The best food I've eaten at a restaurant. With courteous staff and perfectly designed menu . This place will blow your doors down .
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Roger Lee
Omfg wild you can have such an epic tasting right in the heart of maplewood!!! Every dish was prepared creatively with perfect execution and balance. Crazy good value for a perfect tasting!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Heather Monroe
Incredible. Every bite exceeded my expectations. Perfect combination of flavors and textures. Like art for your tastebuds.
Jake Goldsborough
Definitely worth the hype. Everything was amazing.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Tom Keefe
Spectacular. Reminds me of Gerard Craft when he first opened Niche.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Rachel Massud
Excellent food and attentive service- the pan seared trout and ginger cake were highlights!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Pablo
We had a reservation but when we arrived we’ve been told that our table wasn’t ready and we waited 45 minutes to be seated, we were mad and ready to leave. In the meanwhile we had a drink in the waiting area. I understand that restaurants get full, and that’s great, but if you’re limiting the time that customers can spend in your restaurant to 90 minutes, this should give a better rotation cycle to precisely avoid situations like this. What’s the point of reservations otherwise? On the other hand, all the staff was very nice to us and they didn’t charge us for the first two drinks we had as a compensation.
Food was good, plating wasn’t the best but most flavors and textures were on point.
For starters, we had bread with an outstanding cultured butter and the snack plate with many elements but the star was an incredible sour cherry cream tart.
For first course, we had Roasted Carrots and Fish soup (a warm foam rather than a soup), both of them very tasty and well executed with rounded flavors.
For second course, we had “Hot Dish”: a truly delicious mix of shiitake and oyster mushrooms covered with mushroom cream and a final layer of puffed wild rice, and Duck and dumplings: cheese filled mini dumplings served with duck shaves and broth. The dumplings were ok, subtle flavor. The broth and duck were impressive .
For third course, we had braised short rib with horseradish: the meat was a little dry and the horseradish was overwhelming, it covered the rest of the elements, and Roast chicken with oat porridge: the chicken was perfectly executed, very tasty and juicy, assembled in layers with a nice crispy texture at the top, we didn’t like the porridge at all, it had an overwhelming and unpleasant anise flavor like if the parsnip was boosted with tons of fennel.
For dessert, we had brûlée cheesecake: mild flavor, it was ok. The cream on top had a granulated texture that felt funny in the teeth, I’m not sure if it was intentional or the cream was starting to lose stability, and ginger cake: a incredibly delicious and pleasant flavor bomb with candied pecans, the rum caramel was brilliant.
For drinks we had a Blanc de Zinfandel Carafe and a couple orange fizzy drinks, the orange juice used for them was very fresh and the texture was very pleasant.
Overall it was good. Music was very loud and it was hard to talk. I’m not sure if I would try it again.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 3
Kyle O'Leary
Great dishes from start to finish. Portions a little on the small side so we ordered some extra bread (which was fantastic).
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Meg
Excellent service, great vibes, and lovely staff. Food was incredible. Highlights were the venison tartare, roasted carrots, seared trout, chicken, and ginger cake. And the martini!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Collin Cissell
Food was wonderful, enjoyed every single dish. Well paced, very nice atmosphere.
Our experience at Robin exceeded all expectations, from beginning to end. I was cautiously optimistic, particularly after reading an interview with the chef where he spoke about the intensity of the experience after the NYT recognition. It is clear that whatever rhythm may have been interrupted, it was definitely found in spades at our visit last night.
The service was excellent and our server provided some excellent advice on the menu that ended up being spot on. I was struggling to decide between two dishes and he took into account the heaviness/lightness of my other dishes, taste preference and the two preparations. It was much appreciated and well received.
The dirty martini was the best I’ve ever had. I had two and the second was just as good as the first.
We had both snacks and I am still dreaming about the Liver Corn Cookie. The play on sweet, salty, and textures was literal perfection. Everything was amazing, but that cookie was maybe my favorite bite at a restaurant. Ever.
We ordered the carrots, soup, dumplings, trout, mushrooms and pork steak. For dessert, I had the cheese plate and my husband ordered the ginger cake. There wasn’t a single miss. The skin on the trout was incredibly crispy and just divine. The carrots were lovely, the pork steak incredibly tender and the mushrooms were beautifully seasoned.
I cannot recommend this restaurant enough and can absolutely see myself at the bar on a random Wednesday, drinking martinis and begging for more of those cookies.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Michael Talley
The wait staff was incredibly nice, and the ginger cake was delicious, however that's the end of a very short list of positives.
The food was not good. Not simply disappointing or below expectations, but bad. The grilled carrots look appetizing but biting into them surprises you with a harsh, frozen butter cold that made my mouth feel uncomfortable. The Hot Dish looked like a bowl of maggots until stirred, and the puffy rice texture ruined what was poised to be a yummy serving. The pork steak was so small I finished in 6 bites, and though not bad, not a very exciting dish. My wife had a struggle eating her White Fish Soup, which was not a soup but a bowl of foam with chunks of fish in it. Her roasted chicken was equally off putting, served into a compressed rectangular prism log like a nutrition stick one only sees in distopian sci-fi movies (and ultimately not very good). The deserts were actually a relatively pleasant finish, but then at the last minute we were served a house gooey butter cake that tasted like fish and was nearly inedible, a rough way to end the evening.
