Lana's Fine What?????
Wow, where do we start? Usually the beginning is a great place. My wife and I were greeted by a not-so-well dressed man. Here is "Fine Dining", and this guy just has on a shirt and pants... it doesn't give me the impression of fine dining. He then progresses to kiss my wife's hand... who does this clown think he is? I do not know where his mouth was, and I made my wife go to the ladies room to wash her hands.

Once we were seated, the server came over. It took ten minutes to get a bottle of water and two glasses of wine. (The restaurant was relatively empty... maybe four tables were occupied). Once we ordered, we were informed that they were out of this dish, then that dish... Why in God's name have a menu then? Why didn't the so-called chef come out and say "you will be eating this and she will be having that"?

The food finally started coming out after a 20 minute wait for the first course salads. I don't know if the server forgot to punch in our order or if the kitchen was "busy" but the timing needs to be better. Once we did get our entrees, we told Mike the server that my wife's filet was overcooked. His answer was "No way, that's a perfect medium". Who is paying for this meal Mike? We were informed by our "fine dining" server that that was the last filet and nothing could be done.

Should I go on? No one from owner to manager came over to us to address this problem. I feel that was not professional. I mean, someone should have come over even if it was the clown up front or the chef. Someone should have addressed our problems.

We didnt stay for dessert, do you blame us?

1300 Raritan Road is one address I won't be visiting again. Maybe if I'm in the mood for a circus.    [06 Oct 2004 19:46:39]

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     ­Anonymous   

Fine dining? Strike One!
I took my husband to Lana's for what was supposed to be a very special night out. This was our second trip there. It was a night neither one of us will ever forget. It was so bad, I dont think we will ever go back.

We arrived early, so we checked in and wanted to have a cocktail at the bar. We didnt see the Maitre'd that we saw the first time we were there (he was part of the reason we went back, he made us feel like we were special the first time). My husband asked the bartender where the other Maitre'd was, and the bartender said he didn't know who he was talking about... Peter was the owner and only Maitre'd they ever had. Gee, were we in the wrong place? We were there only a month and a half ago.

Well, we ordered our drinks, I had a glass of Cabernet, and it tasted like the bottle had been open for 3 weeks... it was rancid. Anyone in the near vicinity had to smell it. I almost got sick from the smell. I told the bartender and he said he just opened it. WHAT A BOLD FACE LIE! We asked if he would take it away, he said he would but that the wine was fine and he would have to charge us. We were shocked. Whatever happened to the guest is always right? Not here, not tonight.

We went to our table disgusted. I mean you could see it on our faces, we couldnt believe what just happened. Once we were seated, our server came over and took our order. What we ordered and what we got were too different things. My husband ordered foie gras and got some sort of shrimp appetizer I on the other hand ordered a soup and got a basic salad. My husband was getting mad, I could see it in his face. We told another server, since ours was no where to be found. After 20 more minutes our true appetizers came out.

When our entrees came out, my fish was dry. I didn't want to say anything because my husbands steak was overcooked too. He was unhappy, I could see it on his face. He just ate it because he didnt want to wait for another. No one came over and asked how everything was. Peter was at the bar having his dinner, hope his was better than ours. We were half way through dinner and my husband asked for the check. The waiter didn't ask anything, he just brought the check over to my husband. I don't know if Peter fired the Chef and Maitre'd from the first time we were there, but things were wrong from the start.    [30 Oct 2004 08:39:35]

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     ­Anonymous   

Things are better - A LOT BETTER
I hadn't read the first couple of reviews before four of us went to Lana's. We really went for the music. Warren Vache, Vinny Corrao and Nicki Parrott perform there on Thursday. The dinner was absolutely excellent! The service needed some work, and the owner could be dressed a more appropriately, but the food was wonderful. We had three different appetizers, all excellent, two of us had scallops for the entre, two had filets -- all really quite delicious.

