Eli, just because I told my experience at the restaurant I hope you don’t think I am invalidating yours. As I said originally, reading your review was quite surprising…given what you had posted here on HO previously.
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I understand @tomt. I am glad that you and several others have had a positive experience at Semolina, and hope that everyone does so in the future. The chefs are very creative and artistic, and the food is fantastic. I wish them nothing but the best. I will stick to restaurants where I am made more welcome, and are more appreciative of my business. There are plenty up North Jersey where I live (with the exception being Drew’s 
).
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Funny but with Drew’s which I do enjoy, I have had several service “issues” in the past and have discussed them here. It really frustrates me that he doesn’t have someone on the floor as a manager etc. I think he does himself a great disservice by not having a watchful eye over the dining room. I’ve never been frustrated to the level you were here (but then again I’ve been personally involved in the industry my entire life so I cut places a lot of slack since I have walked in their shoes) but service can be hit or miss during a weekend meal. The waitresses are mostly on their own and when busy their abilities can be spread thin.
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oh no. Eli, we still welcome you down here in central NJ, south of Drews even. (Mrs P too)
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Thanks Mr. Met I would love to meet more of you friendly Central Jersey folks at another HOdown in the future.
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You think just because maybe it is one of the best new restaurants around? There’s very few great new restaurants and Semolina is certainly one of them!
Eli, I have crossed a “bridge too far” and thoroughly enjoyed the people I met in the Garden State…and will definitely do it again!
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Yes @PHREDDY. I have met several of the Central Jersey crew and they are a wonderful bunch of people. I only wish I lived a little closer to them.
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METOO… Just enjoying some people I had diner with!!!
(because it is in caps, has nothing to do with any “movement”…)
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We had dinner here on Saturday and I’m still thinking about the pasta. It was crazy yummy.
Started with tuna/watermelon with a very herbaceous juice. Bright and fresh. Very summery.
I had the agnolotti which was stuffed with corn and ricotta in a light corn broth topped with pistachios. Absolutely the stand out of the night. Husband had linguine with clams and spicy peppers. I feel like there was sausage too. He enjoyed it.
We got dessert which was the only ‘miss’. I mean, we still ate the whole thing ha but it did leave us a little confused. It was a peach tart with a sabayon which was neither warm or cool. I wish the peaches were more of a star.
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Looks like semolina is expanding: https://www.redbankgreen.com/2019/09/red-bank-florist-phones-pizza-churn/
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Nice! Tried to get in last minute last night and was shut out! (Not surprisingly)
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Went here last week. Our server was very nice 
Got a little busy but the busboys kept the water filled. Table for 2 was small but I didn’t feel in the way. I thought the sound level was fine, even when the room filled up. I could hear background noise from the other tables but we were able to converse easily. I prefer some noise to a room so quiet than people can listen to what you are saying.
One of us had the pork chop and it was excellent. My scallops were good but there was too much red pepper in the side dish (ironic because I had been reading a red pepper thread and I agree it’s ok in some dishes but not all). Not sure if this is obvious but they will let you order a half portion of pasta for an app. I thought they were app portions but I should have known by the price.
Overall a very pleasant evening.
(ps I had started off booking Aarzu but then I saw this: Your table will be reserved for 45 minutes for parties of up to 2; 1 hour 15 minutes for parties of up to 6; and 1 hour 45 minutes for parties of 7+.
I wasn’t going to risk getting thrown out after 45 minutes; Aarzu is not really inexpensive and I didn’t want to feel rushed.)
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45 minutes???
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After seeing your post I found it curious as well, if you go to Open Table and try to reserve that exact verbiage comes up. I find that very odd…45 mins for a table of two? Good for them if they have that brisk of a business, but that would be a huge turn off for me too.
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I’m hard pressed to get out of a diner for breakfast in 45 minutes
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Unless things have changed drastically in the past few months, I would guess that time limit is either an error or never enforced. The place is never packed and I’ve definitely eaten past that time limit.
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Just had another fabulous meal at Semolina. Karen, our waitress, was as professional and accommodating as ever. A sheer delight. We are leisurely, and did not feel rushed. The food was spot on. We shared the linguini with seafood and the two entrees were halibut and the pork chop! Dessert was a chocolate torte. We will return.
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Another great meal at Semolina last night. I loved the mushroomy-ness of my pasta. There were so many mushrooms, one of our party declared it was too shroomy! The other pasta we shared was cavatelli with broccoli and it was redolent with fresh garlic and just the right bit of hot pepper.
The pork chop was excellent as usual. Other mains were the scallops and the tuna and there were lots of yummy noises all around. Afterwards, I finally got to try their chocolate dessert and I loved it.
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