costa brava

we have enjoyed the dining room at cb many times, most notably for occasion brunches.  today, mother's day, brought some disappointments.  not the restaurant's fault, but clearly an institutional issue was the valet parking.  we drove in, as we have many times before, and i waited for the attendant to open my door.  i am the woman in our party of two, and my husband was the driver.  the valet rushed to the driver's door and helped my husband out while i sat there.  and sat some more.  keys and tickets were exchanged while i continued to wait for someone to open my door, which never happened.  i let myself out of the car.  not exactly a "valet" experience.  poor training is the problem.  i expect the service to be commensurate with the reputation and ambiance of the hotel.  it was not.

our server was gracious, and the buffetfoodwas delicious, as always, but the presentation was sloppy.  all stations needed refreshing/tidying at the 1:30 sitting, and the "centerpiece" on the dessert table--the only decoration in the entire room, was  a tragedy of thoughtlessness and neglect.  chain motels at interstate exits likely had something prettier than costa brava had on mother's day, 2017.  on a draped, elevated pedestal was a stubby cylinder vase with a few bunches of roses stuffed inside.  at least one bunch still had the rubber bands around the stems!  high school seniors decorating for their prom have better taste--and probably bigger budgets--than whoever plunked that hot mess on the dessert table.  the draping was cheap, shiny, lavender fabric that related neither to the sad roses nor to the room décor.

the seafood buffet featured raw oysters, paella, and crab legs, among other delicious offerings.  seafood forks were needed for the shellfish, but none were present.  i asked our sweet server for seafood forks, and she brought salad forks, instead.  i accepted the forks politely, but digging my seafood out with implements that were too large for the task diminished my enjoyment of the experience.

poor attention to detail is often the beginning of the demise of the reputation of a fine establishment.  casa monica and costa brava should take heed and make changes.

restaurant is located inside casa monica autograph collection hotel, so we visited it on the multiple occasions as we stayed at the hotel.
first, stopped by for the late bite after arrival to the hotel. all thefoodwas excellent. papas bravas has very nice seasoning on them. fried calamari were soft inside and crunchy on outside, overall very tasty with the addition of jalapeño and regular peppers. burger with truffle mascarpone was very tasty, and so was the chicken sandwich.
next time we visited the restaurant for breakfast. all thefoodwas delicious. i ordered eggs benedict, and the dish was executed perfectly – poached eggs, tasty hollandaise, very tasty. egg, bacon cheese sandwich was also very tasty and generous.
one small gripe is a regular coffee at $5 per cup – at least the coffee was good.
good service.
recommended.

christmas day buffet a severe disappointment.... they were running a buffet from noon to 9pm. it was just shy of $70/pp, plus tax & tip. we made the mistake of making reservations for 6:30 pm. we were seated promptly & the service was attentive. all thefoodwe sampled was well prepared nicely seasoned and contained very good ingredients. the problems centered on what we didn’t get to taste. when we first got to the buffet set-up, we immediately noticed was that there were more than a few empty spaces on the tables containing the buffet, which turned out to be an omen. we enjoyed a nice selection of appetizers from that section. we moved on to the carving stations for our main course. the roast beasts were properly seasoned and cooked to perfection. the problems started when we went looking for sides for those meats. for potatoes, there was a single plate of an oddly colored mixture of mashed sweet & white potatoes. that was the only potato dish available. i’m guessing that some of those empty spaces might have contained maybe some au gratin, roasted, baked or even just plain old mashed earlier in the day, but were no longer being served. if you wanted a green vegetable with your meal, there was lettuce on the salad bar. if you were hoping for some green beans, brussels sprouts, spinach, broccoli or just some lowly peas, you were s.o.l. the 4 dessert stations continued the theme. each station sported a placard that listed the 4 or 5 selections available at this station. every one was missing at least one of the listed selections, usually the one that sounded the most interesting.

it was obvious that somewhere during the day, the kitchen found itself incapable of maintaining the buffet or maybe they just stopped caring. in short, they turned this event into the culinary equivalent of getting socks & underwear for your christmas present.

still a great place downtown. went with a large group - we have been there numerous times for special occasions. this last visit did not disappoint. the service andfoodremains top notch - the entire staff supporting our group was on their games and made the evening special. looking around, there was a wide variety of dishes chosen with many clean plates at the end - a very good sign. also, great selection of wines and...they used the correct glassware! we will certainly be going again - try it and you will be a repeat customer for special events/occasions.

the best!. absolutely the greatest service and the bestfoodi have ever tasted in my life!

amazing food, needs better service!!!. 95 cordova @ casa monica, saint augustine

booked 95 cordova for my husbands birthday. i love casa monica!! it's elegant and perfect!!!

there were 6 of us for dinner; we were seated promptly at a very elegant table fit for a king! however, our server was not on point.

her delivery lacked the finesse of the place. thefoodwas superb, tasty, perfectly cooked. the drinks were awesome and the deserts were amazing!

i think that for the amount of money paid (over $300) better service was needed.

would we go back? yes!! give the place a second and last chance!!

horrible service, good food. overall, thefoodwas pretty good, but service was horrible. we arrived with a dinner reservation on december 29th and were told by maitre d to wait a few minutes. half hour later, i realized the maitre d forgot about us. he then said "our table" was ready and motioned for us to sit at a table that was already occupied. realizing his mistake, he moved the occupants of that table someplace else and sat us down. which was pretty embarrassing for all concerned. server was no better. forgot water, bread; served entrees with appetizer plates still on table. i discreetly pointed it out only to see him make the same mistake with desserts.foodwas tasty, well prepared and served hot. too bad the terrible service detracts from the overall experience.

