I dislike giving a restaurant a review after a single visit. That being said, Elaine's earned all of its two stars quite well on our visit. And maybe two stars is generous. Another review where I depart from the collective wisdom of other Yelpers...butI feel fully justified on this one.
The big problem here is what I'd call culinary confusion. We sampled a few dishes -- and all of them were problematic. The "6 minute egg" appetizer, which looked to be a riff on a Scotch Egg, was OK - but was served with a lamb "confit," which was dry and flavorless. If it was actually prepared as confit, the reheat on it killed it completely. The wedge salads (and yes, I'm going to complain about a salad - because I think it's at the core of the problem with the restaurant), which we ordered with blue cheese dressing, arrived bathed in a very tart vinaigrette and with some cubed blue cheese in a metal container. The net effect - no real discernible blue cheese flavor, since the vinaigrette completely overpowered it. My main, a shrimp risotto, was toothsome and reasonably well prepared -- if under salted, generally forgettable, and short on shrimp (I think there were 4.) My companion's main - a "fish and chips" -- was fairly terrible. Under seasoned, somewhat soggy, and just plain disappointing. To the restaurant's credit, when we made our displeasure known they struck it from the bill and asked if we wanted something else. Handled well, but damage done.
So, I am having a hard time reconciling Elaine's ambitions (the menu is priced where my expectations were set quite high) with their delivery. Very, very unimpressed.
A great start for an upscale beer and food restaurant. The chef is quite inventive, and does take a few chances with his dishes. The bottom line is that we would recommend this restaurant to any of our friends. Now for the details of our experience. Given it was a cold winter evening, we opted for a table in front of the fireplace, which could not have been better. The other tables also have a view of the fire, or are in an attractive open room setting (this was not bad at all, but it could be been made more cozy.) The beer list was extensive, with very broad selection of beers: Â (from the common-place, e.g. Bud Lite to some more unusual, e.g Ithaca Gorges Smoked Porter). Â The tap tables are a nice touch if you are in the mood for beer, and have a group. Back to the restaurant, our server brought out a tray of warm breads with an oil and olive dipping sauce, which was excellent. We ordered a Caesar salad as a starter, this was one area of the chef's inventiveness. It was a 3 inch slice of Romaine, with dressing, topped with a slice of Gorgonzola and two white anchovies, with this being on top of a toasted slice of baguette. I loved it, although it was definitely not what I expected. We were also served a house salad (a wedge of iceberg with a tomato vinaigrette dressing) which was quite nice. For our entree's we had grilled salmon with a baby purple potato gratin, over Arugula and the "Fish and Chips". The salmon is an excellent choice, nicely cooked (it was not at all medium rare, but good non-the-less). The "Fish and Chips" are not traditional at all. For the fish, a White Bass was used, which while breaded lightly, did not give the usual large flakes of white fish you would expect, also it was a complete, but filleted fish, which meant there is also the head and tail, not typical. We found the flavour to be good, just not what we expected. For dessert we had the Porter Brownie, topped with caramelized marshmallow with a side of vanilla ice cream. This was an excellent end to our meal. As an aside, this new restaurant is a great improvement to the previous establishment. There are many interesting possibilities on the menu and it was hard to pick just one.
Review Source:Pretty pricey entrees but the Pork Duet was delicious!! Sweet potato flan was a nicely inventive side dish.
There's a full bar, great wine selection. The guy behind the liquor & wine, Al, recommended a couple of great rieslings.
The place also has 3 tables with beer taps in the middle of each. You rent or pre-pay for the key and you have beer AT your table. Not a bad idea!
I was very excited to check out the newly renovated Elaine's. I want to be honest about this because I think there's a lot of potential but there's a few things wrong, easily fixable.
