Went last night to celebrate my birthday. I reserved the table in the window for a party of 8. When we got there, nothing was set up. After we asked to have the windows opened and the table set up, the staff got right on it. Food was very good!! Â Lamb meatballs, cheese platter, fried calamari were great starters. Steaks and pastas were satisfying entrees. Disappointed that they ran out of scallop and swordfish entrees at 8pm????? The tuna substitute was excellent. DRINKS WERE WATERED DOWN BIG TIME and a huge disappointment. Bartender was pretty terrible all around...She was SO SLOW. Our waitress was very sweet and attentive though she commented one too many times on how much food we ordered. (Why did she care? We were drinking and eating AND SPENDING $$) DJ stunk when he finally showed. All in all 3 stars overall.
Review Source:I like the ambiance of the place. I like it because it's never too loud or two crowded during happy hour or just meeting a friend for dinner, Bartenders are friendly, know their stuff, and are acomodating. Food is good but some people might say its pricey. Their tuna tar tar is my favorite as is the Creme Brulee. There are organic choices as well.
Review Source:I think the food quality was okay. Â The prices seem a little high for the drinks, but they were able to sit a very large table on short notice and the food quality didn't suffer for it! Â The prix fixe menu was pretty good value. Â It's a "safe" place to go if you have to suggest a place, since everyone should be able to find something they like on the menu.
Review Source:Came in the summer and had a terrible experience I felt compelled to share.
Worst, slowest service I've ever had with an extraordinarily inattentive server (and I've had quite a few serving jobs) . Went with 2 friends, I had the soup of the day which was a watermelon gazpacho and a caesar salad, friends both had some chicken sandwich. I told the waitress she could bring out all the food at the same time. After over an hour of waiting she didn't listen.
She brought out the gazpacho first (without any of the other food!) which was surprisingly not pink, but a brown color. It was garnished with a blob of some strong looking cheese in the middle and a spoonful of oil floating at the top (why?).
Eww.
I tasted it despite all my senses telling me not to, and immediately sent it back. I'm somewhat lactose intolerant and was surprised to find cheese used as a garnish. I asked if there was any dairy earlier and she had assured me there wasn't any. Servers not knowing the menu well enough- a big NO
After I sent it back, which was about an hour since ordering I told her she could bring everything out together. 5 minutes later she brings my salad, and nothing else. Wtf, seriously? The salad sat on the table untouched for another 25 minutes until my friends' sandwiches made their way to our table, which I might add came one at a time with a 5 minute interval between. Really? It's 2 plates...
An hour and a half wait for 2 sandwiches and a salad?! Ridiculous.
Use my experience as a cautionary tale and avoid this place like the Plague.
I will never be returning
I've been here twice now, and I am dumb founded by the negative reviews. The first time I was here, it was just for drink, the second time it was for dinner. Both times, weekdays, the restaurant was very empty.
They have a decent beer selection and the staff is friendly and attentive. The restaurant itself is gorgeous and has a lot of potential. The second time I went back we opted for the $25 prixe fix menu--a great deal available Monday through Thursdays. Both my bf and I thought the food was excellent. Large enough portions and very good. I am a vegetarian and there was even a dish for me in the prixe fix menu entree (something there rarley is). The pumpkin risotto was excellent.
I'll pass. I really really wanted to like the place and I was actually thinking of doing a girl's night there. I went during the summer on a Friday night and the place was dead. I'm not sure if it's because N. Brunswick is a college town and all the people left.
 The place was nicely decorated although I thought it was a lot bigger from the pics I'd seen. The food was so so not bad but nothing memorable. The service was great. I think it's because the place was practically empty.
 We got a free drink which was nice. It was house special which was awful but it was free so we couldn't complain.
 Overall it's a so so place that has potential but I can't say I'll be going there again.
So much potential but just not really there yet. Â I've been to Tula on a few different occasions and here's what I've found about this place.
Ambiance: The place is actually really nicely decorated. Â Sitting streetside in the front on warm summer nights is fun. Â The bar is really nicely constructed and the bathrooms are kept clean and tastefully decorated.
Bar: Â If I could just rate the bar at this place, I'd give it 4.5 stars. Â Their bartenders are really friendly and outgoing. Â One spoke Italian which got me all excited as I speak Italian too so of course I had to strike up a random conversation. Â But they offer a nice drink menu. Â They make a good capirinha which is hard to find outside of Newark and for a Brazilian girl like me it's great to go somewhere that knows how to make them. Â They also carry one of my FAVORITE Italian drinks called "Brachetto" - another rare find in the US. Â Haven't had that since my study abroad in old Italia and I haven't been able to find it here until Tula. Â They just need to keep the bar area a little cleaner...lots of sticky surfaces.
