The Dining Room

The service was a little lacking (unattentive; failed to bring bread until I asked) but the actual food was truly memorable. I had the Short Ribs, and was amazed by the quality and quantity of the dish. A thrill for any beef fan, they delivered satisfaction at or beyond the steak level — I would have them again over Filet Mignon. Flavor, heartiness galore, making up for the shortcomings of the waiter. A very pleasant little off-​lobby dining room IMHO.

It’s been a while since we’ve eaten there and quite honestly, I don’t know why as we only live 2 blocks away.
Anyway, one a lark and RVA’s $ 5 Burger Week event, we decided to stop by for the burger special that was topped with pimiento cheese and bacon. It was excellent and cooked to perfection. This burger tasted like real ground steak, not ground beef.
Our waiter, John (?) was attentive and took care of our needs in spite of the lounge area being a bit busy.
We’ll be back.

Not sure why folks have complained about this. Maybe staff has changed, but hubby and I had a great experience. We had dinner and breakfast. The vegetarian lasagna is perfect! Nice fresh food with amazing flavor and natural ingredients and attentive service. We will def be back.

We dined here for the first (and last) time last night. What a huge disappointment! Not a tablecloth to be seen — on Valentine’s Day, no less. Server brought us the wrong wine and rushed us through dinner, and we’ve had better food in a hospital cafeteria.

Just had an extremely disappointing breakfast here. I ordered the lump crabmeat asparagus with gruyère cheese omelet — not too much flavor though it seemed to have a decent amount of crabmeat. The side of grits was gross! They were barely warm, really think and gummy with a brown rice consistency. Cornbread was just ok. My cappuccino was also not piping hot like it should’ve been, nor was my bf’s coffee.
BF ordered the quiche, which was cold in the middle. He quipped «Does this place have an aversion to serving hot things?!» I mean, seriously!
The only shining star was the fresh granola with yogurt. I should add our waiter was very pleasant and attentive with refilling the coffee.
Disappointing. Go elsewhere for breakfast. There are plenty of other places nearby.

We were staying at the Berkeley for a weekend getaway and had a deal to eat at the dining room.
The bread basket was a delicious start. There were four different house made breads/​biscuits, and was served with samplings of apple butter, roasted peppers, truffle butter. WOW — we were impressed!
We also ordered the fried pies appetizer — duck confit, fig and caramelized onions — and really enjoyed them! something out of the box for us, but definitely recommended.
Our entrees were okay (crab cake entrée and meatloaf) as both were missing something… the wild rice seemed a bit dry, the meatloaf could’ve used some gravy… my broccoli was well cooked and seasoned.
Appetizers — great, entrees could be skipped.

We came here for brunch on a Saturday. I’ll first start with the good: The service here was impeccable. I really appreciated how attentive our server was and friendly. That being said, I had higher expectations. The portions are small! I wasn’t expecting a gargantuan amount of food, but my small crab cake came with eggs and a side of potatoes, and I swear there were about 8 little potato chunks. I gave an extra star for the service and also the juice was delicious. I had pineapple and it was fresh squeezed. I enjoyed the ambiance, but I don’t think I’ll be going back for brunch.

We went with a few people for Restaurant week and not one of us could say our food was good. It was a shame because it’s supposed to be a high end Richmond tradition. To start the bar was out of a vodka needed for a martini, then out of 2 wines, and the 3^rd wine selected — the waiter brought the wrong one. The bread was blah — but the butter was good. Dinners ranged from blah to mediocre but the worst was there was a menu item called «grilled carrots» and I am not sure if the chemical taste was liquid smoke or lighter fluid. Of the desserts orders, the pound cake was over cooked. It was dry and you couldn’t eat the top and one person was even served the end piece which was awful! They offered a chocolate bacon ice cream which was delicious — but they only gave you about an ¹⁄₈ of a cup. Three spoonfuls and it was gone. The only thing that tasted good they skimped on. We left unsatisfied and actually went somewhere else to eat more food since portions were small and things were inedible. We will never go back — even if it was free.

