Castello At Blue Bell

I was there on a Friday night and while the food was good, much of the rest could have been improved. For the best part the food was good well prepared and none of my party had complaints. Heck I 'm not a fan of sundried tomatoes but they were on the veal dish I had and the sauce there let me enjoy them as well so that 's saying something. There was a nice selection of desserts, and they had a light subtle flavor that made a nice end to the evening. The site is currently very popular and on a main drag so make a reservation. There 's almost no room to wait for a table in the cramped entry area so be prepared . The service was distracted. probably over worked but the effect is people suffer for it. AT one point as we were trying to get out attention, he looked around the area at different tables you 're ok, you 're ok, you 're ok and left. Uh we weren 't ok, and you weren 't paying attention. Later there was a delay as one of out party 's food didn 't come out with the rest leading to an awkward situation of do we eat or not. There 's a full bar but use with caution. I had a martini that was neither cold nor strong. I was tempted to recite Flaming 's lecture on hotel bars that should recognize the difference between the serious drinker and people just looking to be seen. Unfortunately, the worst and most notable part of the evening was the noise. The place has the rustic barn look but this means crowded tables and little in the way of soft services to absorb noise. This is not a sports bar, it 's a restaurant to have a pleasant dinner in but with the noise level your will either have to shout to be heard by your partner or remember to bring semaphore flags. I waited a couple of weeks to write this because I didn 't want to go with a snap decision but weeks later the thing that I remember most and my party remembers when I check with them, were good food, weak drinks and first and foremost the noise. Or as Theodore Geisel wrote the noise, noise, noise, noise. which overwhelmed all other sensory input during the night.

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Ristorante Castello on Skippack Pike in Blue Bell, is a beautifully imagined high ceiling exposed beam house with live entertainment, nice bar, good service, focusing on Italian cuisine. We were there for an office dinner celebrating a good year with great people, including our plus-1s. The first hour was appetizers and drinks. Bruschetta and Calamari Fritti graced our tables as we interacted and got comfortable. The apps were good and an auspicious beginning. The second hour was a sit down dinner from a limited menu selected in advance. Service was timely and unobtrusive. Drinks refilled quickly. My Padron Margarita on the Rocks, no salt, hit the right tone throughout the evening. I chose the Chicken Marsala and Caesar Salad. My table mates went with the Eggplant Parmigiana. I was a little disappointed with dinner. Maybe because we were a lot of people, but the meal felt more like mass produced banquet fare, rather than individually panned and plated high quality cheffing. My chicken was over cooked and dry. The mushrooms were small portobellos(? with strong flavor and some toughness. The Marsala wine reduction poured over everything was thicker than it should have been like it had simmered down too long. My neighbors weren 't enthused with their eggplant either. I inquired, and was told that although thin sliced, some of it was tough, and not edible. Apparently, although baked, it was not lightly breaded, nor panned in olive oil for more softness and enhanced taste. There was no breading either, although that was not unusual. They just didn 't eat much of it. On the upside, that left more room for dessert, which in this case were small cannoli and double expressos (without lemon peel . No complaints there. No need to hurry back, although apres-work cocktails would be nice.

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I had the experience of frequenting this restaurant for the first time for a birthday dinner I gave for a special friend of mine. All in all, the restaurant is nice but super packed on Saturday nights. The only downside to my experience was my reservation time got pushed back by 15 minutes. But, the hostess apologized once we sat down at our table. It felt even more personable too since she actually came to the table to offer the apology for the wait. Another thing to point out too was while me and my party were waiting for our table we sat at the bar for a cocktail. And, our bartender Brittany was very friendly and was nice enough to give us our cocktails on the house since our reservation time was delayed. So, we were very appreciative of that gesture. Regarding the dinner itself the food was excellent. I had the salmon and vegetables (see photo) and the dish was divine to say the least! Our waitress Brooke was very nice and attentive to our needs especially since it was our first time dining there at the establishment. So kudos to both Brittany and Brooke for turning around a rough first start to the evening...! We will definitely go back again to this restaurant!

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We made plans a month ago to meet friends here. We requested a reservation for a round table that seats 8 in the main dining room. We were told we had the table and come at 6:45. At 6:45 we were put in the bar at a long table for 6 where they squeezed in 2 more chairs to make 8.It was quite noisy plus we had live music to contend with. We asked to see the manager and I tried to explain that I made the reservation on April 28th and called back 2 weeks later to insure we still had the table. She was rude, she didn't care and had a nasty attitude. She said she had just seated the table 20 min ago so they were not going to be done anytime soon. Why make a reservation when they don't care to accommodate them? Frankly, there was a line out the door and she was happy to see us leave. We live around the corner, eat here often and will NEVER EVER come again.

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Amazing place. Forgive my spelling because I don't have a menu in front of me. My daughter and I enjoyed an appetizer of Carpaccio di Manzo. She had a seafood ravioli that she raved about while I was loving the gnocchi with Gorgonzola sauce. Our server Victoria was excellent and I would recommend her highly. What a beautiful place! You should come eat here.

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