Service: During the dining experiences I've had there, I've unfortunately dealt with 2 really snotty waitresses. Â Sad because I really wanted to like this place but both of them came off the same way which really ruined both meals. Â We waited about 25 min for our apps to get dropped and another hour after that for our dinner. Â
Food: Another let down here...our apps and entrees were barely there and very pricey. Â Everything pretty much tasted OK but I was disappointed at the size of them. Â The bill was really high both times and we just didn't feel like the meal was worth all of that money.
Music: Later in the evening, Tula becomes a Lounge. Â The music ranges from Hip hop to techno to top 40 etc. Â Not really a great dancing spot though which is a problem for me.
I won't say that I'm not going to go back but it would probably end up being a last resort kind of place for us...and I would only go back for the cocktails at that.
I'm gonna upgrade my previous review for the reason that this is a pretty decent happy hour spot. Lovely, large tiled bar and the drinks are pretty good and modestly priced. The bartenders are great at making custom drinks on the fly to cater to your mood or taste. My only complaint would be that the bar menu for food during happy hour is overpriced with meager portions.
Try their bloody mary! it's spicy and flavorful. Â They make their own jalapeno vodka and mary mix and it's one of the best I've had.
Avoid. I wanted to give Tula a chance. It's a great idea: a semi-upscale lounge atmosphere with cocktails and food. This would be a welcome change in New Brunswick. Their house-infused liquors make it seem like they will be a good place. But their dinner and food is just atrocious. I ordered the Chicken Cavatelli, which was tasteless and watery. My friend didn't eat any of her food either. Even the small stuff is just poorly done. The bread they bring out at the start of the meal, for instance, was cheap quality and had a texture that was too chewy. My mango mint iced tea was watered down, though the spiced margarita was quite good.
On top of the poor food, add in bad house music that was out of place during prime dinner time at a place that tries to hold itself up as upscale. I've lived in New Brunswick for about half a year and there are many better places around. For cocktails, go to Catherine Lombardi. For wine/food, go to Daryl.
I went here a few months back and the food was pretty good, and it is a good place to go for a date. It is far less expensive than Frog and Peach as well, and the decor is very nice, but it is a tad pricy for the food. The fried macaroni and chess that I got was very good, but the bill ended up being close to $70 for two people. I do think that this place is really trying, and I do appreciate that.
Review Source:The night i first discovered this place was my birthday night. I was bar hoping around in New Brunswick, when I stopped in front of Tula and I thought I'd try this place out.  I was really blown away when I first stepped inside, because I had just come from a couple pubs/lounges in downtown, and it was the typical crowded, noisy environment but tula was different.  The ambiance was truly lounge material.  Dim lights, plenty of seating at table tops, at the bar, or on couches. Pretty big dance floor and live DJ music. The decor is really nice and to my surprise the place was pretty empty.  I think i know why though... the prices are pretty high especially when you compare them to the near-by  college pubs in the area. But still ill pay a little more for my drink if i don't have to hear drunk frat boys screaming at each other spilling their beer all over the floor, or walking into a bathroom without a door and people watching u pee.
I like this place a lot, if great for a group hang out for drinks and dancing (without the obnoxious college crowd)
Was very disappointed with our meal at Tula last night. The entire experience from start to finish was very amateur, pretending to be all grown up. The first thing I'd do if I took this restaurant over is hire an experienced bartender. Our bartender did not know how to properly make even the most basic of drinks. You're paying top dollar for liquor here - they should be able to make anything, and make it well. The selection of liquors is also very limited for a place trying to be upscale. The second thing I take issue with is that they're not using fresh ingredients. Beet salad was made from canned beets. Tortellini was almost surely the same frozen brand you buy in the freezer section of your local supermarket. This is totally unacceptable. The food we did eat was certainly passable, but terribly bland. If you're the kind of chef that tends to under-season your food, at least leave the salt and peppermills on the table. The place was pretty empty for a Friday night, and these may be among the reasons why. Tula needs to bring in a restaurant pro to whip the place into shape or it won't be here a year from now. Too bad because it's actually a really nice space.
Review Source:Zero Stars - Beware!
