Daryl Wine Bar and Restaurant
302 George Street
New Brunswick
(732) 253-7780
http://www.darylwinebar.com
As I was waiting for the rest of our eat club
faithful to arrive, I looked around my surroundings, and
couldn’t help but be impressed by the ambiance
of the restaurant. “wow, even the bathroom is romantic”.
The restaurant was pretty empty – talking to the hostess,
recommendation is highly recommended Thurs-Sat nights,
but on a Monday night, it’s pretty quiet.
If you do wait however, there is an extensive wine
section where you can peruse at your pleasure the myriad
of wines. The wine connoisseur was quite knowledgeable – something
that they had that I never saw before – there was a circular
wine dispenser with about 15 wine bottles, you insert a prepaid card,
and a sample 2 oz taste of the wine will only run you $4-8
**** Dinner**
The dinner menu is broken up into two distinct sections.
The first section, the tapas, aka Korean bahnchan section is meant for sharing,
with little small “finger foods” priced between $5-12.
Between the five of us, we ordered “9 tapas”
*tapas*
tuna tartar, pink pepper crisp tuiles, green curry sauce
4 pieces
taste – 7.5/10
couldn’t see any green curry sauce, the tuna was noticeably chilled.
wild mushroom soup with chervil, light cream, vincotto
7.5/10
good, but couldn’t notice the difference between non fancy cream of mushroom soup
sweet long pepper stuffed with short ribs and eggplant
1 piece
8.7/10
order this dish. very tasty. although not the greatest looking dish.
mini burgers with applewood bacon, aged cheddar, arugula
and home made ketchup
2 burgers
8.45/10
a little hesitant to order burgers at a fancy place, but
well worth it. the home made ketchup made a difference,
the meat was very juicy. perfect blend of ingredients.
warm artichoke salad with Serrano ham, watercress and garlic confit
6.5/10
eh.
coca – thin crust pizza with caramelized onions, piquillo pepper, mahon chese
5 pieces
6.9/10
not that bad. not that good.
arepas con queso with creme fraiche and salmon caviar
4 pieces
7.8/10
some people really liked this dish, some people were so so.
i thought it was pretty good.
Parmesan gnocchi with squash, dried cranberries, toasted pine nuts
approx 5 pieces of gnocchi
8/10
gnocchi was perfectly cooked.
*signature dishes*
wild king salmon with squid ink risotto, roasted garlic red pepper broth
salmon disk was a bit small, but expected. nothing out of the
ordinary (if eaten alone) broth was tasty,
but a little too watery. risotto had a nice bite.
$24
risotto 8.5/10
broth 8.5/10
salmon 7.2/10
all three together 8.7/10
grilled flat iron steak with wild mushroom spaetzle, parsley puree, red wine sauce
9.1/10
the steak was very tender and the sauce was phenomenal. def get this dish.
*desserts*
chocolate tasting: white chocolate mouse, 2 mocha shots with orange foam,
caramel tart, flourless cake.
6/10 – wasn’t too impressed
pb & J
peanut butter mouse with a chocolate coating, these small chocolate coated
rice puffs that reminded me of rabbit poop, served with peanuts, and a raspberry
jam.
6/10 – too rich for me. a nice scoop of ice cream would have been nice. a bit
to cloy.
bottom line for desert- ehhh. not worth it. go instead to coldstone next door.
– – – – — – –
overall food:
7.8/10
the dishes were hit or miss. would have liked better consistency, but
thanks to eat club, i know now what to order, and what not to order next time.
decor:
great place to go for a date.
8.9/10
value:
depends
you can order a bunch of tapas and not order anything else, and pay only $15 bucks.
otherwise, our bill varied from 30-60 a person (including one drink)
service
8/10
came pretty often to take our plates. still, they forgot to bring my drink when i asked
(during the main dish, so -.5)
Conclusion:
if you want to go to a nice fancy, romantic place in jersey, go here.
pretty equivalent to the fancy shishy restaurants I’ve been in nyc.
– – Kangste
Scale:
10 – so good makes u want to cry/fart at the same time
9.5-9.9999 – superb. incredible. mouth watering
9.1-9.49 – really really really good.
8-9 – excellent
7.6- 8 – above avg
7 – 7.5 – average
6 – below average
5 – why even consider trying it?
1-4 – the feeling of being pooped on by a pigeon while walking in the city
0 – 1 – taking your finger, scooping the pigeon poop of your head, and eating it
——-
Bruce’s 5 minute DWB review:
Schnazzy place to wine and dine an colleague, significant other, or good friends. Forgo the RU football jersey and flip-flops for a night and dress up to sample some fantastic food and wine on this revamped side of George Street. The walls, chairs, ceiling, lights, silverware all scream attention to detail. DWB also sports a chic bar and private sitting area in the corner of the restaurant; definitely utilize when trying to impress your date.
Everything has a wine pairing, even the desserts; so if aged grape juice is your thing, then definitely stop by. The food is American with French/Spain influences and plenty of imagination. Quality overshadows quantity here so be prepared for small but amazingly tasty portions.
Briefly, the memorable dishes in no particular order are:
Tuna tartar – perfect cubes of oily tuna with a hint of ginger. VERY tasty if you like raw fish.
Arepas con queso – Flavor and texture balanced to perfection. This was my first arepa and certainly set the bar too high for lesser arepas. The arepa itself was light, slightly sweet and crunchy cornmeal cake. Expertly offset with the creaminess of the cheese and the fresh savory salmon caviar. Just try it. I didn’t even know what I was about to eat but soon it was a fiesta grande in my mouth.
Mini-burgers – Perfectly cooked patty with a coarse grind but still solid shape. Smokey bacon on top and seared beef was a marriage made in heaven. Very nice!!! (Borat)
Gnocchi – Not a big gnocchi fan but these gnocchis were worth mentioning. Perfectly cooked and pillowy soft. Slight caramelzation on sides gave it an added depth of texture.
Wild Salmon with Squid Ink Risotto – The salmon portion was larger than I expected but I prefer it slightly less cooked by a minute or so. BUT the dish was well worth it for the squid ink risotto. The squid ink definitely added a richness and lingering nutty aftertaste that made me come back for more. The roasted pepper and garlic reduction with clams on the bottom was a nice touch.
Overall, it may have been Eatclub’s most elegant evening. The pricing is very reasonable considering the caliber of food and atmosphere you are getting. What is also impressive is the attention to food and drink. Sustainable growing practices are preferred, organic wines and ingredients are emphasized as well as local suppliers (as noted by their draft beer selection). Daryl Wine Bar gets a manicured thumbs up.
EATCLUB 