Octagon

So we stayed at the hotel for a special occasion and the pics of the wine cellar sold me that’s our dinner spot.
They didn’t have the red I wanted was offered a similar one and it was poured for us both. I would have sent it back it was not very palatable but hubby said it would be better if we let it breathe so we did. He ended up having to drink most of it as I know what I like off the bat and this was not it. Asked for a decanter multiple times but did not get one.
It was the night of the crazy snow storm and they were short staffed. Our waiter didn’t know much but aimed to please.
He forgot to bring out bread and which I later asked for since I saw it came with olive tepanade and I really kind just wanted that. Got it as we were waiting for the steaks.
Had the oysters they were good I liked the marinade they had for it too
Asked for a special white to go with the oysters which came after because they could not locate the bottle but It was worth the search and turned out great.
Had the surf and turf soup… it had corn in it… was not a fan … my suggestion is skip it
Also crab cake which was real crab not filler. Tasted a bit too fishy to me but he loved it.
For the steaks we asked suggestions on the rubs and sauces and he investigated diligently.
I had the kobe got a coffee cumin rub and asked that it be more coffee than cumin. Requested as a medium cut. The steak was beautiful and delicious right color perfectly medium. Only problem is it sat a bit long so it was barely warm when it got to me and became chewy by the time I was half way done
Hubby had the biggest thing on the menu it was great in size and chocolate sauce on the side which he didn’t love but I did. The steak was over seasoned in my opinion but he was ok with that. The temperature however was all wrong. He said to the waiter medium and if it’s more rare that’s ok so long as it’s a not cooked past medium. Well it came out nearly well done it was only medium right at the bone.
For sides we had asparagus it was enormous and not tasty.
Had the portabella fries aka portabella mushrooms cut and deep fried in tempura batter — I liked it hubby did not
Lobster mac and cheese was on point
Seriously disappointed for such a highly rated place. I see the potential and understand it was an off night with the weather not to mention they were short staffed nevertheless the 2 year anniversary dinner was a miss sadly.
And since hubby was still struggling with the red wine we decided to skip dessert. Most places knowing it’s an occasion still send something over we got the bill dropped on our table and that was that.

I’ve been here a few times while on business trips and staying at the Marriott. Great food, interesting variety for both food and drinks, nice wine list, and super staff. I’ve tried many different items on the menu and eaten there both alone and with coworkers. Everything we’ve tried has been great, but highlights were the scallops with mushroom risotto (incredible), vegan ravioli (seriously delicious!) and the crab cake. I travel back for work often and always pick the Marriott because it’s the nicest hotel in the area and the restaurant/​bar have great food.

We stayed at the hotel for a few nights just to get away. We decided to try out the restaurant for dinner and it was very good. We entered the restaurant not knowing if they would be able to accommodate a severe gluten allergy and they were MORE than accommodating. The waitress very clearly pointed out which of the menu items were GF and brought out GF bread. The food was well done and the atmosphere was great. It’s a AAA 4 diamond establishment but truthfully it didn’t have that «stuffy» feel to it. I recommend checking it out.

I hardly ever eat in hotel restaurants however we were hungry and didn’t feel like going out so… I was pleasantly surprised to eat here…
I had the seafood soup along with a salad wedge and let me say the soup would have been plenty to satisfy my appetite. The portions were big for the $ 8 that I paid for each dish and full of flavor. Topped off with ice water and I was satisfied.
One of the guys in my party had a crab cake and it looked great. He is very discerning when it comes to food and he never complained so I assume the crab cake was good.
The prices were ok (for a hotel restaurant) however, I noticed a huge difference between appetizer and main courses… And nothing in between…

We enjoyed our dinner! Esp because we had such a great waitress! Caitlin was so warm and friendly! And she made it very comfortable while we were dining with our little one! We had a great time because of her! Thank you Caitlin for a great experience here!

Oh boy, we had a great breakfast. Quiet, awfully pleasant, and tasty. The Corned-​beef hash is outstanding. The All-​American Breakfast, you can’t go wrong.

Staff was indifferent, they brought the wrong wine. Food took 45 minutes in a mostly empty restaurant. Food was ok — would have preferred a fast food chain.