My wife & I went to Tula for the first and only time last night.
We had a 7:45 reservation and got there @ 7:35. Despite there being only 3 parties seated and plenty of empty tables, they told us to go the bar, rather than give us the choice of going directly to our table.
The 1 bartender was overwhelmed trying to serve drinks for tables & customers at the bar. When we finally got to order we asked for drinks that called for bitters, and she came back to tell us they were out of bitters. Â She asked if we wanted different drinks or to wait for the bitters. We said we'd wait, at which time a guy slowly made his way to get them. The fact that a place that bills itself as a lounge has no bitters behind the bar on a Saturday night was a sure sign they don't take their business too seriously.
When said bitters finally appeared, the bartender had to ask us our drink order again. Then she had to ask the slow moving guy where to find one of the bourbons we'd requested, when it was right next to the other bottle she'd just poured.
While we were waiting for our drinks - at this point we'd been there @ 15 minutes at the bar and still did not have our drinks - the hostess came over to seat us. Of course they wanted to seat us directly next to two of the three parties that were seated, despite there being plenty of other empty tables and us having a standing reservation. I find this to be an incredibly lazy tactic that poor restaurants deploy to make it easier on their wait staff, when they should be more concerned with spacing the paying customers at a comfortable distance.
My wife requested a different table, and they obliged, but it was directly next to the fourth party that was seated - again there were empty tables aplenty and we'd made a reservation well in advance.
The bartender informed us that I'd have to settle our bar tab - they couldn't transfer it to the table tab, even though they bill themselves as a Lounge/Restaurant.
So I asked her to ring up our valet parking tab too. She gave me a receipt that did not itemize our drinks and parking, so I had no idea the parking was $9 until another customer complained about it later, while we waited nearly 10 minutes for them to bring our car around.
Once at the table, we were quick to order as they have a small menu, and only one special app/salad/entry to offer. My wife ordered the strip steak medium rare,
When our entrees got the table my  wife's steak was cooked medium - it was gray through and through. After mulling whether to send it back she finally decided to do so. Despite there being only 4 parties seated, it took us a while to get the attention of our waitress. My wife cut open the steak so it was clear to the waitress that the steak was overcooked, and requested another one cooked medium rare.
About 10 minutes later another steak arrived - and it was even more overcooked than the first!!
We were incredulous that nobody made sure an another overcooked steak didn't make it to our table, yet it did.
At this point my wife and I just wanted to leave. The manager came over after we showed the the waitress that the steak was worse than the first, and she asked if she could make things right. By that point I was done with my meal and sitting there with an empty wine glass glass. My wife's wine glass was empty as well. Neither our waitress nor the manager noticed or asked if we wanted more to drink. We had to ask them to bring my wife another glass of wine while she waited for her 3rd steak.
About 20 minutes later I had to get up and find our waitress and ask why my wife's medium rare steak was not ready yet. She said that she'd check on it, but stayed right at the same spot I found her, so I headed to the back to find the Manager who "wanted to make things right". She finally came out of the kitchen with my wife's meal.
I was still sitting there with an empty wine glass - it'd be over half an hour since i finished my meal, yet neither the manager or waitress could be bothered to ask if I wanted another glass or offer one on the house to make things right.
And after all this trouble I had to wave down our waitress to ask for the check.
They comped us my wife's steak and one glass of wine, which we felt was the bare minimum given all the stress we went through.
On our way out a guy at the door told us to expect a wait to get our car - fair enough - but 10 minutes seemed incredibly long. He asked how our experience was and we didn't pull any punches in telling him. He looked us in the eye an apologized - kudos to him - seeming a bit incredulous at how bad our time was.
We went out to the sidewalk to wait for the car and ran into the party that had been seated next to us. They vowed never to return due to the poor service and high parking fees.
Out of space but you get my point - they seemed to fail at being either a lounge or restaurant. Expect poor service and mediocre food if you do dine there.
I had a decent dinner here and a decent lunch, but I had two AWFUL lunches in a row. Â This place is just not ready to serve lunch customers. Â The service was glacially slow-- even when the place was practically empty. Â And many things are routinely not available when they are listed on the menu. Â The meats seem high quality but it's not worth coming here in my opinion. Â And don't order the tuna tartar unless you want to ingest a large amount of garlic; it was definitely over-seasoned. Â DO NOT GO FOR LUNCH!
