Terrible. Â The noise level was ridiculous. Â We had a party of 6; no one could talk across the table or two seats down. Â Rolls were served: 6 people, 5 pats of butter. Â One order of crab cakes came out cold, sent back, came out cold again. Â The waiter never checked back to see how they were. Â The prices were high, the food really mediocre. Â Once the server realized we weren't happy and he probably wasn't getting anything beyond the attached gratuity, he basically disappeared. Â If I was starving on Long Beach Island and this was the only restaurant, I'd go eat sand.
Review Source:86 Table 96. Â
Food - 4 1/2 stars. Â Really good. Everyone liked what we had. Â I loved my scallops and arugula salad. The chowder and bisque were enjoyed by the table. Sliders decent, tuna nachos a little spicy. Â
Server - 5 stars. Â She was super sweet and on point with everything
Ambiance - 2 ultra noisy on a Friday.
Table - -4 stars. Holy shit. Table 96 is the worst. Â If you want every patron's ass in your face and practically be "in" the bar, then this is for you. Â It's a totally immersive experience. Â
Manager - -5 stars. Â She dropped a stack of menus at the checking station, that was completely unnecessary and resonated over the noise of the bar. Then when we asked if she could do something about the encroachment of bar people at our table she said "it's a table of 22, they're moving", which they did. Â However, there was a nonstop crowd of d-bag preppy goombahs that basically ruined our experience. Â The manager did nothing, wait, she took 10% off which was coded as "open". Â I'm guessing it might have been an open table discount. Â We booked our table through open table. Â Big deal lady. Then, as the dbags, I mean other customers, proceeded to spill over into the dining area I got up and said "these folks should be asked to stay in the bar area" her reply "I agree", but then she did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!
Average them and you've got a little over 2. Â Food was so yummy, a little overpriced, but that's okay as long as you're not having your chair bumped by everyone's ass and dealing with an incompetent manager. Â
Table 96 must go, and put that manager into "actions speak louder than words" training.
My wife and i went to this restaurant after years of passing it on our way down to our shore house. We went for our 7 year anniversary, thinking it was convenient and close since both our kiddos were home with their grandmother. It was late when we went and were seated right away. Which was great. After sharing the blue cheese and bacon salad my wife had the filet and I had the strip steak. Awful. Her filet had melted Gorgonzola (fine) but was topped with tomato sauce. I have never seen that and she said it tasted awful. My steak cooked medium rare seemed tough and unappetizing. The potatoes were filled with cheese and tasted awful. To finish off the night ( my wife had a glass of wine and I had a Guinness) the bill was $130 plus tip!!!! Couldn't l believe it!!!
Review Source:Limited menu. Â Waitstaff cordial and knowledgable;but,couldn't offset the uninspired food offered.
There are relatively few restaurants at this, the the northern end of LBI. Â Do yourself a favor by driving down to the middle or southern section of the island, where there are more opportunities for good dining.
Went on a Wednesday nite. Not too busy. Waiter greeted us not with a hello or welcome but "Tap or bottled water?" Really!? Food was mediocre at best. Filet covered in cheese and compote didn't evoke carribean flavor at all. Decor didn't have a cogent theme either. Overall a disappointment.
Review Source:We have been going to this restaurant since it opened. It is better in the winter than the summer. We just left and we will not be goi g back. The appetizers were good. The entrees were awful. Overpriced, small and bland. Â $32 for four scallops which were not fresh. The service started out good then completely dropped off and was awful. Very disappointed. Too bad. Not much on the island in the winter.
Review Source:I should have known better. Â Paid way too much for a poorly prepared piece of Ahi tuna last summer--first cold, then overdone. Â Wanted to give Plantation a second chance and came with my husband and son for New Year's Eve dinner. Â Mistake. Â My husband paid $35 for a prime rib that was, again, not cooked correctly and mostly fat. Â It came with wilted veggies and frozen tater tots. Â (Seriously?) Â My son's kiddie meal of hamburger and fries was more substantial. Â Since we're from DC, we're used to paying top dollar for meals. Â But this was top dollar for totally sub-standard food.
The one positive was our waiter, a nice guy. Â Very attentive.
That said, we should have gone with Kubel's, our neighborhood pub in BL.