Overall food was good but service was very waiter (actually waitress) dependent.
We had two lunches, 2 breakfasts, and a dinner here. Each time our party size was 8 – 10 people.
Dinner took over two hours with no drink request being taken until after the food arrived, even though we asked three times. Waitress was nowhere to be found even when hostess was called twice about the long delays and need for drink order and water refills. The food was served lukewarm but overall good quality.
Lunches and breakfast were all served by the same woman, Cat. The service was incredible and food came out hot and all presented at the same time. It is solely for her outstanding service that an extra star was added to the review.
Don’t bother with the lobster bisque; it will disappoint. Burgers were just okay and steaks a few notches above average but certainly not worthy of being ranked «the best».
For hotel food, it is way above par but expect slow service even with the restaurant only 40% full.

I didn’t have a steak but a burger. Anticipating a magnificent Marriott burger, the fat juicy medium rare burger I ALWAYS get be it at a Marriott in Florida on the beach or a hotel in NYC bar with all the amazing accouterments including fat tomatoes, crisp green sound snapping lettuce and a slice of watery eye onion was expected but I got an overcooked, flat well done burger that looked like someone cut it open to see if they ruined it. Damn… I hate sending anything back cause you should have got it right the first time, you’re after all the freaking chef and not me… but. you fell way short.
Bartender was great, talkative and very on point with her service. I liked her banter. The crab cake was delicious and worthy of the eat and calories. I’d return for the bartender and her spot on comments and ability to manage the entire bar solo.

My steak was over priced and over cooked. Med-​well should be juicy, brown with a pink middle.

I’ve been wanting to try this place out ever since I sampled some of theit food at taste of Mystic. Had the lobster bisque to start which was absolutley amazing, probably the best I have ever had. Then I got the t-​bone steak for the main course. The t-​bone was cooked and seasoned well, not the best I’ve ever had, but not dissapointing either. On the side were some sort of potato balls in bleu cheeese sauce. I did not care for them, but I’m not a big bleu cheese fan also. For dessert I finished up with the red velvet cake, very dissapinting for this level of restraunt, tasted like average grocery store cake mix. Also the frosting was not the traditional cream cheese frosting. Major plus on the bisque, t-​bone wss above average, and red velvet cake was terrible. Service was good.

A great steakhouse in town, even if it’s in a hotel. I’ve been there several times over the years & have never been disappointed. The staff & service are gracious and help make a nice meal a little nicer. We ordered some different things last time we went– we didn’t love the mac & cheese (they used to have an AMAZING truffle mac & cheese– which they’d put that back on the menu!) but the potatoes gratin were creamy & perfectly cooked. We also ordered the aranchini this time– not what I’m used to in an aranchini (usually made with risotto, no?), but it was a delightful ball of fried cheese– hard to argue with that!
Definitely not a great place for young kids, but older kids would be perfectly happy with the menu options.

Have eaten here several times over the years when we are staying here for a firm retreat or other business. It’s been consistently very good for large groups.
On my last visit, they had just a delicious swordfish with quinoa that was so big that I almost couldn’t finish it. The fish was hearty without being too fishy and the quinoa had a great texture too.
But the vegetable ravioli was outstanding. Could’ve had more than just an appetizer size portion of it. Everyone who I was eating with agreed.
Service was prompt and efficient and they kept the water glasses and wine filled.

Yes they are pricey. This is a really good steakhouse. When you dine in a really nice place, the service is excellent and the atmosphere is just right. The Octagon did not disappoint. I had the kobe beef with lobster mac and cheese and this was excellent. We were welcomed by the general manager and he was very accommodating to our requests.
Try the dragon chowder. This has won awards and you will plainly see why if you have it.

Stayed at the Marriott for a wedding on a Saturday night and a group of us decided to grab breakfast together Sunday morning with the happy newlyweds. What a disappointment breakfast was! I’ll break it down:
Atmosphere: It was fine and we were able to all together in a line of tables in groups of four towards the back of the restaurant. Restaurant seemed nice and well kept.
Service: Extremely slow and poor to be honest. It wasn’t too busy so confused to the reason why. Our waitress seemed utterly clueless and taking orders seemed like a difficult task. When the beverages came out she had to ask who got what and said «speak up!» because she didn’t have the slightest idea of who had ordered what. Had to ask for refills after sitting with empty cups for quite some time. She forgot one of the meals when she delivered the food. When it came time for the checks… WOW! She dropped off one check and would have to come back and then cash it out before she would even drop the next group of 4 check. Why on earth wouldn’t she just drop all checks at once? She didn’t seem to have any genuine care or concern for us.
Food: The food was good. My omelet was a little bland and lacked an overall wow factor. Wasn’t the best, but wasn’t the worst.
Price: I understand it’s a swanky hotel so the prices might be higher than your average breakfast fare. I felt the meals were overpriced. $ 47 before tip for 3 people to have a basic breakfast? Seems a bit ridiculous.
I can’t speak for lunch or dinner, but breakfast was a waste of time and money

