Circa

I just recently held a private event at Circa for about 40 people and can’t say enough wonderful things about it. The food and service were top notch. As the hostess I didn’t have to worry about anything. I would highly recommend.

Circa is a great restaurant. Very nice ambience and great, unusually prepared, tasteful offerings. The menu changes seasonally, but it’s always interesting combinations of very, good food. They have cool music on Thursday nights and a porch which is nice in summer and spring. You can’t go wrong here. It’s got it all… Overall great drinks, atmosphere, music and very, very good food. 5 stars!

I learned that the bartender from my previous review was the owner. He was fantastic — I have returned three times since with horrible experiences with Alex, the bartender. He was inattentive and was only concerned with chit chatting with patrons who were obviously just his friends. He made my friend a lemon basil, and did not rinse his shaker before butchering my Manhattan cocktail, leaving lemon flavor, and basil pieces floating in my drink. Unacceptable! I think he knew, because he avoided interaction with us until it came time for his tip. As long as he is bartending I will not be back. Someone should also teach him to stir a cocktail properly with a barspoon rather than jam a julep strainer around his mixing glass.

Was meeting a friend for dinner that lived out near Circa, having never being to this area as I pulled up I had 2 thoughts. One: what is this cute little town I just entered two: why am I the only one currently in this cute little town. It was wild weather last night so I’m sure most people stayed in.
While stepping into Circa I just got a warmly feel, dining room to the right was brighter and spacious while the bar was more dimmed lighting and cozy. We opted to sit in the bar area.
Started with grilled oysters, anytime I see them on a menu I order them immediately! They were delicious– has a bit of kick to them (I believe there was chili oil on top).
Then we got the brussel sprouts with chorizo, which were good but not great. Pool of butter at the bottom of the bowl :(I also enjoy my sprouts more crispy and these were on the mushier side.
We had the string bean tempura as well, which was a nice change up from normal everyday appetizers.
The escarole salad was great, we opted for goat cheese rather than the crumbled blue it was set to arrive with.
Yes we ordered more… Went with the half order of the lamb loin. WOW WOW WOW I NEED TO EAT THIS AGAIN SOON! It was amazing, paired with goat cheese gnocchi, peas and shiitakes!
As we sat there more tables rolled in, at one point I’d say there 5 (the max all night). The waitress seemed frazzled, we’d ask for water and as she was 15 steps away from us she’d look back and yell «what» it was kind of odd.
Kitchen closed at 9, she dropped our check right at that moment. Now 9:20 she came over to see if we needed change, yet there was no cash on the table yet. We just felt like we were being pushed out, understandable if we were the last table there, but there were still two other parties.
Overall a great dinner, recommended stopping if you’re ever in the area!

We went here a few weeks ago, and although we’ve been here twice in the past with good experiences, this time it was very average. The first, and worst, part of the entire night was that it was FREEZING cold when we went in. Granted, it was a cold night and they had opened only an hour earlier, but wow was it cold in there! I think they need to recognize that on a cold night, with high ceilings, you need to get that heat cranking much earlier! We almost left, because it was obvious that it was going to be cold for the duration of our meal, even if the heat kicked in. We were looking forward to their tapas menu however, so we wore our down coats the entire meal. By the end of the meal, it was tolerable in there, but we still had our coats on and we weren’t too hot.
It was a very slow night with only 2 other tables there, and the service was really quite slow considering. A fair amount of time was spent with the server in the bar area. They seemed to be working on something, but it made it hard to get our server’s attention when needed. On top of this, they were playing some really cruddy blues music quite loudly and it just didn’t match the ambiance for a nice dinner out.
The food itself was all good. They were out of two of the tapas we asked about, but the rest that we had were tasty and well prepared, which included duck tacos, wild boar meatballs, szechuan shrimp and stuffed clams. We also had a bottle of wine.
It’s kind of a shame, because being so cold the whole meal really made a difference in the whole experience (and we’re not usually complainers!). But when you only get date night once every few months, and it’s a «big» night out… you want it to be worth it. The food is worth it, the atmosphere was a miss this night. On a better night with that solved, it would be a solid four stars.