Review Source:This place was ok... nice decor but a little pricy. Maybe it'd feel like a better value on a prix fixe night but unfortunately I'm rarely up in New Brunswick on weeknights.
The gnocchi app was by far the best thing we had there. Home made gnocchi with roasted root vegetables. A little greasy but you don't normally order gnocchi and expect health food. My entree was bouillabaisse and my dining partner's was the rotating ravioli special, which happened to be shrimp & spinach with red pepper sauce that night. He loved it, but wished they gave a larger portion for the price.
Bouillabaisse consisted of mussels and shrimp over potatoes with one scallop on top. Except for the slightly tough shrimp it was pretty good (but is it crazy to hope for more than one scallop?), but they should definitely mention on the menu that it's served with potatoes instead of pasta or bread, which is more of what I was expecting. This would have kept me from unknowingly ordering an app and an entree that both heavily featured potatoes, making me a little potato'd out by the end.
All in all it's an ok place, but I don't see myself going back unless I happen to be around for the prix fixe sometime.
Yes, just one star! And that's for the mixed drinks which were nicely done.
A group of five of us had dinner here last night and it was such a let down. We ordered drinks and appetizers to start (drinks took over 30mins to arrive every time we ordered). For apps we ordered the Churrasco - nicely done but it would've been nice if the waitress explained what we were eating - and the lamb meatballs which were the only tasty dish of the night.
After a 1hr 15mns wait we finally received our dinners. We ordered:
- Grilled shrimp (overlooked and chewy) & tomato  mozzarella salad (quite bland)
- (2) Swordfish - rice tasted like uncle Ben's instant rice  and the fish tasteless and slightly overcooked
- Grilled Chicken - extremely dry and tough
- Burger w smoke wood bacon - ordered medium and it came overcooked, tasteless and dry. Bread was burnt. YES. BURNT! Inedible!
We picked around our food as we were starving and in no mood to wait another hour to get our dinners fixed, plus it is not like we could get it fixed as the waitress just delivered our food and came back a while after we were done with  our dinners.
Eventually we had a talk to another waitress (possibly the manager as she never identified herself) and offered desserts on the house.
We weren't the only ones unhappy with our food as several other tables were complaining as well.
The bill came up to $200 which in different circumstances we are more than happy to pay but here the cost didn't equal the quality of food or service.
I will NOT come back and I recommend to seriously think twice before going here...
Tula continues to exceed my expectations with each visit. Not only is the food and presentation amazing, but the combination of foods with any one dish always make for a complementary explosion of flavors on the palate. There are many restaurants in the New Brunswick area, but none match the sophistication, quality and warmth that exists at Tula. The staff were amazing and always very accommodating. Can't wait to go back; Tula is fast becoming my favorite restaurant hands down.
Review Source:We had a Private personal party @ Tula's for  Family & Friends a few days ago & I'm still feeling so overwhelmed how things turned out.  The Food, Drinks & the service were Amazing, Friendly, Excellent, Delicious & set up Beautiful etc...( I can go on & on)
My 30+ Â guests were extremely satisfied on how Wonderful & Beautiful this affair turned out.
I recommend Tula's for parties, lunch, dinner or a night out in NB.
Claudia :)
P.S. My husband has surprise me with Birthday dinner, has met me for lunch on lunch break & been here for ladies get together & enjoyed night life occasionally.
My man and I ate dessert here one summer night. The restaurant is very beautiful, modern, and nicely decorated. The hostess was friendly and sat us down immediately. We chose to sit by the open air window to enjoy the cool summer weather. The creme brulee was creamy and delicious. Though it can get a bit pricy here for dinner, dessert is always a nice treat and they do have happy hour here during the week.
I would definitely come back, maybe for New Year's or to celebrate a special occasion.
Hadn't been here in a while, so we decided to just drop in for a drink. We were trying to kill time and we had already had dinner at Stuff next door, and the outdoor bar at Evelyn's was already full. Tula was empty; it was a beautiful Tuesday evening so I could imagine that everyone wanted to drink outside.
We sat at the bar and I actually went ahead and ordered dessert- tiramasu, and it was yummy- creamy and perfect. SO wanted a drink and the bartender- who I didn't get his name- was absolutely amazing- so friendly, and nice but not put on or whatever. He asked us what we wanted and SO wanted something refereshing, so he whipped up this delicious gin and cucumber and lime cocktail. SO GOOD.