Ok, not sure why it got low reviews, I understand peoples complaint about the noisy atmosphere but the food and price is fine. I didn't think it was all that expensive, it was average. I got a Black Agnus burger and loved it, my husband liked his Fish and Chips. I also got a drink which I loved the 22oz basil wreck which was awesome and had the oatmeal cookie shot for dessert which was good. I thought it was a nice place to eat. As for parking, yes small parking lot but they have some parking across the street
Review Source:We had reservations on a Saturday night, end of July in LBI which is notoriously busy packed at places. We had an earlier than usual, for us, reservation and all the seats were packed by the time we left.
Food was wonderful. For appetizers we had the mussels and scallops wrapped in bacon, quite yummy. Then I had the wedge - I LOVE wedge salads and this one was good, but not top of my list as I'm picky with those. BF had the Caesar and enjoyed it. For dinner I had the special; portobello mushroom ravioli with a crab and lobster (light) cream sauce - and I mean light not heavy! They were able to leave out the shrimp all together as I'm allergic. Decent sized chunks of fresh meat throughout entire dish, was pleasantly full but comfortable. It was delicious! I won the dinner entree choice of the evening. My boyfriend had the blackened ahi tuna which he really enjoyed but didn't fully embrace the curried Malibu bay breeze emulsion with fruit salsa.
Only downside was the waitress service was a tad slow with our drink orders and when the food came out. It was nice to not be rushed, but we were left wondering where our food was after each course.
Parking - you have to get creative, too, as there is a nice BYO next door that shares a parking lot, however, they don't reservations and people will be milling around outside.
Overall, we'd return.
Really loud dining room (we were seated near the bar area during happy hour + really loud music). Service is great, very nice waiter. The food is just OK. I had crab cakes and a salad, my hubby had the surf & turf which was decent. Â Nothing to write home about.
If you're looking for great food on LBI, try Howard's (an LBI classic) or Yellowfin (amazing food!).
Such disappointment! Mediocre service combined with very poor food, totally underwhelmed our expectations based on the beautiful decor and decent drinks. Though they were out of cold beer of our choice and did not have chilled glasses. I did really love the special martini with toasted coconut rim. The calamari was hard and rubbery and tasted like out of the box and not hand breaded, the tuna tartar was bland, the mussels were smelly and the chicken wings plain weird. And this is at the sea shore! Also did not see ANY local seafood on the menu. They took the 2 appetizers off our bill, but we left hungry and annoyed by such a poor experience. Ended up going to the black whale where the food was much better at the bar for half the price.
Review Source:The Owl Tree is back!!
I am writing this review from Summer 2012 and the new menu for plantation. Â The food was excellent! Â The original menu was getting a little predictable so they needed to revamp. Â
I had a lobster bisque w/ a side of sherry and it was fantastic. Â The fresh marine notes and the chunks of lobster were so sweet and the sherry cut the heavy cream notes perfectly and the only negative was that I had to eventually finish the dish.
For my main course I had scallops over lump crab risotto, there were four large scallops and these paired with the scallops were incredible. Â
There was literally no room for dessert!
It was pricey and I heard the mojitos weren't so great.
The Plantation is a great restaurant. Â I see a lot of people griping about the price, or the quality of service on here. Â I've eaten too many meals to count at the Plantation, and personally, I've never been upset about the quality of the service. Â Also, I'm a big proponent of the adage "you get what you pay for." Yes, the restaurant is on the expensive side. Â I couldn't afford to eat every meal there. Â But, you get what you pay for at the Plantation. Â The meals are modestly portioned, and always presented beautifully. Â To really enjoy your meal, order seafood. Â The meats and steaks are quite good, but you can't get restaurant seafood much fresher than this. Â The other day, I had a beautiful seared tuna steak with bok choy. Â This brings me to my next point. Â You have to think about the location of this restaurant. Â Where the heck else on the northern half of LBI will you get a seared tuna steak with bok choy? Â I would venture to say that anyone who doesn't like this restaurant has their own problems with it; it is no fault of the business. Â If you want to eat a quality meal on the north half of the island, the Plantation will suit you well. Â If you want to eat a burger, there's myriad choices elsewhere on the island.