Familiar, but sparkling clean and fresh, the bar looks an absolute treat - quality, big screen TVs everywhere, feels roomy. First though, dinner. We hit the dining room which was empty but for one other couple. It was later in the evening but a little cavernous feeling, not intimate. Again, very fresh and sparkling dining room, but the fireplace was the only cozy thing about it. No table linens, instead woven modern placemats. The lighting seemed to try to be intimate, but the cold fluorescent pot lights were very off putting in a room which was trying to create some atmosphere. Everything in the dining room feels hard-edged, from the clonky (but beautiful) floors to the unpadded chairs. Weird, padded squares of "art" on the walls served as the only other concession to coziness in the large room other than the fireplace. This is the biggest problem with the dining room, and I know a restaurant is about food, not decor, but there has been a lot of effort put into updating it so I think it's fair to talk about it. There's a cafeteria-like feeling to the room, where every diner can see everyone else's faces and plates, can hear every scrape of other chairs and click of the waitstaff's heels. Some pony walls separating the room into more intimate sections would go a long way into making it feel more private and intimate.
I was a little shocked at the prices, they were much higher than anticipated. From (IIRC) about $9 - $14 for apps, low $20s to low $30s for entrees, not terrible but the average entree looks about high $20s. I admit I was expecting lower prices for a place with a beer tap on the sign. The raw bar had been cleared away already. That's ok, it was a quiet night. Service was friendly. A full wine list with small descriptions of each, nice. My margarita (I always order one wherever I go as a first drink so I can compare bartenders) left a lot to be desired - it was unbelieveably small. I mean really. I'm no lush and I wasn't expecting a fishbowl but it was small. Also bitter, not good. The "salad" is something called a "wedge salad" and really.. for the kind of money they're charging for entrees, omg. It's iceberg lettuce cut into a wedge with some unasked-for dressing on top, I think it was french dressing. We weren't asked for our choice of dressing, don't know if there is a choice. I'm not expecting a miracle but a wedge of iceberg with dressing - Oh boy. Moving on. We ordered the mussels in a tomato broth - this chef knows how to make mussels and an amazing broth. Wonderful crushed grape tomatoes, fresh herbs, if you like mussels this is an absolute treat. Couldn't put it down fast enough and asked for a spoon to dole out more broth. Bread plate with olives, olive oil and balsamic for dipping was nice - dense bread, husband loved it, I thought it was fine. For dinner I had the Porter Glazed Steak $22, with roasted potatoes and greens. Beautifully done steak, it was a nice cut and perfectly executed. The potatoes and roasted greens were fine, not outstanding. Oddly plated in straight rows, with a row of greens on the left, a row of sliced steak in the middle, a row of potatoes on the right, all of which made me laugh. Worth $22, yes. Except for the travesty of a "salad", my dinner was good. Husband had chicken fra diavlo, $22 (IIRC) a spicy roasted chicken garnished with chili peppers and potatoes. It was hot! He loved it, the sauce was flavourful despite the heat. Worth $22? I personally don't think so because chicken is cheap, but husband was happy. The portion was generous and we both had leftovers to take home.
By this point it was starting to feel odd in the dining room with the waitstaff pacing, it was only around 9 and the bar was populated so I didn't feel like we needed to hurry but ok let's have our coffees at the bar, it's nice.
It was indeed nice, my irish coffee was expertly made, delicious and pretty with a snowflake pattern shaken on top of the froth. Uncomfortable barstools with no padding and every single one of the TVs had the same football game on. Really there's several TVs do they all have to show the exact same thing? Again, too-bright fluorescent pot lighting for a bar, needs a dimmer switch.
Between dinner, drinks and tip it was over $100 for two.
I feel like the new Elaine's is suffering from the same thing Gentleman Jim's  was when we used to go there - while what we ate was pretty cheap relative to the rest of the menu, the food isn't good enough to be priced as high as it is, and the atmosphere isn't high end enough to make me want to pay $30 for an entree. I don't want to pay over $20 for a wedge of iceberg lettuce and potatoes which are "fine". We'll go again in a couple of months and see if they've settled into a groove. Still, worth checking out and supporting, I think.
Tried a new restaurant on Rt 44 in Poughkeepsie- just what the area needed, pork duet was amazing, service was surprisingly polished for what I was told was their 1st month open.  Creative cocktails is an understatement.  Al the bartender seemed to be some sort of working manager was quite knowledgeable and very attentive and professional.  I will be back very soon...did I mention there really are beer "taps" in a few  "tables", in the bar area? Awesome! Can't wait to try more of the food and cocktails!
Review Source:
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