The space is small, similar to Wrights Tavern, but with less seating and zero atmosphere. The space seems more suited to a main Street coffee shop, so the presence of 2-3 wait staff, a hostess, a bar tender, and the open kitchen with full staff equates a very awkward vibe, especially in our case with only 3 tables occupied. The room is well decorated, but I'm not sure any level of interior design could rescue the energy in this place.
Overall, our expectations and excitement were high, but our experience was crushing (especially for a dinner costing around $300). We regretfully called our friends with a reservation later in the evening and begged them to cancel, ourselves driving home sick. We want this place to succeed, but unless the menu is changed we do not plan to be returning.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 3
Jonnathan J Rodriguez
Robin Restaurant on a Saturday night made it clear why reservations are hard to get. Every table was full, yet the room never felt cramped, with intentional spacing and calm pacing. Service was good: attentive, well timed, and flexible, especially with wine. The carafe format works well and makes sharing easy. The wine list is thoughtful, and the Chardonnay we had stood out for being lighter and crisper than the classic style I usually prefer, while still flavorful and balanced. The cocktail menu is small but strong. The space feels intimate without being stuffy.
The food is best described as an elevated take on Midwestern inspired cuisine, familiar dishes executed with creativity. The roasted chicken and pork steak were the clearest examples of that approach, both comforting and well done. The venison tartare was something I would gladly order again. Dessert, a ginger cake, was delicious and a true highlight. My main critique was consistency and temperature on a couple of dishes. The add on bread was served cool and felt heavy, and a carrot dish arrived fridge cold, muting flavors that otherwise showed promise. From a food standpoint, this feels like a strong four star experience today. That said, for the overall execution and for bringing something new to the local dining scene and doing it well, this is a five star restaurant. I am very interested to see how the menus evolve.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Chaz
They have a great everything here. Just not my cup of tea. But thank you so much for making my mother's birthday special.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
A
The service at this restaurant was truly superb. Every server we interacted with was warm, attentive, and professional. The chef even brought out an extra course, explained the dish personally, and was genuinely kind.
The dining room setup wasn’t ideal. The tables are very close together, and the acoustics make the room quite loud.
As for the food, it was beautifully presented but the flavors didn’t match the aesthetics. Several dishes were unexpectedly tart and sour, with seasoning that fell flat except for an overpowering saltiness. Despite the excellent service, the meal was disappointing and even left me with an upset stomach. As a foodie, I wanted to love this place, but based on this experience, I don’t anticipate returning.
The best food I've eaten at a restaurant. With courteous staff and perfectly designed menu . This place will blow your doors down .
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Omfg wild you can have such an epic tasting right in the heart of maplewood!!! Every dish was prepared creatively with perfect execution and balance. Crazy good value for a perfect tasting!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Incredible. Every bite exceeded my expectations. Perfect combination of flavors and textures. Like art for your tastebuds.
Definitely worth the hype. Everything was amazing.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Spectacular. Reminds me of Gerard Craft when he first opened
Niche.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Excellent food and attentive service- the pan seared trout and ginger cake were highlights!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
We had a reservation but when we arrived we’ve been told that our table wasn’t ready and we waited 45 minutes to be seated, we were mad and ready to leave. In the meanwhile we had a drink in the waiting area. I understand that restaurants get full, and that’s great, but if you’re limiting the time that customers can spend in your restaurant to 90 minutes, this should give a better rotation cycle to precisely avoid situations like this. What’s the point of reservations otherwise? On the other hand, all the staff was very nice to us and they didn’t charge us for the first two drinks we had as a compensation.
Food was good, plating wasn’t the best but most flavors and textures were on point.
For starters, we had bread with an outstanding cultured butter and the snack plate with many elements but the star was an incredible sour cherry cream tart.
For first course, we had Roasted Carrots and Fish soup (a warm foam rather than a soup), both of them very tasty and well executed with rounded flavors.
For second course, we had “Hot Dish”: a truly delicious mix of shiitake and oyster mushrooms covered with mushroom cream and a final layer of puffed wild rice, and Duck and dumplings: cheese filled mini dumplings served with duck shaves and broth. The dumplings were ok, subtle flavor. The broth and duck were impressive .
For third course, we had braised short rib with horseradish: the meat was a little dry and the horseradish was overwhelming, it covered the rest of the elements, and Roast chicken with oat porridge: the chicken was perfectly executed, very tasty and juicy, assembled in layers with a nice crispy texture at the top, we didn’t like the porridge at all, it had an overwhelming and unpleasant anise flavor like if the parsnip was boosted with tons of fennel.
For dessert, we had brûlée cheesecake: mild flavor, it was ok. The cream on top had a granulated texture that felt funny in the teeth, I’m not sure if it was intentional or the cream was starting to lose stability, and ginger cake: a incredibly delicious and pleasant flavor bomb with candied pecans, the rum caramel was brilliant.