it was very mediocre. i had the ny strip and have made much better ny strip at home for a tenth the price. our meals took forever to come out of the kitchen and the "hunter platter" appetizer had bland somewhat dry cheese and tasteless prociuto. however, my boyfriend's sea bass was delicious. overall i think the restaurant tricks their customers into thinking thefoodis superb by charging high prices and sneaking in a couple of fancy ingredients on the menu. your money will not be well spent.

came here for our 20th anniversary - initially service seemed ok- got seated right away and even got the the seat that we requested. thefoodway ok- the chicken dish that i got had way too much sun dried tomatoes that totally overpowered the dish. not to mention my poor husband who ordered the ribeye steak (the waiter forgot to ask him how he wanted it prepared) got his steak and it was very bloody- sent it back and then it was overdone!!! with prices like this we expected and deserved much more!!! when the manager came around finally to see how our meal was and we told him how we felt tried to make up things by giving us free desert. at this point too little too late. don't recommend!!!

coasting on reputation?. we made reservations for a dinner on our honeymoon at the suggestion of a friend who had gone here a few years ago. what a mistake! when i made the reservation, they asked if it was a special occasion, and i explained it was our honeymoon, so it would be nice if we could have a corner (or even quiet) table. when we arrived, at five mins to 8, we were told the 7:30 reservations had not yet arrived, so we'd have to wait in the (overcrowded) bar. we finally managed to get drinks at the bar after 20 mins or so, we'd been sitting for another 10 mins when the hostess found us to take us to our table. however, they could not carry the bar tab to our table, so we had to find someone in the bar area to pay for the drinks...
once we paid, we followed the waitress to our table, which was up against a large pillar in the main aisle leading out of the kitchen. there were a lot of tables empty, including the corner table directly behind me. by this time, i just wanted to get seated and get drinks, so i did not ask about a better table (yes, my mistake). after about 10 mins, the waiter came up, looked at the table said "oh good, you have drinks already. i see you have the menus, everything it pretty clear, i'll be back for your order in a few mins", and walked away.
still trying to put a good face on the night, we decided to order. we settled on steaks. i got the filet with horseradish mashed potatoes, and my husband ordered the strip with asiago truffle oil fries.
once thefoodarrived, which took way too long (our drinks were gone and our water had been filled twice), and the disappointment continued. i have gotten better filets at longhorn. the meat was actually tough. i had to saw at it to cut it, and it was very chewy. my husband's steak was slightly better, but the fries were literally in a big cheesy clump, which were hardly edible.
the waiter came over finally to ask if we needed any more drinks, and my husband ordered a glass of wine. after 20 mins, and by which time we'd finished eating, the waiter came back to let us know he hadn't forgotten the wine, but they were out at the waiter station, so he had to go to the bar (which he had not done)...my husband cancelled the drink order and i asked for the check.
i wouldn't recommend this restaurant. i'm not sure how they got the great ratings i've seen. the waitstaff looked like a bunch of high school kids and the majority of them spent the time we were there clustered in the corner in front of the door to the kitchen, looking around and talking to each other while the customers waited for them.

food-good / service-awful. the brunch was good. (even though the soup (tomato) was cold!) oh yeah and so was the coffee! go figure!
service was horrible! these servers really need to be re-trained! concentrate on your tables...every 1 of them. the larger the table doesn't always mean the "better" tip people!!!
word to the chef-goodfoodbut please have someone get on to the servers please...
we will be back...for thefoodbut not for cs!

great food, service not as good as meal. we had a really great dinner at 95 cordova.the new york strip steak was very good and so was the tender cut bistro steak. the creamed spinach, truffle fries and asparagus were also delicious. each dish was flavorful and a delight to eat. the apple blossom dessert was the perfect ending to a great meal. the dessert had creamy vanilla bean ice cream on top of a pastry filled with cooked sweet apples, and the entire thing was drizzled with sweet and sticky caramel. however, we did find it a bit odd that when we made the reservation we noted this was for a birthday celebration, and no one at the restaurant even mentioned it. additionally, our server acted pretty much disinterested during our entire meal. thefoodwas spot on for this caliber of restaurant but the service was not.

my wife and i ate here the night we got engaged. thefoodwas on par and the atmosphere (we ate at 9pm) was a little noisy- live music/dancing- took away from the romantic moment but saint augustine has a life of its own. it was fairly pricey but a nice place to impress a date/anniversary. definitely make reservations.

i was recently invited to check out the new summer menu at 95 cordova in st. augustine, a restaurant featuring “new world, middle eastern and asian flavors” located within the casa monica hotel. full disclosure: invited typically means free meal on this blog, in case you’re worried about any bias i may (but try not to) have. after a tour of the historic hotel (1888) turned courthouse (1962) turned hotel again (1999), we stepped into 95 cordova to start our meal. because i am wicked smaht and sometimes rush through things, i managed to delete all but one of my photos of the meal. wow. luckily mario actually photographs hisfoodmore than i do these days, so i’ll be posting a combination of his photos and some from the handy flickr album the event’s organizers put up. the first course was the kessler calamari, so named for the entrepreneur owner of the hotel group, an interesting middle eastern-inspired take on the typical fried calamari. it came topped with tomatoes, olives, asiago, cor

a little worn out, but still romantic. definitely pricey, and may not be on par with the caliber of thefoodbut this place is predictably good. i have been coming here for 13 years or so and the dining experience has certainly waxed and waned during that time. still, i love the moroccan decor, table cloths, and private dining areas. plus, the staff seem interested in doing a good job. i'll be back.