Review Source:There's little open in the off-season so i tend to cook at home when I'm down here, but it was late Friday of New Years weekend and I was too tired to shop and cook so I made a reservation and off we went. Totally over-priced food (2 soups, 2 apps and a shared salad for $60+) Add to that two tables with whiny crying children and it was after 9:00 (shouldn't they be in bed)!
Not going back.
Waited till the off season to give this place a try and boy was I ever disappointed. Although the place was empty, they rushed us to no end. My husband and I sat down at 630 and at 715 the waitress actually asked us if we wanted our check! And we deliberately slowed her down--telling her repeatedly we were in no hurry! Â There were a couple of other tables, but practically empty!! Big mistake--as soon as we sat down, she hands us our menus and then proceeds to tell us the specials! And we went in November!!! So, although the food was adequate at best, I won't be going again, and also--will tell all my friends who live on the island, as do I, not to bother with Plantation. Owl Tree we miss you!
Review Source:The Good: The food is excellent, the service was fantastic.
The Bad: It's pricey.
The price is the only reason I didn't rate this five stars. $28 for 3 scallops is pretty darn pricey in my opinion. BUT, they were the best scallops I've ever had. So, that's saying something.
The Plantation has a nice selection of seafood but not a whole lot of dishes for land-lubbers. But, the non-seafood options did all sound really good. I had a really hard time choosing what to get because there were so many great sounding dishes. They have a scallop special everyday with fresh scallops delivered that day from the local fishery. The scallops I had were pan-seared and had a yellow pepper sauce that was delicious. My only complaints were the price and the fact that is wasn't a ton of food.
The other dishes at our table were the tilapia and the filet minon. I tasted both and they were both excellent. This restaurant is a little on the "foo-foo" side for me with a lot of "blah-blah reductions" and "something or other demi-glaze" and a lot of other things I have no idea about. I have a little simpler tastes than that. But, that being said, there seemed to be no bad choice on the menu.
The apps and salads were also pretty pricey with a psuedo-ceasar salad for $9. Our waitress was fantastic: personable, knowledgeable and very willing to help us with anything. It was a nice experience overall and I would visit the plantation again.
I'm truly on the fence about this place in many ways. Â It's one of the few places on the island that stay open in the offseason, and one of the more reasonably priced I felt, especially when my husband and I took off for a long weekend to LBI during the winter. Â After research, this place according to pics looked the nicest and the menu items were good. Â I mean, they had basic items but their parings seemed quite lovely. Â So we made a reservation.
Of course, my husband and I are non-Valentine's people, and it turns out this coincided with Valentine's weekend. Â No biggie, but we kind of made our reservations on the later side (like 8:30 pm). Â Not sure if this is indicative for a) a Sat night or b) in the winter time, but it was packed. Packed to the point that I could barely get a parking spot in their lot. Â I expected a bit of a wait, but we waited longer than I had anticipated for people with reservations. Â Regardless, we got seated, but it seemed like everyone started leaving around that point. Â
Our server was nice, but our menus were not. Â Turns out there was a "prix fixe" option for V-Day weekend. Â V-day wasn't even till the next day. I get that others were there, but for those of us who made a long trip thinking we would have other options, it wasn't cool. Â It should have been noted in their website or on the reservation site. Â The stuff was good but again not what we were expecting.
All in all, this place was all right but if I'm there again during the offseason, I'll take my business elsewhere. Â I don't have a compelling reason to return.
Update: the happy hour no longer includes $2.50 mojitos (super duper sad face with a few tears), but is still a great option between the hours of 4 and 7.
There are several premium cocktails for $5 each, wine for $4 a glass (I think) and some beer specials as well. The wings are still insanely delicious, and I was able to taste some of the quesadillas and tuna tartar last time - both off the bar menu - and was impressed with both.
Definitely worth the visit, during happy hour or for a sit-down dinner.
We visited Plantation for the first time last night with another couple. Â We liked it very much. Â We entered through a typical beach bar scene and were escorted upstairs to our table. Â We started with buratta (Caprese), a wedge salad and a New England clam chowder, all of which were deemed excellent. Â We proceeded to coconut shrimp, crab cakes and (lined caught) swordfish, which was wonderfully moist and topped with julienne peppers. Â For dessert, the sorbet and the peanut butter bombe were great finishers. Â We ordered wine by the glass -- Four Vines Chard and Zin, respectively -- both of which were good for the price. Â Overall, prices were reasonable for the quantity and quality of food served.