For drinks we had a Blanc de Zinfandel Carafe and a couple orange fizzy drinks, the orange juice used for them was very fresh and the texture was very pleasant.
Overall it was good. Music was very loud and it was hard to talk. I’m not sure if I would try it again.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 3
Great dishes from start to finish. Portions a little on the small side so we ordered some extra bread (which was fantastic).
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Excellent service, great vibes, and lovely staff. Food was incredible. Highlights were the venison tartare, roasted carrots, seared trout, chicken, and ginger cake. And the martini!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Food was wonderful, enjoyed every single dish. Well paced, very nice atmosphere.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
Our experience at Robin exceeded all expectations, from beginning to end. I was cautiously optimistic, particularly after reading an interview with the chef where he spoke about the intensity of the experience after the NYT recognition. It is clear that whatever rhythm may have been interrupted, it was definitely found in spades at our visit last night.
The service was excellent and our server provided some excellent advice on the menu that ended up being spot on. I was struggling to decide between two dishes and he took into account the heaviness/lightness of my other dishes, taste preference and the two preparations. It was much appreciated and well received.
The dirty martini was the best I’ve ever had. I had two and the second was just as good as the first.
We had both snacks and I am still dreaming about the Liver Corn Cookie. The play on sweet, salty, and textures was literal perfection. Everything was amazing, but that cookie was maybe my favorite bite at a restaurant. Ever.
We ordered the carrots, soup, dumplings, trout, mushrooms and pork steak. For dessert, I had the cheese plate and my husband ordered the ginger cake. There wasn’t a single miss. The skin on the trout was incredibly crispy and just divine. The carrots were lovely, the pork steak incredibly tender and the mushrooms were beautifully seasoned.
I cannot recommend this restaurant enough and can absolutely see myself at the bar on a random Wednesday, drinking martinis and begging for more of those cookies.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
The wait staff was incredibly nice, and the ginger cake was delicious, however that's the end of a very short list of positives.
The food was not good. Not simply disappointing or below expectations, but bad. The grilled carrots look appetizing but biting into them surprises you with a harsh, frozen butter cold that made my mouth feel uncomfortable. The Hot Dish looked like a bowl of maggots until stirred, and the puffy rice texture ruined what was poised to be a yummy serving. The pork steak was so small I finished in 6 bites, and though not bad, not a very exciting dish. My wife had a struggle eating her White Fish Soup, which was not a soup but a bowl of foam with chunks of fish in it. Her roasted chicken was equally off putting, served into a compressed rectangular prism log like a nutrition stick one only sees in distopian sci-fi movies (and ultimately not very good). The deserts were actually a relatively pleasant finish, but then at the last minute we were served a house gooey butter cake that tasted like fish and was nearly inedible, a rough way to end the evening.
The space is small, similar to Wrights Tavern, but with less seating and zero atmosphere. The space seems more suited to a main Street coffee shop, so the presence of 2-3 wait staff, a hostess, a bar tender, and the open kitchen with full staff equates a very awkward vibe, especially in our case with only 3 tables occupied. The room is well decorated, but I'm not sure any level of interior design could rescue the energy in this place.
Overall, our expectations and excitement were high, but our experience was crushing (especially for a dinner costing around $300). We regretfully called our friends with a reservation later in the evening and begged them to cancel, ourselves driving home sick. We want this place to succeed, but unless the menu is changed we do not plan to be returning.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 3
Robin Restaurant on a Saturday night made it clear why reservations are hard to get. Every table was full, yet the room never felt cramped, with intentional spacing and calm pacing. Service was good: attentive, well timed, and flexible, especially with wine. The carafe format works well and makes sharing easy. The wine list is thoughtful, and the Chardonnay we had stood out for being lighter and crisper than the classic style I usually prefer, while still flavorful and balanced. The cocktail menu is small but strong. The space feels intimate without being stuffy.
The food is best described as an elevated take on Midwestern inspired cuisine, familiar dishes executed with creativity. The roasted chicken and pork steak were the clearest examples of that approach, both comforting and well done. The venison tartare was something I would gladly order again. Dessert, a ginger cake, was delicious and a true highlight. My main critique was consistency and temperature on a couple of dishes. The add on bread was served cool and felt heavy, and a carrot dish arrived fridge cold, muting flavors that otherwise showed promise. From a food standpoint, this feels like a strong four star experience today. That said, for the overall execution and for bringing something new to the local dining scene and doing it well, this is a five star restaurant. I am very interested to see how the menus evolve.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
They have a great everything here. Just not my cup of tea. But thank you so much for making my mother's birthday special.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
The service at this restaurant was truly superb. Every server we interacted with was warm, attentive, and professional. The chef even brought out an extra course, explained the dish personally, and was genuinely kind.
The dining room setup wasn’t ideal. The tables are very close together, and the acoustics make the room quite loud.
As for the food, it was beautifully presented but the flavors didn’t match the aesthetics. Several dishes were unexpectedly tart and sour, with seasoning that fell flat except for an overpowering saltiness. Despite the excellent service, the meal was disappointing and even left me with an upset stomach. As a foodie, I wanted to love this place, but based on this experience, I don’t anticipate returning.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 5
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