The drinks are a little pricier, but well made. They also started doing house infused liquor (vodka) which are on the shelf behind the bar. Lovely place for a drink!
Tula is dark enough that the place and the people look just a few notches better than they actually do...until the nauseatingly bland elevator-techno on the horribly tinny speakers nearly breaks the spell. But they have really nice wine glasses and a wide sturdy bar on which to put them, which keeps you at a comfortable distance from the flighty, tight-shirted bar staff. By-the-glass wine selection is ok, but the menu is lame. The sizing and pricing structures for the small plates are weird and inflexible and somehow make it difficult to get a good selection without ordering way more food than necessary (or, alternatively, going hungry). They seriously need to step it up on the bread front. Way too smooshy and flavorless.
It's not an unpleasant place, but they don't quite hit whatever it is they're aiming for.
Checked this place out for New Brunswick Restaurant Week. My girlfriend and I had been wanted to see what Tula had to offer for a while, but for some reason or another never actually made it there. We saw that they had a $50 (per couple) price fixe menu for Restaurant Week so we decided to see what it was all about.
Unfortunately, we did not do our homework because they actually offer a price fixe menu every day for happy hour (4:00 - 7:00 PM) for $40 per couple. You share an appetizer and a dessert, and you each get an entree. The "deal" for restaurant week was simply, you get the price fixe after 7 PM for an extra $10. Come on guys..
So we walk in around 7:30 and the place is completely empty except 2 or 3 people seated at the bar. The ambiance is really nice inside. They did an amazing job putting the place together. We were told to have a seat anywhere, so we opted to sit by the "window." They have accordion style floor to ceiling doors in the front that open up to the sidewalk. They place large planters in the doorway and the feel is really very pleasant.
To start our adventure, our server tells us the specials. We are informed that the special for the day is "Red Snapper - the fish, not the turtle." (She was 100% serious lol). We order a carmenere from the (pricey) wine list and our server told us that it was a good choice and that she had tried it a couple of days ago during the restaurant's wine tasting. I remarked that it was very smart of the establishment to educate its staff not only on the food being served, but also on the beverages and which paired well together. Our server agreed (who doesn't like to try a couple dozen tasty wines!). She brings us back a sauvignon blanc (from the same vineyard though) and we all have a good laugh.
So we look over the limited menu (expensive wine eats) and decide to go big or go home. We skip the part about asking for wine pairing recommendations lol and my date ordered the whole Bronzino. I got the Salmon. I've got to say, the fish was cooked VERY well. Both dishes were absolutely delicious. The Tuna Tartar appetizer was kind of weak though. No crostini or anything to compliment - just mushy tartar on a plate. We actually received the house bread (tasty focaccia style) after finishing the tartar (and we definitely took our time - hoping we'd get some kind of bread or cracker or something.. anything).
All in all, Tula........ eh... The fish was good, but I really didn't feel like the Restaurant Week special was appropriate. I honestly feel like we "fell for it." Anyway, probably will not return.. Unless I'm in the mood for a carafe of house infused green chile vodka! (Yeah, that's a real menu item).
Very beautiful atmosphere. Â We came for the live Jazz but I guess that must have been discontinued. Â There was a late night DJ instead. Â Initially we sat at the bar but then decided to sit in the dining room - menu looked fabulous. Â
The tuna tartar was a little over powered by the garlic but decent, loved the gnocchi, and the truffled potato soup was creative. Â The salad that accompanied my entree was drenched in too much dressing. Â The crab cake entree was so salty I couldn't eat it... took it home in a to go box but couldn't handle it later at home either. Â
As far as the dining room service... it was quite some time before anyone greeted us and it was somewhat impersonal. Â I don't think she knew much about the menu or food. Â She didn't write down our order and had trouble getting it into the computer - had to come back to our table 3 times to confirm. Â Courses were rushed one into the next and one was served out of order. Â We asked to slow things down a little, and then the server asked us several times when the next course should be sent. Â I guess how far we were into each dish wasn't enough of an indicator.... we're not slow either, we just wanted to enjoy the food and experience. Â If I wanted speed and to stuff my face I would have gone to a fast food restaurant. Â We were short on utensils. Â
I might consider going back for a cocktail and appetizer at the bar.
Place is actually decent. Â Great location where everything is hopping at night time. It is right next to Stuff Yer Face. Â The restaurant has a nice atmosphere! Â Nice blue lighting outside. Â Nice and dark inside, but had just enough like to make it look legit! Â The service was pretty good. Â Our server was attentive.
