The sign on the outside of Seny says that they’re closed for the time being for “reinvention”. Apparently, they want things to be higher-end? Are tapas and molecular gastronomy (both pretty widespread concepts outside of Cincinnati) just a little too avant garde for this town? Is it a bad location? Who knows. I’ll be interested in what ends up in that space, though I’m sad that Seny (and their patatas bravas) are no more. To be clear (as I don’t think it was originally): Seny is supposed to re-open, but not as we know it now. If I find out more information, I’ll be sure to share!
ETA: Polly reports that it’s closed, period. Too sad.
Mokka has moved from the Syndicate… right next door to the old Cityside location! They’ve got the former burger guy from Zola’s (whose burgers are pretty yummy) behind the grill. Though their breakfast was disappointing, I’ll definitely try their burgers. They’ve gotten great reviews from a couple of friends who’ve gone.
The Iron Horse Inn had a lackluster review by Polly Campbell, which looks like it caused quite a furor. A few of my foodie friends discussed the review at the High End Party, as almost all of us had eaten there in both the previous incarnation and as the new restaurant and had an excellent meal (in fact, I had the same entree and dessert that Polly talked about in her review). Negative reviews will always get the most reaction (Balboa’s, anyone?) but her experience was very different than mine. It just goes to show you that every restaurant can have an off night.
Someone else (Hi, Tracy!) at the party had an interesting opinion about food bloggers vs. restaurant critics, and how most consumers are more interested in other consumers’ opinions, not a restaurant reviewer who might not be looking for the same thing a consumer is looking for. She said that she trusts her friends for their opinions on restaurants, so she’d be more inclined to listen to someone who seems more like a friend– like a food blogger or reader ratings on a website. I swear I just read an article on the same topic but I can’t remember where (perhaps someone can enlighten me?) What do you guys think? Do you trust Yelp, Urbanspoon and/or food bloggers over a restaurant critic?
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{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
That is a shame about Seny. I just got some gift certs there, and was planning on going there with friends. seems like every place I want to go closes… Seny, Pacific moon…
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Word is Seny is going to be higher end, more expensive but really good so my fingers are crossed! Some friends of mine just ate at Iron Horse and said the food was good but there were a few service problems.
An added note I had previously commented on one of your posts that I thought the service at TTC was bad. Well, we went in there tonight with our 1 1/2 year old daughter and the service was great, in fact the servers were talking to our daughter and seemed in no way put out that we had a child with us. The burgers were great as always.
Aww I was going to hit up Seny for my Birthday in January. It doesn’t sound promising that they’ll be back then then.
However that’s good news on the Mokka front! Never really cared for Cityside but *love* Zola!
Win some and loose some I guess…
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I usually consult yelp and nymag.com. I have a lot of faith in New York magazine’s restaurant reviews; they’ve never led me astray. Yelp has steered me wrong on several occasions, but it’s a lot of fun.
I generally don’t give credence to my friend’s opinions on restaurants, but this has a lot to do with who my friends are (an uneasy mix of broke students who practically live at Burger King, raw vegans and immigrants who only eat their ethnic cuisine).
that’s interesting re: seny. i had one mediocre and one horrible experience there (b/c of the service… the server was straight up rude the entire night), so i’m not surprised. i did like certain of their items, esp the garlic shrimp, but i thought it was very overpriced and also not really authentic to the true spanish tapas experience.
re: blogs vs. critics, i personally prefer blogs b/c i feel like other bloggers are getting the same experience i would get (in terms of service), and also i feel like i know many bloggers’ tastes from their blogs and know who i want to go to for what info. critics can be hit or miss in terms of their tastes.
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Evan– I wonder if they’ll work with the new concept? I have a few gift certificates for Seny as well.
Jaime– Thanks for further clarification! I’d head the same. I’m also glad to hear that you had good service at TTC!
Amy– don’t fret too much. It might open after the first of the year– we’ll see.
Alex(andra)– I’m lucky in that most of my friends are foodies like I am.
Liz– There were definite service problems (as noted by many in the original review) and it’s no, say, Jaleo (yumm…) but my experiences were that it was a nice addition to the Cincinnati restaurant community. We’ll see what they come up with next. I’m hoping they get rid of the soccer jerseys.
And you know I agree on the blogs thing, though I love reading critics like Reichl, who are such wonderful wordsmiths as well as experienced eaters.
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I would not pay too much attention to restaurant reviews. It reminds me of when I first moved to NYC and was looking to take a friend to dinner. The restaurant reviewer was talking about how boring the food was at a restaurant, nothing original at all, and he was talking about Beef Wellington which is something I had never tasted in my life. What they find boring and their whole frame of reference is so far out of the picture to what I am interested in that there is really little reason to go on.
What I am looking for in a restaurant is trying the food I have only read about and would never make at home. What the critics are looking for is beyond me, certainly not the same experience I am looking for. All too often they are into it for the gotcha POV.
I can’t believe that both the owner and the chef responded in the comment section of the online review. Their responses turned me off way more than the actual review. Bad reviews can be hard to take but online foot stomping and “how dare you, we work so hard” type of replies indicate to either a lack of experience and/or professionalism. Which might account for the mixed dining experiences at the Iron Horse Inn.
Polly Campbell keeps a blog and has an entry about the controversy. It’s easiest to access from cinweekly.com. I’d link directly but the Enquirer online universe is one of the least user friendly sites ever.
Sooooo sad about Seny. I’ve had spotty service experiences but the food always rocks. Oh patatas bravas, how I’ll miss thee.
This may sound silly, but I’ve always thought it was a bad idea to have a name for a restaurant that most people can’t pronounce correctly. I’m still not sure how Seny was pronounced, but I know it’s not like sane-ee, which is what you would think just by looking at it. If people can’t pronounce it they can’t really talk about it much.
Remember the old LaCaDie or whatever it was in Hyde Park? I’m still convinced it was doomed by the unusual name.
I went to Simones a number of times before it closed, and thought it was terrific. Great atmosphere, one of the few restaurants in Cincy with a mixed crowd, good jazz music. Seny never seemed to me to have the same buzz about it.
I need to rely on friends and bloggers who share my tastes, you know what I’m talking about with my food tastes, I can almost tell if I’ll like a place by how much it gets bashed by reviewers. For instance, I love Nada but think Izzy’s is disgusting, the one time I went to Izzy’s I took two bites of my burger, pushed it away and never finished it.
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Bob, you LOVE Lavomatic. I love Lavomatic. What gives there?
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Our eating worlds do intersect here and there.
I know your tastes so I can make judgments from there.
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I lived in Spain for a while, and what they were serving at Seny were simply not Spanish tapas. Fancy small bites of food, yes, but not Spanish tapas.
Add to that the fact that the chef had a pretty bad reputation for trash talking other very well known (and kind) chefs in the city, the restaurant had bad service and the food was sometimes good, sometimes not…I’m not really surprised it closed.
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