Cebu

Recommends

bklynOhurley

Joined 4 years ago

A Bay Ridge Gem.. My wife and I were recently invited by some friends to come have dinner with them at this lovely Bistro in Bay Ridge. While we rarely make it into this area, since we live downtown, we thought it'd be interesting to try a new 'neighborhood' to expand our dining horizons.

We had 9:30 reservations on a Friday night and when arriving noticed that this place is quite the scene with a busy restaurant as well as a busy bar.

Another reviewer remarked that they don't take reservations which is untrue, because our reservations were honored and we were promptly seated without a wait. Our party of six were escorted through the restaurant passing through a lovely second room having another bar and fireplace and into the large dining room which was a pleasant surprise. It is a well appointed open space with edison bulbs and antiqued mirrors giving it a very nice 19th century feel with contemporary appeal.

Our waitress was absolutely wonderful, I believe her name was Simone, who while we could see was as busy as I would ever want to be showed us as much attention and grace we could possibly ask for.

The food was amazing, with mussles, steak skewers and fried calamari as wonderful starters. My wife had the Chilean Sea Bass that could melt in your mouth while I had a slightly overpriced Filet Mignon that hit the proverbial 'spot'. My friend had the double cut pork chop with roasted potatoes, that by from the smell of it and his reaction to it, was by all standards, salivating. The only issue we had was the length of time to get our entrees, but I suppose that with such a busy place there are going to be time issues. Than again, you can say it's busy for a reason.

With the atmosphere being as lively as it was we decided to stay for drinks and turned it into quite the night staying well past 1am. While the crowd can get a little course and I'll call out one drunk, a bit rude, we found the liveliness kept us (late thirtysomethings) drinking later than we normally do. The quieter bar was percfect for us and kept us away from the more party like atmosphere at the 'first' bar. This place has a little something for everyone's different tastes and while not the perfect experience, one that I'll hopefully repeat in the future.

Doesn't Recommend

DanieGirl23

Joined 4 years ago

VERY VERY UPSET ABOUT THIS.. I live in the same neighborhood, and have been going to Cebu very frequently for many years. I am a business owner a block away on 3rd Avenue.Not that I ever expected special service, but to be treated with some respect would have been nice. The bartender lost my debit card at the 3rd Avenue Festival in September. This left me without a penny for the remainder of the day. I was upset but not angry with the bartender because he was very apologetic and insisted I gave him my phone number so he can call me the following day to make it up to me. Sure enough 2 days went by and NO CALL. I went to have dinner with my friend a couple of nights later. The bartender (very short hair, blue eyes) turned his head as if he didnt know who I was. Thats when I decided, its time to talk to the boss. I sat and explained to Michael that I was upset because he did not handle it the right way. It was the fact that he promised he would call me the following day, and never did to make the "customer happy". The owner knows me, as he said during our conversation.... " We are neighbors..." and then he re-assured me, he would make it up to me. After the dinner, not so much as a soda was taken off the bill. And when we left, he or the bartender casually acted as if they were busy. I am apalled at the fact a business owner and "neighbor" can treat their customers that way. Considering I have a business and live in the neighborhood, it is so convenient to go to Cebu, but it kills me to have to spend even one dollar in there. In businesses where you deal with people every day, it is your reputation that builds your success.

Doesn't Recommend

cthoma1082

Joined 5 years ago

Not Worth the Effort at all!. Headed to Cebu twice in the last week alone and didn't even make it to dinner either time.

They do not take reservations, so our group of six headed to the hostess and gave us about an hour wait, which is fine. We proceeded wait and noticed that people were getting seated constantly.....

After about 45minutes, I checked with the hostess, who was walking by....she turned her head rolled her eyes and continued to ignore our party.

We then headed to her station and asked her for an estimate, she let us know we have a bout another half an hour. It's about 9:30, and the party I was with had was getting hungry.

A few minutes go by and we see a party of at least 5 head straight in the dinning area, this wasn't the first time this happend. At this point, we got annoyed, and asked once more how much longer it would be, hostess responded, "whenever the next table empties, we'll be sitted" Now, we are a party of six, this means we have to wait for either a large table to get up (very few) or a few smaller tables must be available.

After TWO hours of useless waiting, we decided to leave. The place is not WORTH it at all .

A little tip....you really need to be better organized and not have your staff seat their friends prior to guest that have been waiting for over 2 hours.

Doesn't Recommend

byrdge

Joined 5 years ago

boo. AWFUL service. the food was ok, but incredibly overpriced for the amount and quality. typical superficial loud annoying trashy bay ridge crowd. been a few times but would not go back....plus i heard from a health inspector that they have one of the dirtiest kitchens in brooklyn. No thanks, too many good restaurants competing.