  I had a well-done burger called Tula Burger which was actually juicy and had fresh ingredients of lettuce and tomato.  I threw out my tomato since I hate them, but my girl ate it, and she said it tasted fresh.  My girl loves chicken, so she had a pasta dish with chicken which she enjoyed alot because it was very saucy which she loves!  For dessert I had some type of chocolate moose cake slice.  The chocolate was nice and dense just the way I like it.  Very RICH chocolate, so I know they didnt cheap out on ingredients!
I went here for happy hour once to check out the place to see if I would want to come back for dinner. Â They do not have any happy hour specials. Â The place was pretty empty - two people at the bar and two people seated for dinner. Â The atmosphere is nice and it looked pretty clean. Â In fact, when we were drinking at the bar, I saw the wait staff cleaning underneath all the tables. I was impressed that they were doing that. Â We tried two appys -- calamari and tuna. Â Both were ok - nothing great but I've also had much worse. Â Overall - the whole look of the place was nice but it was missing a fun vibe for happy hour. Â I still would want to go back to try the dinner.
Review Source:Actually I would give this three and a half stars, but that doesn't seem to be possible, so they get rounded down. Â We went there last night, and everything was good - and a couple of things outstanding. Â For the price we would go back there, but it's not a place that I would personally go rushing back to.
First, I think it fills a nice little niche in NB. Â It fills a nice space above the likes of Old Man Rafferty's but when you don't quite want to go to Stage Left of Frog and the Peach. Â Personally I think more restaurants need to fill this space, but Tula's is a nice choice if you want to go out to a place that's just a little more upscale.
Now on to the food. Â Like I said - everything good with a few hits.
Appetizer. Â The wife had the gnocchi and I had a skirt steak. Â The steak was okay, didn't seem to have quite as much flavor the description suggested, but the gnocchi was outstanding. Â Great flavor, light and not overly rich. Â Would absolutely get that again.
Dinner. Â I had the tuna while the wife orders the crab cakes. Â Both the entrees came with the Tula salad which was good if overdressed (which I personally find annoying). Â The crab cake was good, almost all crab no filler, but again it lacked just a little flavor. Â There was a sauce that went with it, but I couldn't even taste it. Â The tuna, however, was excellent. Â Pan seared perfectly, great flavor.
One last note. Â I thought the portion sizes were good, if just a little on the small size. Â They were probably portion sizes that the average person should eat, Â we've just gotten so used to pounds of food when we go out.
And last the price. Â I would say in general the price was consistent with the sort slightly more upscale. Â Entrees were between $12 - $17, appetizers $7 - $10.
Oh how I hate to do this, but do this I must. Â The saddest part about this sad little place "Tula" is that it's older sister Evelyn's (see my review) is right next door and you have something to compare it to. Â I know the owners and voiced my complaints, but I guess nothing changed.
My first experience:
So we go there for their grand-opening, we have dinner reservations for 9 however when we get there we are asked to wait. Â So we wait...and wait...and wait. One hour and 15 minutes later the pregnant lady in our entourage (my bf) announces that she will go and nosh on other people's food. Â I see the owner and ask him for our table, he asks me to wait some more. Â So we wait...and wait...and wait...and wait...It's now 11:30 & we've all had enough booze to last us 2 dinners (except of course the starving angry pregnant woman, who is now making friends with people eating at their tables). Â I catch a snobby waitress, who unapolegitically leads us to our table. Â GREAT! Â Except for the fact that the table is 4 people too small. Â We decide to leave & eat at Evelyn's.
Second experience:
A few months ago, after having a lovely dinner at Evelyn's we decide to go give Tula a second try. Â When we get there an abnoxious excuse of a waitress comes up. Â We ask her for some drinks & deserts, she shoots us down for half of our order telling us they don't have it eventhough everything was on the menu. Â I ask for Lebanese coffee, which she rudely tells me they don't have. Â "We don't serve that." Â No alternative, nothing! Â Just, "we don't serve that." Â Mind you, it's Friday evening with NO ONE in the place, don't you think she could take 3 steps outside to get one for me at Evelyn's? Â NO!! Apparently, they don't need business there. Â So we leave & I will NEVER come back. Â
Why two starts instead one? Â The ambience is pretty cool, they did put a lot of effort into it. Â If only they would do the same with their wait staff.
Went there during Restaurant Week (I know, I procrastinated writing this review)...because this place had a decent vege tasting menu. We both had the spring vege. menu with wine pairing.