Review Source:This place used to be really great for vegetarians. Â For years we came here every summer and they had an awesome veg menu, great setting, and great drinks.
On our one night out to dinner this year (toddler with nana and pop-pop for the evening), we drove up from the southern end of the island and when we finally got to Plantation, salivating at the smell of food, we got a look at the "Vegetarian Menu" which consisted of a half-dozen half-assed items such as "Tomato Bisque", and a cold tofu dish as appetizers, and the Entrees were: "Grilled Asparagus" (are you kidding me), some kind of Bok Choy mess, and a Penne with tomatoes for $17. Â
Our server, who was very friendly and sympathetic, explained to us apologetically that there is a new chef this year who has changed the menu. Â We decided to look elsewhere, and on the way out, mentioned to the front desk staff our reasons for leaving - the girl at the front said that they hadn't updated the online menu because the chef apparently was having a devil of a time getting internet access to update it.
The place looks great, our server was so friendly, the valet staff were funny and parked our car excellently, and the drink menu looked great but the overall message here is as follows: Plantation used to have a good thing going, but they blew it.
Until they change their menu to be more veg-inclusive, or at least find an internet cafe so they can get some web access and get their sh!t together to change their online menu to reflect the current selection, avoid it.
I am only going to address the bar menu as that is where we sit when we go to the Plantation. Â Part of the reason is the priceness of the dining room menu and the other is the great value and fun atmosphere at the bar. Â The drink are decent and the bar menu is quite inventive. Â It's fun to order a small plate and then pick something else interesting to eat next as you finish up the first. Â The mussels are great as is the chicken cheese steak, brussels sprouts and sliders. Â Sadly, we go mostly in the off-season as it is just too crowded in the summer (as are most places on the island).
Review Source:Just nothing special, and overpriced to boot. Â Â I expected fine dining based on some reviews in Zagats, and obviously should have come here first before making the reservation. Â The kitchen is obviously overreaching with some of the menu items, and the wait staff and atmosphere are closer to a neighborhood bar...
My husband and I went with our two daughters to celebrate before my youngest leaves for college. Â Our party of four ordered the calamari w/ remoulade, crispy oysters, and the nightly special of shrimp with honey. Â Â
The calamari was prepared with a spicy remoulade, but the flavors didn't meld at all, and I found myself wishing for lemons or marinara to make it edible. Â It was tender, but the tomatoes and remoulade clashed and I really didn't enjoy it at all, nor did anyone else in our party (all calamari lovers too). Â Â Disappointed as well in the bland and flabby 'crispy' oysters, which had hardly any sauce to perk it up. Â Watery too. Â The only decent app turned out to be the shrimp special, but the shrimp size was definitely small, which was unexpected.
Three of us ordered the filet mignon, med-rare, and they all came out rare and very, very bland. Â Doesn't the chef know enough to season the steak? Â Â Had to salt heavily. Â Â The accompanying mashed potatoes tasted ok, but were very, very greasy (butter soup). Â Â The other person ordered the skirt steak with chimichurri, also very bland. Â They must get a lot of seniors here with the lack of seasoning, which never speaks well...
Desserts included creme brulee (impossible to mess up), and a store bought key lime pie, and a very generic lava cake.
Won't be going back, and was very disappointed that the bill was close to what you would pay in Bobby Flay Steak or Ruth Chris in Atlantic City, for a meal that easily could have been served up in the local tavern. Â What is it about Ocean county and lousy restaurants? Â Next time, I will fork out the extra $50 or so and get a decent meal in AC or Cape May.
