Belford Bistro

The wait staff is exceptional, food is fantastic, but the hostess behind the hidden desk is a little eerie. We made reservations, which is a definite «to do» on Fridays and Saturdays, because this place was packed after arriving early for our 5:30 reservations. We were all alone at 5:30, but by 6:00, it was standing room only and people were being told to wait for 20 – 30 minutes. I would’ve given a 5, but I’m all about how the folks working in the restaurant behave around customers. The woman behind the hidden desk, doesn’t interact with customers. doesn’t smile and basically runs the checks until you leave. Oh well, but the food is really good. Had the special Fra Diavlo and it was delicious!

We have been coming here for years and only have been disappointed 1x. Every time we are there we have an excellent meal.

Love this place. It has become our favorite restaurant in this area. The short ribs are the best! Service is excellent. Never been disappointed.

From the moment we walked in the door to the time we got into our car our experience was excellent. Our server Kelly and the back-​server (I feel horrible I am blanking on his name!) were absolutely fantastic and made us feel welcome and not rushed one bit. Hands down one of the best bolognese dishes we have ever had. Pasta made fresh in house, and you can definitely tell. Tile fish and rib eye specials were absolutely delicious and to end our great meal we shared the bread pudding. BEST bread pudding we have ever had, I am still thinking about it today. Give this place your business, the owner knows what he is doing and combined with the food and staff it will be sure to be a great night out.

Actually a 4 ½ star restaurant. We had a delicious salad to start. The day scallops with gnocchi off of menu was awesome. Halibut special was light and so good. Bolognese pasta was tasty and good. Had cheesecake for dessert and that was very good too. Capsicum was just ok a little watery and lukewarm. That’s the only thing that kept the rating down. A true hidden gem restaurant

Kudos to the owners — it’s amazing what some new paint and small touches can do to make a restaurant feel much more warm and inviting — different feeling altogether with the new gray walls — big fan!

Wow this place rocks food off the hook service the best will be going back soon this is the best kept secret on the shore

Excellent service, outstanding meal. Highly recommend.

Can’t recommend this place to enough people!!! Our favorite place for dinner and private parties! Excellent service and excellent food!!! We have been many places and paid more money for below average food and service… everything on the menu not only has a beautiful presentation but service is warming and welcoming! This hidden treasure is well worth the weekly visit! Thank you Kurt!

Belford Bistro remains a wonderful restaurant in our own backyard. That it keeps getting better (to a positive experience/​rememberance via my last visit of at least 3 years ago) is a testament to Kurt and his right hand man and staff knowing and doing all of the little things in continuing to provide their clientele with a wonderful dining experience — one that you’ll be hard pressed to find in RB or AP. It appears to be even getting better as there’s indeed a passion that emanates out of that kitchen.
Chefs nite out (as I was with two friends who are chefs with a 3^rd having to bail due to illness). And blessings that I was able to dine out as I did last nite as these events are far and few between for me of late. Plus it was good to get out on a Monday nite in December.
And as I rake over the coals over last nite’s meal, it shouldn’t have to be such a long hiatus when one realizes how especially good this restaurant is. Ordered a round of appys’ for all to share. Kale & Bibb salads were constructed beautifully with GREAT taste — smoked applewood bacon, high quality gorgonzola, made for a Bibb salad that tasted like it was August with everything sourced locally — fresh, amazing flavors. Same with the Kale Salad and it’s matchstick veggies. To impart this much flavor in a salad mid December with what’s available was a harbinger of what was to come as we all shared our appys: which also included Mussels with Fennel & I think pineapple chunks in a light coconut milk & who’s broth was sopped up with the nice slabs of toasted garlic bread. The mushroom ravioli (a pasta dish that we had as an appy) was simple and outstanding (my favorite). Their onion soup with melted Jarslburg was even a treat.
Entrees were a garganelle pasta with white truffle oil (off their regular menu), another order of the mushroom ravioli (for a late arrival to take our table to a foursome) along with ordered specials of rack of lamb over a manchego cheese polenta and baby brussel sprouts, as well as pan seared monkfish over a mushroom pea risotto. All of these dishes were the seriously well executed. Damn were they good.
Desserts were robustly ample and continued with the flavor explosion. A bread pudding with vanilla gelatto topped with caramel in a rum drench was delicious. A peanut butter mousse with chocolate ganache also a winner along with their cheesecake and a trio of gelattos (vanilla, coffee & hazelnut). Most all appeared to have been made in house. Without a liquor license, that’s how one keep one’s hard earned money in your pocket and are able to survive in what is a tough business environment. The less brought in, the better. And we’re all ‘richer’ gastronomically for it as nothing beats fresh and home made when there’s real creative folks putting together what they love to do. We ended the evening visiting the chef and ass’tant (at their open kitchen) to thank him and provide him with some Sierra Nevada Celebration beer in an ice bucket once his night came to a close and they could rest out back, say it was a good nite for them. For us, an outstanding one.

Fantastic food, fantastic service! Byob with superb food, we like it better then Nicolas down the road. Only reason I didn’t give 5 stars because the quarters are a little uncomfortable because it is so tight. Try the Drunken Chunky Monkey!