Appetizer: Had the Gazpacho. Very light and refreshing. The best part of the meal, IMO.
Gnocchi: Not my favorite typically, but I was very impressed with what they served here. Very light and fluffy. Went well with the squash.
Risotto: ok...again, I'm not particularly fond of risottos, so maybe I'm a bit biased here...seemed to be cooked well, but just something I don't typically enjoy. My wife liked hers so I guess that's worth a bonus star.
Dessert: Chocolate Mousse Cake. A bit too dense for my taste...sank in my stomach right away..not the best feeling...
Service: Despite other reviewer's experiences, we had a very good experience here. The waitress was very helpful, and very attentive.
I'm not a sommelier by any means, but one thing I found strange was that they served a red wine (I think it was a pinot noir) with the rissotto...didn't like how it was paired...it seemed that they were trying to force fit a red wine into the menu somehow...
Only reason why I am giving them 4 stars is that the portion sizes were way to small....didn't really fill me up....maybe that's why they made the dessert so dense :)
Went to Tula recently to have lunch with my mom- it's a nice place amid the takeout restaurants in the area and the ambience is quite pretty. The space itself is on the small side and it was warm outside, so it was stuffy inside. I asked for the front accordion-style windows to be opened, which I was happy to see quickly happened. I hope they do have air conditioning for super-hot, humid summer days, so we'll have to see.
We both started with the White Peach and Frisee Salad with candied pistachios, which was pretty tasty. The grilled peaches were delicious, and I loved the pistachios. The vinaigrette was a bit too tangy for my taste, but still good.
For entrees, my mom got the Tula Burger and I got the tagliatelle dish. Her burger was cooked right to order, and the brioche bun was tasty. The tomatoes on her burger looked like top-notch Jersey produce. Fries were delicious but too salty for her, so I stole some off her plate. I've had their sweet potato fries before, which were also good.
My tagliatelle was in a creamy pesto sauce with chicken, squash, tomatoes, and artichoke. The sauce itself was delicious, pasta was a tad undercooked but fine- the veggies were good, especially the squash. I'm fairly sure I got some pieces of the choke in my meal, though, as I quickly recognized that scratchy feeling in my throat. Overall, pretty good but not wonderful.
Lastly, we shared the banana empanadas for dessert, with dulce de leche ice cream. This was damn tasty, and I loved the caramel ribbons on top of the ice cream. The bananas were fresh and the empanada was perfectly crunchy without being greasy at all.
I'll be back to try out some more of their offerings, though it'll be a rare indulgence as this meal ran us a pretty penny for an afternoon outing.
Pros: beautifully appointed restaurant
Cons: price and size of dishes
I am not at all impressed with the food at this place. Â Some dishes are good and some are just bad, but all the dishes are small.
Furthermore, I ordered a kettle one vodka which burned the whole way down. Â As a kettle one drinker, I know the alcohol pretty well and could tell that they replaces the liquor with a lower quality alcohol and charged me 10 bucks for it.
I really do enjoy living in New Brunswick. I've been to most if not all of the bars,lounges and restaurant. So when Tula opened I was excited to give it a try...
Great lighting/decor. Â It seems if every part of the meal was planned to the size of the breadbasket/plates etc..
I Â went on a Thursday evening around 9pm. The venue wasn't very busy which didn't bother me at all. I realize that it is a fairly new business in NB. There were two other couples dining.
Drinks: I ordered the Mango Mojito. I was taken aback by the size of the glass. It was half the size of a glass of "normal mojito. The drink needless to say wasn't very good...I should have stuck with the wine list.
Appetizer: We ordered the Barbeque Spring Rolls. Â Soo the appetizer arrives.. We had literally two spring rolls plated with some type of corn relish and a swirl of bbq sauce.. Â I definitely would not recommend. They were basic and bland.
Entree: I got the Blue Crab Cakes and my friend got the Gulf Shrimp. If you recall earlier in my review, I noted two other couples dining. It took at least 10+ minutes to receive our entrees. However, the food was worth the wait.
The crab cakes were full of lump crab and the sauce was excellent! Some of the best crabcakes I have had in quite some time. The Gulf Shrimp was soo good! Â The Shrimp were rather large and you received a good sized portion. The Gulf Shrimp was on top of some type of corn chowder with a bit of sauteed spinach.
