The Rongovian Embassy

Had the misfortune of going to the Rongovian Embassy​tonight. The excellent food was offset by the painfully slow and inattentive service. It did appear that we arrived at the same time as everyone else, so that’s excusable. But the real highlight was the people skinning cats on stage, accompanied by several dental drills. A number of toddlers seemed to enjoy this «music», which is the appropriate cognitive level for the «band». This may have passed as music centuries ago, but we have indoor plumbing and the like these days, so could you PLEASE stop making that noise? Hey White People, it’s called BASS… you need some in your «lives».

So I didn’t eat the food. But I was there this weekend with a dozen other people and they all ate and I checked out the smell of all their food and it looked really good and it smelled really good. But I was feeling under the weather and really had no interest in food. We were there for the music that they have which was a Cajun band and awesome. Acoustics were phenomenal. They stopped dinner service maybe 8:30 or 9 so that they can set up for the music I think you could still get food in the bar. If I make it back to western New York and will surely stop in here again in sample the food myself. I have always been gifted with the ability to taste food through the smell– I don’t know how but it works. So I’m giving the Rango 4 stars. Everyone in my group loved their food and there was a wide selection from burgers to risotto and even a vegetarian hot dog. the tofu pup looked incredible smothered in salsa and things. The dining room was very comfortable and relaxed atmosphere. Friendly efficient and helpful wait staff. Not eating I had an opportunity to watch the dining room in service inaction.

After stopping at the restaurant next door and getting the stink eye we decided to try this one. We enjoyed a wonderful lunch here. I love that the ingredients are local and fresh, like the beef for the burgers. We had French fries with horseradish dipping sauce, mussels, and fried pepper for appetizers. The mussels were delicious. We also ordered the tofu corn dog which was unique and tasty. The service was super – very friendly and attentive and welcoming to us as we came in. We will definitely be back!

Awesome atmosphere! Great food all local ingredients. Beer wine music. Bigger than it looks from outside. Try the nachos, also look for the fried pickles spicy veggie app. Cuban…

While visiting my cousin and his lovely wife in Ithaca (technically Trumansburg, NY) we visited this funky little place and it was well worth the trip. The interior feels somewhere from another world mashing rustic Irish Pub, Rastafarian Idealism, and a dive bar featuring live music into a medium sized space.
The food is crafted with locally sourced ingredients and served across a wide array of cuisines. From the middle east, to Canadian delicacies like poutine, and catering to all things vegetarian like tempeh and vegetarian tofu dogs.
I had the Asian/​Indian flavored chicken skewers on a bed of rice and it was flavorful and offered with two different dipping sauces — a greek tzatziki sauce as well as a warm apricot chutney — I preferred the greek and my wife fancied the apricot with the chicken. We started with the poutine featuring local curds and it was rich, delicious, and worth blowing my calorie allotment out of the water that day. The fries were perfectly covered while not being soggy (staying crisp throughout) and the gravy was not too hot to melt the curds into a puddle of regret and shame.
The beer selection while not huge on draft was broad enough to please, while offering additional selections by bottle/​can. There were also decent wines on the list and cocktails for those who fancy the fancier side of libations. It may not win any awards for the offerings, but what they have accomplished here is the ability to pair their food with drinks that make a lot of sense and show some versatility when chosen with thought.
We walked out with a modest bill but also with an experience that I would not have expected to find in such a small village (that’s not a knock on Trumansburg, the welcome sign calls it a village!). When we go back to visit I will return and try some of the other eclectic food and drinks while taking in the sights and music they have to offer. Highly recommended to those who are adventurous, enjoy locally sourced food, or just tired of the typical experiences served up daily by chains and national restaurants.

Been going to the Rongo for over 25 years! It’s recent incarnation is the most plastic version of the original! Particularly beware of the fat dragon lady who can see you come in but can’t see you go out! One star may be an overstatement!

We ordered take out when they had just reopened.
3 of us gave 3. for food quality at that time. The Med chicken was average, the pork chop dish had huge sections of fat and not enough actual meat, the skirt steak was decent, the dessert something chocolate was bad.
We went in person on 3÷21÷15. Atmosphere is great. Renovations make the place seem cleaner and less cluttered. The Mexican lasagna was generous and yummy although the novelty wore off. You may as well just get Nachos instead as same ingredients different format. Salmon was good. The runners were a bit confused bringing is the wrong tables food but it was straightened out quick enough and I had to ask again for the sour cream on side I had ordered as it hadn’t arrived with my dish.
Wait staff was polite, friendly, interesting. If there were ½ stars I’d give 3.5 for this place. I do like that they had mocktails.
Unlike the long ago Rongo, they no longer serve more varieties of beer than any place on the planet but since I don’t drink beer that is not an issue for me.