Lana's still has some issues and quite a ways to go before it's a "fine dining" experience, but the food we had was excellent (but not inexpensive), and the Thursday night music is fabulous.    [21 Feb 2005 12:49:07]

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Recommended Dishes: Scallops, Beef Filet

     ­Anonymous   

The Chef Is A Racist
I've never met a more closed-minded person. The chef managed, in the space of 10 minutes, to insult every creed, religion and race that he could. This would be the kind of person who spits in your food and laughs about it. Don't go to this restaurant unless you like to be insulted.    [25 Jun 2006 12:10:13]

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     ­Anonymous   

I originally thought the restaurant was for golfers only but it is a stand alone restaurant itself. It serves dinner from Tuesday thru Sunday and the bar is open 7 days a week. They have a phenomenal menu with daily specials and you can even suggest something special that their versatile chef could probably accommodate. The service is impeccable and the staff is most knowledgeable. They have an extensive wine list and a fully stocked drink menu that is second to none. The ambiance is refined but casual and outdoor dining is also available. I have been here for lunch also and the service and quality of their food does not vary from their fine dining experience. I would recommend to all as you will be pleasantly surprised that such a fine dining experience is available in your own backyard.    [05 Jun 2007 13:11:30]

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Recommended Dishes: 16oz.Porter House Veal Chop

     ­Bruce A. Brecht   

Don't Go, You'll Regret It
Everything was Bad. Don't go, you'll regret it. Where do I start? First I made a reservation for 7 p.m. and my party arrived and we were seated. It took about half an hour to 45 minutes for the server to come and ask us about drinks. He didn't mention anything else, like if we wanted to order food. We didn't have a menu yet so we couldn't have ordered even if we wanted to. When we finally ordered our drinks, the server wrote it down but later he forgot what he was doing so he had to ask me what we ordered again. I already wanted to leave.
Our drinks finally came, and another server walking by came over and asked us if we wanted menus. "Yes, that would be nice" I replied. We had been at the restaurant about an hour at this point. The menus arrived and we finally ordered. I started to look around and wonder if this was a restaurant or some kind of Golf course clubhouse where people come in to order fries and then go back out to play some golf. My friends assured me that it is a restaurant. My sister and I decide that if the appetizers don't arrive by 8:35 we are going to leave and go to the diner across the street. Luckily at 8:35 the appetizers arrived. (By the way I called the server over about 20 minutes earlier and asked him about the appetizers and he couldn't give me an answer about anything, he looked frightened and confused even though I was extremely nice to him.)
The appetizers arrived and most of them are cold, as if they were not even cooked. Should I go on? I ordered the oysters rockefeller - HORRIBLE. My sister's shrimp appetizer was HORRIBLE, I mean really HORRIBLE. I was afraid for dinner. Finally dinner arrived around 9 P.M. I ordered the pork milanese. It was burned and dry. My husband ordered paella, it was all cold. My friend ordered filet mignon medium rare. It was well done. HORRIBLE. The rest of the entrees everyone ordered were all cold.
I started to laugh at this point. We were afraid to order dessert. So we begged for the check and got out of there as quickly as possible. The only problem was that the server forgot what we all ordered so I had to go through it with him again.
My suggestion: DON'T GO, YOU'LL REGRET IT. What a waste of good money on terrible food and service like I have never experienced before.
When you see Lana's Restaurant, RUN THE OTHER WAY, DON'T WALK, RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN. This was a restaurant from the Twilight Zone.
   [19 Jul 2007 09:09:09]

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Recommended Dishes: NONE - ALL HORRIBLE

     ­Anonymous   

The Best Food Around
We went to a 4 star restaurant today for lunch and it could not compare to our two recent lunches at Lana's. Lana's has spoiled us for most other places. Our food at the Pluckemin Inn was just average. I can do as well myself at home. Keep up the amazing cooking.    [24 Sep 2007 17:33:38]

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Recommended Dishes: Fish and Chips, Fried Banana Cheesecake, Onion Soup, Chiopino

     ­Anonymous