I would go back to Tula, I really enjoyed my entree & they have $5 glasses of wine, cocktails, beer & champagne on Wednesday 5-7!
If I was going to base my rating only on my personal dining experience, I would grudgingly give this place one star. The fact that both my dinner companions rated their food okay, but not something they'd want to repeat again (the Tuscan penne and grilled double cut pork chop) earns this place another star. Barely.
I knew I was in trouble when we got our appetizer. It's pretty sad when the thing everyone liked best was the mango salad used as a garnish. We ordered the trio sticks in order to maximize our chance to taste what this place has to offer: The yucatan shrimp was forgettable, the thai chicken didn't have enough of a kick, and the skirts on fire was all spice with no other discernable flavor.
For dinner I ordered the mussel frites. I spent some time in northern France after college, so I'd like to think that all those times I had the original gives me a good base to use as a point of comparison. Had any of those local cafes tried to serve what I got on my plate at Tula, I seriously think it would've started another revolution. The mussels I got tasted old. I also found two near the bottom that were still tightly closed--completely unacceptable considering the portion size.
For decent "upscale" food in New Brunswick, don't waste your time here and instead walk on over to George Street. Cheap and filling grub is what Easton Avenue does best.
Extraordinary. Hands down, the best meal in New Brunswick.
The people: The minute we walked in, the hostess greeted us...geniunely greeted us! This doesn't happen much in Jersey and I wanted to hug her for it. The waiter was knowledgable and attentive, answered all our questions about the menu and offered thoughtful, insightful opinions in aiding us making both entree & wine selections.
The place: Have you seen it? I've only been dying for this place to open for months now! The attention to detail on the outside and throughout the comfortable clean and natural environs on the inside should have been a clue as to how exquisite the whole dining experience would be. It wasn't warm enough when we were there, but the front of the restaurant has floor to ceiling glass doors which open alongside long, beautiful curtains. Stereo system is very good - crystal sound, music was absolutely perfectly pitched and mood setting. The bar is huge, but oddly it doesn't take over the inside, we were nearly oblivious to its existance...clearly that was due to the design of the place, er wait...maybe it was the food...
THE FOOD:
Wine & Appetizer
After much discussion, we went with the Warm Artichoke Dip to start. Made with goat cheese and accented with thyme, it was delish. Oh, and they gave us bread and oil to before that...very nice olive oil. They had a great selection of wines all reasonably priced. They also had a reasonably priced selection of *organic* wines, which pricewise were in synch with the rest of the list. ($8-12/glass).
Entrees
I went with the Laquered Salmon and I'm damn sure I had the best plate. There was a chorus of flavors that each hit it's own note at different points as you ate. It was sitting on a cucumber/daikon salad and I think marinated in miso...there was a generous heap of roe atop the salmon that had been infused with wasabi. So with each bite of salmon you got a mini burst of cool, caviar, and a tiny surprise of wasabi flavor. I could eat it all day every day. You also got this little egg roll guy on the side which was also tasty, but I was consumed by my main course of action and didn't get distracted much from it.
We also had the Braised Pork Osso Bucco & a pork dish that was on special that somehow incorporated whiskey (which was the selling point). The pork came nearly looking like you see at Medieval Times on the bone. The meat fell off and just as with my dish, were flavored and cooked with precision and love...yes...love! I said it!
All three dishes were presented in a style I've really only seen when Bobby Flay *really* tries on tv. You could tell they cared what they were sending out from the kitchen. (actually, as I mentioned before, they loved what was coming out of the kitchen...).
Dessert!
I had the Meyer Lemen Cheesecake with a grapefruit granite/sorbet. It was ridiculous. Someone needed to slap me. At this point, I wanted to marry the chef. Others had the creme brulet trio - vanilla, grand marnier & blueberry...and it tasted just as good as it sounds. Lastly, we had the banana empanadas. I shouldn't put this last because it was the only thing that was just slightly under my own preference, as I was expecting more of a pastry when it was a bit chewy (but duh, it did say empanada). Listen to this: banana empanadas, coconut rum caramel sauce, dulce de leche ice cream. Wow.
The highlights was all the food. The care and precision in the menu planning, ingrediants, ambiance, everything was stellar. Did I mention that they had organic chicken on the menu? Also, they use the ice cream made at Thomas Sweets right next door.
I love this place. Right now it's not priced astronomically like the other clown show restaurants in new brunswick. If you're reading this trying to determine where to go for dinner, you've found it.
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