A very nice. Lots of brick and wood made for a comfortable dining experience. Cocktails and food were fantastic! I highly recommend the Mexican Lasagna.
Service was great too.
Will definitely be stopping in again on my next trip through Trumansburg.

I was impressed!
First I want to reflect on other reviews, Natalie V. I have not lived in but have spent some quality eating time in Park Slope & Williamsburg in NYC and the Philadelphia area, I think it unfair to compare any upstate NY institution to those venues unless they are claiming to hold themselves to big city standards.
Lorna C. We called ahead of time too and tried to make a reservation, they were totally booked but first come first serve was available in the bar. A little disappointing that even when told we could get there in 5 minutes they would not hold an open bar table. Unlike other reviews I believe we were able to get all the dishes in the bar area. Which is the way it should be.
The only feedback or comment I wold give about the initial impression is that the hostess who may be an owner since it seemed that her children (whom she visited frequently) were seated and enjoying dinner in the bar area seemed distractedly friendly with customers, taking what felt like an extended amount of time to chat. The whole experience seemed as if they are smoothing out the wrinkles of great service. There were ample servers and water attendants and runners, albeit perhaps not terribly coordinated. I would second the comment Richie G. made about unruly kids, I actually was unnerved about some roaming to public bathrooms alone.
Our server asked the opinions of the diners. We overheard one comment on the chickpeas being too hard. Our table would like to throw the challenge flag on that, yes the chickpeas and the black beans had density to them, they were evidently soaked and cooked, they were not out of a can. The were not grainy, they were not hard, they were not anything but perfect. If you have clientele that are used to canned beans, this is a new adventure.
The menu has already changed some from our visit a week ago but the offerings were
Poutine oh my poutine, OH MY. The fries were crisp, they were crispy till the last one wiped up the last of the gravy. The gravy was lightly flavored, light consistency, perfect and ohhhh so much of it. Fie to the plate of poutine without enough gravy! Thanks for not being that plate.
A feta cheese tart with roasted fennel and mushrooms, this was not the start of the evening. There was not a lot of flavor and it all seemed the same consistency, the dough had softened to resemble the filling and the size piece you received was not worth the coins you paid.
Moroccan spiced chicken was tender and juicy, well flavored and accompanied by chickpeas (cooked perfectly) and rice.
Vegetarian mexican lasagna with black beans, cheddar, gouda, tortilla for noodles, topped with house made guacamole and cilantro lime coleslaw. On the side were black beans. Although everything was delicious I would have preferred a side other than the black beans since it was a bean-​centric dish already, maybe house made tortilla chips. The dish was hearty, full of flavor and a variety of textures.
Pumpkin chevere tart with almond oat crust and a citrus type reduction, ridiculously delicious, velvet texture.
Dank brownie with toasted pecans, whipped cream and cider reduction, even more ridiculously delicious than the other dessert. I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed toasted pecans more, or had them really add too much more to a dish than this dish.
We would certainly come back, this is a gem!