A restaurant in a Marriot worth coming back to eat at again? Yes… a great restaurant has sizzle and a great steak. The seafood was top notch as well. Although the Mystic Marriot may be in Groton and a long trek from the draw bridge and other sights in Mystic the Octogon was a well worth the trip if a bit pricey. Appetizers, including the great crab cake and dragon chowder were excellent and the deserts were standard fare but completed the bill.

Amazing. Had the dragon chowder (lobster, alligator, and skate in a seafood chowder) and the lightly seared swordfish with black quinoa. Finished it up with the NY Cheesecake. It was all better than perfect. I will definitely be back. And will be letting my buddies know where to go for a great meal.

AWESOME! Spent the weekend at the hotel w/​spa & restaurant package. Our server Katy made our experience from good to great! she was very attentive, friendly and offered good suggestions. she even gave us the story behind the «best chowder» claim (the winning chowder really was excellent). We had quite a few items — all of them were cooked to our liking (medium rare beef kabobs and medium rare lamb chops). The farm-​to-​table seafood as well as the oysters & clams were very fresh. Even our post dinner coffee was freshly made and it was very tasty.
I would have given this place a 5 star if not for the check in experience. The host was very nice and walked us to a table RIGHT next to a table w/​4 kids (mind you, the restaurant was like 90% empty, one section didnt even have the lights on!). I nicely asked her to relocate us to something perhaps a bit more private and further from the kids (no offense to anyone w/​kids). she then proceeded to walk us to the table BEHIND THE KIDS … umm… ok, so when i said i dont want to be next to the kids, i dont just mean left and right, but also front and back, thank you. I spotted an empty booth and i asked if we can take that, she nicely said no, and i quote «this table is reserved for ppl with reservation». GIANT QUESTION MARK appears on my head — umm… WE HAVE RESERVATION!!! wth?! So i then told her, we do have reservation, so i dont get what she is saying … she then RELUCTANTLY let us sit there … our resv was at 8:30pm and we stayed till 10pm (when the restaurant closed) — there was only 1 couple and 1 dad with 2 kids came in after us. where there were plenty of seatings to accommodate them… so i really dont know who she was saving that table for… maybe the pope!

Extremely disappointing. For such a lovely hotel we expected a little more out of the restaurant. The service was very good, but mostly all of the food was nearly inedible. I blame this (in part) to the menu, which lists NO descriptions of what was in any of the dishes.
1. «Mediterranean» Salad… hm. Just because this has olives doesn’t make it Mediterranean. Is this slightly brown Iceberg lettuce I’m seeing here?
2. Mashed potatoes… mysteriously tasted like lemon-​y cleaning solution. Strange AND unsettling. The fun continues!
3. Creamed spinach that MUST have been made with bleu cheese or Gorgonzola, both pretty strong cheeses to just randomly use in a creamed spinach side dish.
4. Crème brûlée… two little ones. One was cream-​colored (normal) and one was green-​colored (eek!). We got dessert delivered to our room, and called down to complain about the green one. We were then informed that one of the crème brulees is actually a lime crème brûlée. Whether or not that was true I’m not sure, but either way IT WASN’T LISTED ON THE MENU! And either way, I didn’t eat it. Would YOU trust a green dairy-​based dessert?
Overall really disappointing meal for the money. If we stay here on our next trip to Connecticut we’ll venture outside of the hotel for meals.

Staying at the hotel for work means trying the food down at Octagon a few nights. Overall impression is that this is the standard hotel restaurant fare. It will do, but if you’re looking for a good dinner or a place for a special occasion I would pass on Octagon.
«Award winning» dragon chowder was only decent. Bits of tough and dry alligator (seriously like overcooked chicken) with other random bits of seafood. The chowder broth itself had a nice peppery kick to it I liked. Other entrees and appetizers didn’t stand out either. What’s nice is that they serve some of the same stuff from the restaurant for room service, so you don’t have to wait for them to serve you. Somehow, our soups arrived late and yet they served the entrees with the soup.
I do like the bar and amazing bartenders for an evening to wind down at the hotel though.