Fantastic service and the food was excellent. My husband and I mixed up the time of our reservations for our party of 6 and the waitstaff allowed us to sit at the table anyway while we waited the hour for them to arrive. While it was a slow night, they certainly did not have to do that and we greatly appreciated them allowing us to stay there.
The crab cakes and mushroom ravioli were outstanding! The best crab cake I have ever had by far. Highly recommended and we will be back.

The food is good but the portions I got for the scallops and crab cake off the prefix menu for $ 30 was very small. The other portions of other items like the steak and the mussels were a nice size. I rated my friends steak and it was very good. They made special dietary considerations for sauce her as she was allergic to mushrooms.
The Crème brûlée gas nice flavor but the top was too chewy and thick wouldn’t break correctly. The chocolate cake was good, very chocolaty.
The service was very nice and sweet, everyone went out of their way.
Not my favorite place but a nice place and a good deal for the the $ 30 prefix menu, as long as you don’t get the crab cakes. Things on the regular menu are a little expensive. Not sure if they would be bigger portions.

Food was amazing. We had goat cheese salad, Boston salad and the special parsnip soup for appetizers. All were amazing and my friend said that the soup was the best he ever tasted. I had a special halibit. Pan seared over a bed of risotto. The fish was beautifully cooked and tasted amazing. My friend had the salmon. Which was cooked perfectly over a bed of lentils and peas. One of the best restaurants I have been to.

Dinner wasn’t bad, but it’s wildly overpriced!
Although satisfying and well prepared, it’s not high end like the price tag suggests nor are the portions very big. My family seems to think they will save $$ since its byo but you def don’t.
Nothing we ordered knocked our socks off, but the closet thing for me was the bread pudding with bourbon and pecans– pretty damn good!
Soups and salads were tasty, for me felt slightly imbalanced (like the cauliflower soup could have used a crunch element, and the French onion soup was just normal-​ass French onion soup but $ 10). Boston Bibb salad was very yummy.
My bf got the sea bass special and although nothing was wrong with it, it was kind of boring. Moms bf was pretty dissatisfied with his filet mignon special, it was $ 40 and lacked the filet tenderness. Mom loved the beef bourginone, very tender and could cut with a fork but she was pissed about the short ribs no longer being on the menu– that was her go-​to.
The French cheesecake was terrible. Bland and dry.
Service was aiight.

I was really excited to try this place because someone recommended it and the menu is appealing. However I was sadly disappointed about the experience. Most of the food our party ordered was good, some above average but all way overpriced ($ 17 for a few of the small portioned appetizers is a bit overboard), $ 30 plus for most dinners (again small portions) and $ 9 for each dessert. And my dad’s entrée came out 5 minutes after everyone else’s only to be raw (chicken) so they took it back and re-​made so he are solo. No apologies, nothing. I was also a bit frustrated when I stared at my ceiling till the wee hours of the night because the waitress obviously gave me a caffeinated coffee instead of making a pot of decaf. For those prices (in a strip mall) I expect too notch food and better service. If priced appropriately, food taste would be 4 stars. But you have to consider all factors.

The Belford Bistro is a classic example of not judging a book by its cover. Tucked into a standard suburban strip mall, this BYO is a great find. I came with my family to celebrate the holiday season, and to toast my new job, as well as my brother’s. My mom had been here once before, and highly recommended it.
We were hoping that the Belford Bistro would have a drink/​cocktail menu. Just know, this place is a BYO. Luckily, there’s a liquor store a short walk away (yay strip malls!) As soon as I entered the restaurant, I forgot that I was in a shopping center. The mood lighting, fancy décor, and opaque curtains blocked out the parking lot.
As far as the food, it was amazing! Every single member of my family was extremely happy with our meals. I ordered the rack of lamb. Absolutely delicious. It came right off the bone and was extremely flavorful. I would highly recommend it. This is a great place for special occasions. Just don’t forget to make a reservation!

Drew’s was closed so we decided to try Belford Bistro and I’m almost happy that Drew took the night off.
Our party of 4 enjoyed 4 different appetizers and they were wonderful. My entrée was the crab cakes and they were the best I’ve ever had. Perfectly seasoned with almost no fillers.
Try the cookies and cream dessert!
The reason for the 4 instead of 5 stars was that it was just a tiny bit too pricy. Dinner & Tip was over $ 300 for 4 people at this BYOB. Not the craziest prices, but a bit too high for this tiny stripmall storefront.

The best short ribs around, amazing food & great service!
Call for a reservation, dont just walk in on a busy night, you prob wont get a table

Attempting to visit this place at 7pm on a Friday night I was turned away by the bus boy and a teenage waitress because we had no reservation. The issue I have is the place was nearly empty. Bad form Belford Bistro, if you had a Hostess this could have been handled professionally. There are way too many great places in Atlantic Highlands and Red Bank to turn away guests. Especially if your joint is in a strip mall in Campbell’s Junction.
I joined Unilocal just to write this review however as a business traveler I dine out constantly. I am also well versed in the culinary arts and extremely restaurant savvy. I highly recommend not going to this place based on the poor quality of front house management.