Ever since we moved to Trumansburg, two years ago, we have been hearing about the Rongo and how amazing it used to be. Obviously when there were rumors of it coming back to life, we were beyond excited to see what it would look like after a thorough remodel.
Where the old Rongo was a seedy bar with lots of local charm, this new Rongo was set to be a more upscale, trendy bar/​restaurant, adding to Trumansburg’s rising cool factor. Having heard that the folks formerly responsible for Stonecat Café were involved in the project, I was expecting amazing culinary delights.
One day, after over a year of anticipating, I passed by the Rongo and saw that it was open. At last! The very next night, my boyfriend and I were there to try all that this gorgeous spot had to offer. Maybe our expectations were too high, but sadly, we were not blown away.
But first, I must say that the space is absolutely gorgeous. Huge and cavernous, it uses all of its corners and pockets to their utmost advantage. Over the course of our entire dinner, we marveled at the spectacular design and layout. We have spent a good portion of our lives in Brooklyn, living within reach of the most hip bars and restaurants around, and this place could have easily fit in anywhere in Williamsburg or Park Slope. The only difference is that this place could fit about five Park Slope spots in its huge confines.
Anyway, on to the rest of the offerings. The place is divided into bar and restaurant seating, with two completely separate menus. Get your mind around this before you go, if you sit in one area, you will not be able to order from the other side’s menu. This is not necessarily a deal breaker, but it does beg the question: why is this rule necessary? We saw several people get upset about this during our dinner. Obviously this is a new place and maybe the kinks are still being worked out, but I think people will continue stumbling over this detail.
As it is, the bar menu is cheaper and simpler, so it is probably a better bet for most nights.
We sat in the dining area and were restricted to that particular menu, which being vegan, left us one dish. This is absolutely not a problem, we are used to having zero options and choosing the side salad as our meal, so props to the Rongo for having even that! When the dish arrived, however, we were disappointed by how small the portion was. For $ 16, I was expecting something that would actually fill me up, but alas no such luck. Those side fries that I thought would be excessive, turned out to be very necessary.
I can get behind small portions and high prices, I am from New York city, after all. But if the meal is neither big nor cheap, I do want it to taste pretty spectacular, which this just did not. Everything was just okay, no mind-​blowing flavors or taste combinations, just kind of bland.
In our excitement for the opening of this place, we splurged and got a couple of house mixed drinks to top the night off. Again, the prices were pretty outrageous for a place in Trumansburg; we thought we left $ 15 drinks behind us when we moved away from NYC. Again, they were just okay and left us underwhelmed.
At the end of the night, our wallets took a bit of a hit and we were still hungry enough for snacks when we got home; not a good end result! That said, at the time of our visit, the Rongo was only open a single night so there is of course room for improvement in their overall performance. We will definitely give it another shot and this time perhaps try sitting in the bar zone. If nothing else, this is a gorgeous space with musical performances and a full bar… we can find some use for it!

It’s not closed any more and I’m giving this three stars because as a long-​time local I want them to succeed with this reimagined Rongo. Otherwise, it’s a two star operation right now. It reopened a few days ago and the buzz is good as is the remodel, but the execution is a work in progress. First, if you’re thinking the menu has anything to do with Mexican, think again. I simply can’t imagine why they’re even suggesting it (maybe just to get the old-​timers in the door?). That said, the menu is interesting and worth some exploration. Second, be prepared for unruly kids. Not sure why this seems to be a T-​burg tradition, but it’s really annoying. If you need to bring your babies, remember that not everyone thinks they’re as cute as you do. (I love my kids, but never imposed them on the public in the way that seems to be norm here). And please don’t dance with them! Maybe, over time, the baby thing with fade (but only if ownership makes it clear that they’re only really welcome before 5:30). Third, they need to correct the issues with service. More servers are needed! Period. And maybe a few without beards would be good too! We’ve had to wait way, way too long for simple orders. I get it that they’re just getting started, but this can fixed, so hopefully, they’ll do it! On the food itself, I think the service issue is affecting things. The steak that we ordered medium rare was well done, probably because it was waiting under the warmers for so long. (Didn’t want to go through the long wait that would have been involved in sending stuff back).The sides were small and cold (one of us had a side of fries that was not only tiny, but also greasy), and the other entrees were ok but pretty uninspired. The back of the house needs to take control of this, otherwise folks won’t return. So, sorry to be critical of an iconic T-​burg institution, but because the new owners have set the bar high I’m not going to be shy. .. so far they have not achieved their goals. Still, it’s worth a try as they seem to be well-​intentioned and committed.

The Rongo has finally reopened, and it’s better than ever. The beautiful wooden bar is still there serving Suffering Bastards (the drink or the clients, take your pick), brick walls, and tables in unlikely places. But the food is vastly better than last time, a short menu with mostly local ingredients rather than stuff from the freezer, cooked by people who clearly know what they’re doing. There is a childern’s menu, and we saw plenty of families with kids when we arrived around 7 PM on a rainy weeknight.
This incarnation is a labor of love for the local people who refurbished and reopened the place, and it shows.

The Rongo is back open!
With a much improved and local focused kitchen,
It is much less fraught than the old Rongo, less cluttered, much brighter and well lit, with a much more open feel to it. They still retained some of th old touches like the timeline and the old cooler with all the (now) vintage stickers, the marlin above the bar, etc., but have extensively renovated (and cleaned) the place up.
While I miss the old Rongo, it is great to see the place open again even if it is more upscale than in previous reincarnations. (Think lower East Side Bleecker St in NYC in the late 1970’s-Early 80’s versus today and you get the picture).