I came to the Berkeley Hotel Dining Room for Restaurant Week. I had driven by the Berkeley Hotel several times on Cary St., and was always tempted to walk in and explore it because I went to undergrad at UC Berkeley, even though it’s not the same person.
The hotel itself is very pleasant, and all of the employees from the valet guy to the front desk employees to the restaurant servers were super friendly. The dining area was also very classy and clean.
I enjoyed the complimentary warm bread with butter prior to my meal.
The food itself kind of seemed like «dressed up» classics. I ordered chicken pot pie, which was actually served as a puff pastry drizzled with the typical chicken pot pie filling. I also got a beet gazpacho, which was beety but had a great color and very smooth consistency, all of which I liked. I chose the cheese pound cake as my dessert. The pound cake was somewhat dry and dense, but the accompanying fresh strawberries and whipped cream were delicious.
The food was certainly tasty and the presentation stunning, but again, the dishes themselves did not really wow me, since they struck me as spruced up American home-​cooked comfort foods.
Still, for $ 25, the three course meal was great, the hotel is gorgeous, and the view from the window at my table was great. Service was probably the Dining Room’s strongest suit, as our waiter was easygoing and personable. The post-​meal chocolates were also a nice touch.
P. S. There is free valet parking for anyone coming to dine at the Berkeley Hotel for lunch/​dinner.

Went here for dinner on a Saturday night as we were staying in the hotel. Had we not had a $ 30 Groupon we would have gone elsewhere; however we had a positive attitude walking in. We called and bumped our reservation from 6pm to 7pm as our day ran long. This did not appear to be a problem as there were only 3 other tables. The waiter was also the host and seated us next to the windows which affords a nice view to the pedestrian friendly street.
My girlfriend and I both ordered wine which were brought promptly. Both glasses had a soapy smell although we dealt with it. The salads we had were good and probably the highlight of the food. The rolls were tasteless and bland.
I had the pork chop which was good but not amazing. My partner had the vegetable lasagna and it was bad. No flavor and looked like prison food. The table next to us commented that they were going to warn us as they made the same mistake. The waiter came back after 10 minutes of dropping off the food and asked if it was ok. He took her plate as she had only eaten 1 bite and asked if she wanted something different. She declined as she was over it and rather than stating he would take it off the bill he said same it room for dessert. We had the apple bread pudding, also bland and dry. Overheated with little sauce and about a dime size of topping. She also had a alcoholic coffee drink which was ok. When the bill came he had taken off the lasagna and charged us for the dessert beverage and dessert.
The waiter was nice, but not personal and disappeared for long periods considering there were only a few tables. The clientele is mostly senior from what we saw which may account for the bland food. The décor is dated but nice considering it complements the older hotel.

Went for Richmond Restaurant week 3-​course Prix fixed menu. Traditional somewhat dark and dated décor, business-​attire. Server was friendly but not as attentive despite a pretty light crowd. Fried oysters were disappointingly too salty. Pork chops were too thick, fatty and not seared to my liking. Bread pudding was dry such that I just skimmed the top half that was drizzled in sauce. Pretty blasé experience. Would probably not go back.

This review will differ from the ones below. Our desire was for a quiet lunch, where conversation could be enjoyed. The setting was stellar for this – quiet elegance. We were pleasantly surprised that brunch was available on a Saturday. One of us had the tuna (well prepared) and the other crab benedict. (delicious). The portions were the perfect size to enjoy, but not overeat nor take home. Waitstaff was attentive. There was a range of attire.

Lovely, small, quiet restaurant with an attached bar. Staff were wonderful and the food was excellent. For a quiet dinner, I highly recommend it.

A very acceptable dining experience. A number of other restaurants in their price range and menu selection are are a much better experience.

The restaurant is pretty stale, with a dated menu and an older clientele. The restaurant never seems to be particularly busy either. The food itself was bland. My lamb wasn’t particularly well seasoned, and my risotto was undercooked and not very creamy. Given that this is supposed to be an upscale restaurant, the prices are reasonable. It is an intimate and classy setting, they just need to up the quality of the food to match.

