Cross & Orange

We went there on Saturday night. Friends told us it would be loud as the decorations do not lend themselves to noise suppression or reduction. The stark décor, exposed vents, hard wood floors and tables all together cause the sound to take over. Add to that the 2 person amplified band and I woke up this morning with a sore throat from shouting trying to have a conversation with my table mates seated next to and across from me. If it’s too loud I am too old is the saying I keep repeating to myself. But at 57 I don’t feel too old… But maybe.
As for the service, I wouldn’t call it prompt. When the waiter finally showed up he took drink orders. While waiting for the drinks, water was brought to the table. The water glass was promptly picked up to pour water into it. The problem is that the waiter stuck his thumb inside the glass to pick it up. By the time he returned with the drinks my wife forgot what she ordered. Then we sat with cocktails for awhile before he returned with bread service and to take our order. As they had new menus (2 days old) he wasn’t clear about the menu. For example they list «mini plates». When asked what they were he had no clear explanation. He did share that 4 other customers asked the same question. As it turns out my wife ordered off the «mini plates» section and received a normal portion of fried chicken and vegetables served on a large plate.
As for the food, I ordered the pork belly. Which I found to be the perfect temperature and delicious. My wife had artichoke crustini. It was ok, nothing special. For the main course I had the stuffed pork chop. A delicious char, and apple stuffing. It was a good size portion. Accompanied by green beans and potato augratin. All of my meal was delicious. Though I found it hard to hear those praises in my own head, the band started playing again.
My wife had the aforementioned chicken. Ok but not returning for it. Especially since there were only two small pieces, one dark one white. Better menu description please.
Desserts. A limited selection being sorbet, a chocolate mousse cake, and a chocolate peanut butter cake. As a person who needs a little diversity, vanilla ice cream would have been nice. But as that was not happening, we ordered the chocolate mousse cake. I found it smooth, tasty, and satisfying. The cappuccino was a burned cup of coffee that needed double my normal amount of sweetener .
So the atmosphere, too loud, the food hit and miss, the service needs improving.

Completely underwhelmed!
Sorry to say! I had been wanting to try this place since they opened and finally made it down. I read the menu prior to going and was really excited. Everything sounded amazing.
Unfortunately nothing was even close to being memorable! We ordered 4 dishes:
Eggplant fries — flavorless, tasted like Progresso Italian bread crumbs. Dipping sauces were OK but odd. One chimichurri like, the other had a strong fish flavor, maybe puttanesca sauce?
Wild boar tacos — small, super bland, just not good.
Bbq glazed pork belly — how can you go wrong with pork belly? I don’t know but they did. Bland, boring and not cooked well. Was a little soggy.
⁶⁰⁄₄₀ burger — I was really excited to try this. Again nothing special. I’d say average at best.
I always give a place a second chance and the bartender was great (we ate at the bar) so I’ll definitely try again and update my post.

Nothing like sitting down after a long day to either lamb, pork, fish, or just a salad. Which is what the array of choices allowed for the four of us. (There were others but these were just the ones we craved.)
Overall, there was not a great feeling about the quality of food, the pork chops were kind of dry, the lamb was lacking in flavor, the butternut squash soup was flat and minimal, and the after-​dinner whiskey drink of Middleton’s was served in a martini glass, etc.
Service was good, the atmosphere is lively and the four of us had a good time if not for that underwhelming feeling.

We tried this place during Jersey Shore Restaurant Week and was very happy with the meal.
The restaurant week menu is a bit limited but all the dishes come out quite good.
The wild boar taco appetizer was my favorite. I could easily eat another plate of that.
Like most restaurants on Cookman Ave, the décor of this place is very trendy. The bar area is very crowded. Some reviews mentioned there are issues with the service but we do not have any problem in our visit.