Mediterranean Chateau
“They start you off w a simple salad and some bread but both were delicious and the red sangria was wonderful.”
“The paella had plenty of clams, mussels, chicken, chorizo, pork, shrimp, scallops and lobster, delicious.”
“It is often packed on weekend nights, so you may have to settle for a seat in the bar area.”
Mediterranean Chateau
Takes Reservations: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Outdoor Seating: Yes
Has TV: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
3 reviews
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Enough of this non sense! I believe it's time for an Elite Member review….
My first time at Mediterranean chateau for Christmas lunch and let me tell you, I left satisfied and wanting to come back for more. I'm used to great portuguese food all the time, so the bar was raised once I walked thru the door this afternoon. This place has been open for 6 weeks now and it use to be a Charlie Brown's Steakhouse. It has been completely remodeled with plenty of tables inside and a Full Bar.
Let me start with the staff. When you walk thru the door, you feel a warm greeting like your walking into a family member's home. The waiters are quick and attentive and are managed by people that have 15+ years of experience. These people are not new to the restaurant business. The owner has been a partner for many years to another famous portuguese restaurant located in South River. If you know portuguese food in the local area, then you know exactly what place Im talking about.
The menu has your traditional portuguese dishes. Nothing has been reinvented. They stuck to the basics. Appetizers, I had the calamari and the picadinho misto which were delicious . The bread they serve you is warm and soft. The salad is ice cold with vinegar and oil mix with all the fixings. I love a nice cold salad
Main Course: I had the 1lb Lobster Tail, Spanish Fries, Yellow Rice, and Veggies. I was shocked by the size of the tail. Portion sizes are huge. The food was absolutely delicious. I couldn't ask for anything better.
Dessert: They got creative on us with the Lemon and Watermelon Sorbets. They use real lemons as little vessels to carry the sorbet. Very creative!
Now, I will comment on some other reviews I've seen. If I were to accept the Yelp reviews, I probably would have not set foot inside this place. A lot of times, people don't know what they're experiencing and will have a wrong opinion about a place. Other times they will hit it on the head. I don't think this place had a fair assessment yet until now.
I had a chance to sit down and speak to the owner's son, he admits when they first opened up they weren't prepared and didn't expect to have such a high turn out. We spoke about the computer system that someone commented about. That system costs about 25K. Pen and Paper system and a kitchen that is 20 feet away, wont ruin you either. You have to remember, there were places that were successful without a system like that. It makes life a hell of a lot easier. This I will agree, but the place is fresh on their feet running, give them some time. They will get it eventually.
I love Portuguese food. Having lived in Union County, I was spoiled with having so many great places in close proximity from the fancy Valenca's in Elizabeth to the corner bbq spot Stephanie's in Roselle Park. Not to mention all of the fantastic places in the Ironbound. So, I guess you could say I "know" good Portuguese food. This restaurant was a huge disappointment.
My boyfriend and I passed by a few times and decided to stop in for lunch on a Saturday afternoon. I ordered the bbq chicken (standard Portuguese fare) and my boyfriend ordered their Portuguese sausage sandwich. The chicken had no flavor/seasoning and tasting old. My boyfriend said his sandwich tasted funny and lo and behold he had terrible FOOD POISONING for the next 36 hours. And we ate the exact same things up until that point, so we know it was from this place.
Not only can they not serve decent food that resembles anything authentic, their food cost us the rest of our weekend due to illness.
I measured my expectations before dining at Mediterranean Chateau to take into account not only location but also it's primary customer base but even that was not enough.
Divided into a casual dining/bar area and formal dining room,this relatively new Portuguese restaurant was a bitter disappointment as the food was bland,amateurishly plated,uninspired and expensive.
Seated on a Friday night without a reservation and waited on by a very attentive and professional waiter, we were immediately brought a bowl of watery ice berg lettuce topped with a wan vinaigrette and a basket of Sysco dinner rolls that needed 2 more minutes in the oven to actually be baked through…… Not an encouraging start but…..
We forged on…..
Bacalhau Portuguesa
.Grilled salted cod in a tomato,white wine and garlic sauce.
The cod was flaky and grilled well but other than the immediate salty background this dish was under seasoned and quite shy of garlic.
The sculpted baby potatoes was a nice touch but rather tasteless as was most of the dish.
Paella Chateau.
A half filled bowl of rather unattractive,soupy and salty rice with some interesting but over cooked bits of shellfish scattered in but this entree needs a firmer hand with the seasonings and some more time on the fire to cook the rice through.Would a little garnish of Cilantro or Parsley or a splash of medium sherry be too much to ask to elevate this dish from bland to almost edible?
Creme Brulee.
Obviously refrigerated and tossed into a warm oven before serving but the caramel top was rubbery,not hard and crisp as a traditional Brulee and didn't so much break but stretch, the custard while quite good was still cold in the middle.
Sagres Lager on tap and a decent sangria was not enough to redeem this disappointing meal.
Mediterranean Chateau's needs a desperate menu and Chef redo as what emerges from it's kitchen is an embarrassment to Iberian cuisine…..or perhaps the bus boy was behind the stoves last Friday.