Last night I ate at the Berkeley with a friend. We ate off a 3-​course Prix fixe menu for «sampling shockoe» but everything we had was on the main menu as well.
The restaurant was not terribly busy and our server did a great job. The atmosphere is fairly refined (white table cloths, etc) and most men were wearing jackets and women in dresses. Such attire is not required but that gives you a feel for the atmosphere. Some may find it a little stuffy. The restaurant has a front room and a back room. It seems like they tend to use the front as a quiet, professional/​romantic area and they put larger groups in the back.
We started with the crab bisque which was absolutely fantastic. We both agreed that if we had to rate it we would give it a 5 out of 5. I would rate this as a «must have» if you eat here.
As entrees I had the pork tartlet and she had the pasta du jour which was penne in a vodka sauce with shrimp. The Pork was good, it had cherries and apricots which weren’t quite as sweet or flavorful as I had hoped, but it was well prepared and presented. The pasta was good although a little light on the vodka sauce and the shrimp were a bit overcooked. Also, they left the tails on the shrimp which made for a nice presentation but made eating a bit more difficult. It’s kind of hard to cut the tail off a shrimp that is lying on top of a pile of penne pasta. We said we would rate both entrees as a 3.5 out of 5.
The wine list had several «specials» which were good values in the $ 30 range. I had the Malbec that is paired with the pork and thought it was very good for the price.
For desert we had a chocolate mousse and the brownie a-​la-​mode. The mousse was very good, and the brownie was out of this world. We had to fight over the brownie, it really was fantastic in every way. I highly recommend it. Another dessert option was a «new york style cheesecake» that a man at the table next to me ordered. I didn’t taste it but it looked very ordinary and unexceptional.
Overall we were pleased and would return, but the experience was not good enough to make the Berkeley one of my «top» Richmond restaurants. However, I can definitely see myself making a special trip for some crab bisque again soon.

The waiter was very friendly, the prices weren’t bad, and the food tasted good. However, this place only gets 3 stars because the portions were SO small! Maybe I’m used to getting an enormo-​omelette at IHOP, but the omelette I ordered was tiny. I was done within maybe 4 big bites, and the sides of baked apples and grits were in very little bowls. I literally finished the meal within 5 minutes. Had the whole thing been just a bit bigger it would have been perfect, as the omelette (with ham, cheese, spinach) was delicious. Please make it bigger!

My wife and I visited the Dining Room at the Berkeley with a couple of friends of ours for Restaurant Week. The atmosphere was upscale but without being overly pretentious or stuffy, and I immediately felt right at home. Our server was friendly and very approachable, which is always a plus for a higher end establishment.
Even though there was a specific 3-​course menu for Restaurant Week, there were plenty of options, 5 to 6 each of appetizers and main entrees to choose from, plus 3 desserts. One thing we noticed was that most of the food sounded somewhat «ordinary» — you had a crab cake, fried oysters, hanger steak, etc. I went for the mushroom ravioli for an appetizer and the half rack of Colorado lamb for my main course. My wife had the same app but chose the shrimp and grits as her entrée. In general, the food was quite good, prepared exactly as I ordered it (medium-​rare for the lamb), and well seasoned as expected.
What ended up being a positive could also be viewed as somewhat negative, depending on your viewpoint when it comes to dining. The food was as expected yes, but there were no surprises — no unique combinations of flavors or unusual ingredients at work here. Just highly competent, tasty food, with the only disappointment being with the shrimp and grits. They were on the al dente side, a little gritty in the mouth and not as soupy as some others we have tried. My wife was hoping for that smoky ham flavor to come through and it did not deliver on that.
I forgot to mention the desserts — my cheesecake was good, and my wife enjoyed the apple cobbler very much. Again, nothing mind-​blowing. Our consensus was that at Restaurant Week prices, it was a decent experience, but we wouldn’t be back at full price, when there are more unique options in Richmond such as Acacia, Patina Grill, Café Rustica, and Mezzanine.

My family and I had dinner on Monday night at the Berkeley and were pleasantly surprised to find out that for the whole month of August, the prices have been rolled back to 1989 to celebrate their anniversary.
How often can you go out to a four diamond restaurant for the same prices you would pay at a chain like Ruby Tuesday’s? The food was really good and the portions were generous. Between us, we tried just about everything on the menu from the apple pork chops and vegetable risotto to the Southern fried chicken and crab-​stuffed tillapia.
They specialize in Virginia cuisine and have a great Virginia wine list to match. I tried a White Hall Viognier which was excellent, since I was having the fish, but they had some great reds as well.
Our server, Steve, was excellent and very patient with my seven-​year-​old nephew, Tyler. Steve not only knew the wine list and recommended some great pairings, but also offered to make a special kid-​friendly meal for Tyler.
Valet parking is free with any meal at The Dining Room… just take your ticket in and get it stamped. If you’re looking for a nice place for dinner, and a great value, get over there before the end of the month!