :-) We kindly mentioned this to our server. She said said she'd mention it to the chef.

Bottom line, we'll definitely be back. I'm looking forward to trying some of the other items on their menu. I've got my "good" eye on that...

This restaurant seemed like a diamond in the rough. We called about a half hour ahead and they could get us in. Awesome! We got there and they sat us right in front of the main door... we had two waitresses but really didn’t see both only one the whole time. They both were friendly. We ordered our drinks... they were great and an appetizer. We were trying to enjoy the night not be rushed, and the restaurant was definitely not filled for them to have to get us out for more people...

Well our waitress came and asked “Wanna order you actual food”... um maybe ask “would you like to order your entree?” For the price I expect respectful service. The whole time we felt we were rushed, even before our appetizer was brought out our waitress brought the bowls for our main plate.

The appetizer was delicious. We also got pita bread which seemed to be homemade.

But then we got the entree. I saw saffron in it but did not taste it. The only thing I tasted was boiled shellfish. The mussels were burnt and there was not fish in the paella at all. No flavor. Definitely no Valencia paella:

Listen I have been studying quality food since birth; and studied gastronomy in Paris so... I at least know something about food.

If you decide to go here order off of tapas. There is a lot of potential but they need a more professional staff that doesn’t say “wanna order your food?” And at the end “want dessert or want the check?” She never even asked how everything was.

Sad because not a lot of diverse restaurants around but don’t spend your money here.

Plus... the people in the formal dining room who were there before us were still there when we left so they were obviously rushing us. All we wanted was a nice relaxing evening.

Being used to a non-rushed setting is not normal I guess. But if you want to have a relaxing dinner which will last more than one hour do not go here cause we were there for...