Doesn't Recommend

gee79

Joined 5 years ago

Soooo BROOKLYN! Ya Know. My spouse and i went to Cebu for dinner Sunday night. It's been awhile and we were craving food and some mojitios! First of all we were seated and then waited 20 min before the waitor arrived. In a rush he asked if we we're ready to order. Not only did he barely speak english but on top of that he obviously has no waitor expeirence. I orderd a mojitio and recived lime juice and rubbing alchol in scotch glass. Not only was the drink made wrong ,but served wrong as well. So i hailed down my waitor and asked him to make another drink. He replied with and adittude and asked me if this was my first time there. Actually it's not . However i do remember him as a backbar/ cleaning man who was now giving me the typical bayridge adittude. Appalled!!! the food was horrible. My husbands steak was so dry although he asked for it medium. Overall a huge disappointment. The crowd there was so trashy , and so are the people the hire!!! Do not waste your money in this smelly dirty place, it's gone down big time.

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MichaelLouisD

Joined 4 years ago

Amazing Place for AMAZING food!. I went here with my fiance and mom out of a last resort kinda thing (Arirang's had a 3 hour wait). The place is nothing to look at on the outside, and that scared me, but boy was I wrong. The food is INCREDIBLE! I have brought probably between 10-12 different friends here, and everyone absolutely loved it! The steak skewers as an appetizer is unreal! I always get the salmon, and it's always amazing. I also always get the back room, although we dined outside once in the summer(not a fan of it for this place, its kind of just tables and chairs on the sidewalk). If you eat in the front, be prepared for the 25-35ish crowd at the bar. It's quite loud, that's why I prefer the back. The seating is pretty close in the back, but it's quaint. I enjoy this place, and my fiance and I try to get there every few months. Be sure to make reservations on most weekend nights, though!

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pinkchimney

Joined 5 years ago

Great for a nice dinner!. I have to take exception with the person who complained about the place being too crowded and that there was no parking. The place is crowded because the food is fantastic. The Chilean Sea Bass is particulary good and the Chipotle Chicken is a great choice as well. You can make reservations in advance. I always do after having the experience of showing up on A Thursday night at 6:30p and being told there is a long wait.

As for the parking, of course there was no parking. It's BAY RIDGE!!! There is never any parking. After 6pm you are going to have a hard time finding a spot on 3rd ave from Marine Aprk Ave all the way to 68th st. There was available valet in front. Not sure why they didn't just use that.

I wouldn't really recommend Cebu to go out and drink with friends unless it's on an quiet night like Tues, Wed, or Sun. The bar area is narrow and it is not conducive for hanging out with larger crowds. The restaurant setting in the back is great. Small. But that's the charm. The waiters were always friendly and helpful, even when they made a mistake. The restaurant bought us a glass of wine each when our order was a little late in coming out.

As for the crowd? Well, it's Bay Ridge. If you know the bar scene there then just imagine that crowd 10-15 years older. If that's your thing then you will be fine. If not, then you probably will feel a little out of place unless you don't mind.

Doesn't Recommend

otroyansky

Joined 8 years ago

Total Dissapointment!. I went to Cebu on a Thurs night with a bunch of girlfriends. The place was packed - good thing I had a reservation. To say that I left being totally dissapointed is an UNDERSTATEMENT. The deadbeat waiter messed up every order...those that wanted steak well done got rare and visa versa. My friend wanted a ceaser salad with shrimp instead of chicken. They asker her how many shrimps she wanted implying that there is a charge PER shrimp, but when asked what that charge was the waited had no idea. As it turns out they charge $4 dollars PER shrimp, yes you heard right....so an $8 ceasar became a $24 salad. The food is decent, but way over priced....I'm sorry for a $156 for 4 meal I should be getting something AMAZING in Bay Ridge. Service is awful!!!!

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xTiffanyx

Joined 5 years ago

romantic little place. The place is very small, and I wouldn't reccomend sitting in the front by the bar b/c the bar does get a large crowd. later on. The back room is very quaint and romantic with some candles lit around. My boyfriend and I sat in a little two seater leather booth, and it was cozy. THe dipping sauce for the bread is great with a little kick to it. I had the sea bass which was excellent and large in portion. My boyfriend had the rack-of lamb which he loved. Definitely try the banana cheesecake tortilla for dessert!!!!!

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bkzhot1

Joined 5 years ago

great on thursday!. Ok, so yeah we know it's really crowded,small and busy. but it adds to the atmosphere of the familiar & friendly faces. (if your a tourist, it's not your scene). inexpensive good food, great sangria, attentive staff. good music and the game is always on .. the only problem is the small bathroom (womens). Other than that, it's one of Bay Ridge's prime spots, and the fact that they don't allow underagers is always a plus!