Reviews for Monastery Restaurant in Norfolk, VA
INCREDIBLE! Y?all? this restaurant earns cool atmosphere points, amazing staff, delicious food & wine. I ordered 1/2 dozen of... the snails for the table? we all enjoyed it!!! Delicious. Roasted duck + sauerkraut was perfect. The bread served alongside itwas great for scooping up saucy leftovers off the plate. The Pinot noir paired with it was so good. Dessert was the dumplings +blackberry topped with cottage cheese and powdered sugar? it was incredible. The bread basket with two cheeses and an apple wasa fun teaser too. Our server? the chefs/owners? they give 100% effort, and I am impressed/grateful of the pride they take in theentire dining experience. I asked the chef for a selfie for my birthday? she surprised our table with strawberry champagne withthe servers. I could?ve cried. This place was more like a 6-star. I?ll be bragging about this with all my folks for years tocome. Read more
We decided to give the Monastery a try, based on reviews and my European heritage. Arrived around 6pm and there was no wait to... be seated. Service was incredibly slow and our server was clearly not trained for his position. Food was just ok. Portions areon the smaller side. We ordered the veil cordon bleu and the Serbian goulash. For dessert we opted to try the Flambé Crêpes(even though they didn?t want to light them on fire) and the Black Forest cake (very little flavor). Definitely not a place Iwould recommend to others based on our experience. Read more
So delicious. Definitely worth a try. Lovely atmosphere and the waitresses are so friendly. Step outside your comfort zone and... give it a try. You won?t be disappointed. I had the salmon and I?m not sure what husband had but it came in it?s own pot lol. Read more
One of the best restaurants I've ever been to. It's not only about the quality and uniqueness of the food but also the service,... ambience of the place, friendly yet professional manner and getting to know a different culture through the food and people whomake it. What a great pleasure! Let me start with this; when you're provided with warm bread and cheese (and apple) at arestaurant while waiting for your entrée, you know that there is only very small risk for things to go wrong at that place. Ihad the escargot and roasted duck served with the creamed sauerkraut and dumplings. I simply loved the escargot, it was seasonedvery well. The duck was cooked to perfection; tender inside and crispy skin outside. The sauerkraut was the best I've ever hadand I literally swiped it all from the plate with the dumplings. Husband had the green lentil soup and Serbian goulash servedwith dumplings and both were quite delicious and exquisite. It was really sweet when one of the owners and chef came to ourtable and insisted to bring more dumplings to my husband so he can finish the sauce of the goulash. I'd also recommend theHungarian wine Egri Bikaver if you've never had. It paired very well with the food we had. Very good wine selections butthere're only a few they serve by glass mostly by bottle. There were also about 4-5 Czech and German beers. They have greatdessert options as well, we had the raspberry stuffed dumplings topped with cheese (probably cottage cheese) and powder sugar,sooo good and not too sweet! The complementary dine in experience is on the luxurious side but totally worth it. The portionsare more than enough! Would definitely recommend and will be back! Read more
Definitely a go-to if you want a unique dining experience and cuisine (central/northern European) that you don't get everyday.... The co-owner seems to be very present in her restaraunt and personally came to check on her table. She takes great pride in herbusiness, and that comes out in the food. Our main courses (filet and schnitzel) were solid. The schnitzel would have benefitedfrom a crisper breading and a bit more flavor. The true highlights came from the cheese and bread appetizer and the dumplingdessert. Service was great, and the ambience feels higher class than most other fine dining joints in the area (yet always felthomey). Read more
Unique and delicious food with a pleasant environment. From the staff to the chef owners, you are treated like friends and... family. Great lentil soup, roast duck with cream sauerkraut and dumplings, stuffed cabbage, and best cup of regular brewedcoffee I have ever had! Read more
Fabulous high-class dining experience here. The service was phenomenal, the atmosphere gorgeous yet cozy. I had a half-plate of... the Escargot (tastes similar to mussels, if you've never had them before), the Tomato & Feta Salad (a cold, simple dish, butincredibly well seasoned), the Apricot Pala?inki (crepes filled with apricot jam), and the Blackberry Pierogi (soft dumplingstuffed with sweet blackberries and topped with tangy cottage cheese and sugar; absolutely excellent) - companion had the SteakTartare and Apple Strudel. We were provided complimentary bread with soft and hard cheeses - as well as an apple - to pair itwith. All of it was absolutely delicious, and obviously made of quality ingredients (demanding it, even - can't imagine how asteak tartare is made with low quality meat). According to our server, the owners themselves were cooking our food, which isjust amazing - from what I saw, they actually came out to speak with a table celebrating a birthday, and seemed incredibly kind.Food took around <10-15 minutes to hit our table after ordering. Beer and cocktail menu is limited - they only had about fourbeers (all imported, I believe) and a nonexistent cocktail menu (server explained she could make most classic cocktails) - buttheir wine list is extensive. As noted above, the interior is gorgeous (brickwork, stucco, rich textures, old mirrors,paintings, faux flowers, chandeliers, candles), but it's also very dim, so bring your glasses if you've got issues reading inlimited lighting! Only hiccup for my friend and I was the entry point - the door you walk in leads straight into the diningroom, and if staff isn't there to greet you, you're left wondering if you walked into the right point and if you're supposed tojust seat yourself; I imagine they have a staff member managing all this on days they're actually busy, though - we came on aslow, low staff day that was apparently oddly high volume. All in all, this was a luxurious dining experience w Read more
I've been going to the Monastery restaurant for years now. I had not been in some time and we had dinner there again last... night. It was just as good as I remember. I'm just so happy to see this restaurant survive through the shutdown. It's one ofthose places where you can tell they put a lot of love into what they do. The food is amazing, the service is even better, theambiance, etc. Just everything about the monastery makes it a must try for anyone in the area. And don't shy away fromsomething on their menu just because you haven't tried it before or it sounds odd. For instance, one of my favorite dishes issteak with pickles and onions. And they have some of the best escargot in the area. The owners are Czechoslovakian so the foodoptions are European. My dad grew up in a small town in Italy, so for me, it's similar to the style of foods I grew upeating. So highly recommend you check this place out. I recommend any steak dishes since they really cook it well, but anythingyou get is probably going to be delicious. Read more