This place is worst tourist trap I ever visited. Overpriced is not good description. They serve appetizer portions and charge 30% than dinner portion in comparable restaurant. In addition food was cold and overcooked. I asked for rare skirt steak and received well done. Crab cakes were good but $28 for appetizer size portion s total rip-off. Décor is nice. Deserts are not bad. Say away from this place it is a disgrace
Review Source:I was looking forward to having lunch here this past week and boy was I disappointed. We were here to celebrate a birthday & the best part of my meal was the watermelon basil margarita. The menu was somewhat limited and both my mom and I had a hard time deciding on what to order. She settled on the green salad with grilled shrimp(not on menu) Â and I had the mussels along with smoked tomatoe soup with crumbled goat cheese. My Aunt had the crabcake sandwich, no complaints there. For dessert a coconut chocolate mousse was brought to the table and that was delicious. Atmosphere is pleasant altho there was an annoying fly that kept buzzing about the table. The prices are high and the service was ok.
Review Source:Was able to accommodate a celebratory party of 14 on a saturday night with only 24 hours notice. Service was cheerful and attentive, food was very pleasant, if somewhat pricey. Free valet parking, extensive cocktail menu. Highly recommended if you are looking for an upscale restaurant in LBI that is not BYOB.
I would agree with the other reviews that it can be noisy (heck, my party was pretty noisy) but probably any restaurant with it's own bar in LBI is probably going to be noisy. Pricier than one might like, certainly, but again you are paying for the service and the bar in an area without many upscale, full-service, non BYOB restaurants. It was exactly what we were looking for this occasion!
My wife and I previously were at this location years ago when it was called the Owl Tree. Â We had heard from locals that the new restaurant suffered from poor service and food. Â Whether they were bitter about the loss of their beloved Owl Tree or based on their personal experiences I am not sure of.
This past weekend my wife and I decided to give this restaurant a try. Â We had reservations and at our reserved time were seated promptly. Â The bar area was extremely loud as was the dining area, yet was still cozy enough for that intimate touch.
We started off with appetizers, me with the NE chowder and my wife with wings from the bar. Â We then proceeded to have our dinner. Â My wife ordered a steak medium, but was returned because it came out extremely rare. Â I had scallops from the local fishing industry with mushroom risotto and a corn puree. Â It was absolutely delicious.
We received free deserts from the manager because of them needed to refire my wife's steak and also them forgetting the sauce.
All their deserts are made in house and I have to say we enjoyed them. Â My wife had a coconut and chocolate mousse with crushed graham and I had just a cup of rasberry sorbet. Â
Our waitress was extremely courteous, funny and made our dining experience enjoyable. Â We weren't rushed nor were we neglected/ waiting for our courses. The only negative was that the coffee if called mud would be a compliment.
Valet parking was funny. Â We had our car valeted to the first spot in the lot, but again, the staff was friendly.
My wife and I cannot wait to go back.
A good eating experience; a respectable vegetarian menu. Nice service.
Poor bar availability; more than half the items on the menu were unavailable. There's a liquor store across the street, people.
No baby changing facilities, which is a shame.
Interesting name. Not a lot of African-American diners I should think.
Go for happy hour and go further for dinner. The Plantation has filled a gap for us since the closing of our beloved Owl Tree. They have a pretty solid mojito happy hour with good snacks but do not be fooled and get sucked into dinner. For the first few years it was a reliable place to get decent food now it is regularly disappointing. This is a perfect example of a restaurant where the menu reads better than it tastes. Do not get me wrong, if you are in need of a place to go out to eat and it is off season it gets the job done at a price. If I could rate the happy hour only I would give it 4 stars.
Review Source:Sit at the bar.
That's the best advice I can give you if you find yourself up north LBI looking for an open restaurant that isn't a take out pizza joint before the season starts. That's the situation we were in Friday as we found ourselves hungry after a long leisurely drive "down the shore" and felt like sitting down to some goodness.
We walked in and noticed that there were three tables sat in the dining room and the bar was packed full of happy diners..."Is there a bar menu?", we inquired and the ground rules were laid out. "Bar menu can only be ordered from the bar. If you can't find a seat then you may sit at a table, but you must get up and order from the bartenders" No Problem! The menu was almost identical with maybe 5-6 items from the main menu not offered, at about $8-10 cheaper. They were also offering $2.50 mojitos and domestic beer specials at the bar only.
The food was better than avg. for bar food. Delicious P.E.I. mussels, tasty calamari, and a stand up Cesar salad. Service was friendly and efficient. I would certainly return time and again.
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