After many months of expectation, my husband and I finally made it to Circa on Valentine’s Day. We ordered Moscow Mules for our drinks, 2 appetizers: the crab cakes and braised shank quesadilla, the Russian and Beet salads, and the Butternut Ravioli with pancetta and mixed mushrooms, and the special lamb chops.
The Moscow Mules were tart and tasty, but I was surprised when they not served in a copper mug, just an ordinary glass. Mules are their own type of drink, and the copper definitely adds to their visual appeal. At almost $ 10 each, buy some copper mugs and serve them properly!
The braised shank quesadilla was heavenly. The crab cakes came out as huge meatballs, but they were cold when they were served. I noticed the table next to mine sent their crab back to the kitchen because theirs too, were cold. I suspect they were cold because they were just too big to retain heat inside. I’ll never complain about too much crab, but consistent temperatures are a must throughout the dish.
The salads were good, but not extraordinary. The Russian had too many items in it, creating an overwhelming and competing tastes and textures. Definitely drop the potatoes from this salad. The beet salad was under seasoned.
Now to the stars of our meal. The ravioli was absolutely delicious. The pancetta could have been sliced thinner, since it was served as a large diced that was soggy, rather than crispy. The mushrooms were delicious in their cream sauce, and all of the elements in the dish came together perfectly.
The lamb chops were very tasty, and my husband said that he would order them again. I only had one bite, so I don’t have much to say.
The dessert menu was, frankly, very disappointing. I had hoped for a sexy chocolate dessert to be shared between the 2 of us, but there was none. Carrot cake and various ice cream run-​of-​the-​mill desserts were offered, and nothing appealed to us. They were all lackluster after such a diverse and engaging menu of small plates and entrees.
I took one star off of my review due to the service of our meal, which was lacking, with errors made through out the meal. Little things such as not being brought a bread basket, having to wait too long for our water to be freshened and finally, not delivering my glass of wine to complement the ravioli. The only Valentines Day décor was a handful of Hershey kisses scattered on the table — really? That’s the best that you could do?
Our bill came to $ 125, which was expensive for the amount of food that we ate. We did enjoy our meal, but will not return to Circa to celebrate a holiday or special occasion. Our dinner was too expensive and the service too inconsistent to justify the price, IMHO.

Grilled oysters, housemade almost everything, seriously skilled bartenders, moody yet elegant atmosphere, best playlists in this part of Hunterdon County. Just do it. Take your sweetheart. Or your mom. Or a good book.

What a shame. The food here is awesome. We’ve been going during the week and sitting at the bar. The restaurant is empty. The bartender is too busy with his iPhone than to refill drinks or clear dirty dishes. But been letting that go. Last night (Saturday) the resto was full and it must have been the first day for our waitress. Took 30 minutes to get the bottle of $ 21 wine we ordered (she broke corks of two different bottles while trying to open). Plates/​utensils were left at the end of the table of 5. And service was overall poor. But the real kick came when we received the bill — she had charged us $ 59 for a $ 21 bottle of wine and added an extra beer to our bill — worse yet, when we brought it to her attention she argued with us! Eventually the bill was rectified but left a very bad taste in our mouth — and no apology from her or visit from the manager or owner.

Great place! Went there for a drink and appetizers. I had the lemon basil martini which was awesome! We had the mussels, Thai calamari, green bean tempura and sweet sour cauliflower. All very good! Place was packed. So nice to have great place like this I small town of High Bridge.

I have never had anything but positive experiences here. I have been coming here on and off for years now, usually sitting at the bar and enjoying their great wine list. I highly recommend the hummus and steamed clams! The broth they are in is amazing, you will definitely want to ask for more bread to soak up all the good broth! The homemade pappardelle and great, as are all the entrees I’ve had here! In the warmer months sitting outside is so relaxing and enjoyable! Highly recommend!

Circa is a unique restaurant in High Bridge… this is a very small town but Circa continues to thrive. I like their unique menu, live music, open patio dining and nice beer selection.

I love going to Circa for a special night out. The food is always so flavorful and of impeccable quality. The homemade ravioli and gnocchi are some of my favorite things.
For the bar, their wine list is limited by tasty. Usually a good selection of quality beers. BUT I cannot go to circa without ordering at least one lemon basil martini. NEVER disappoints.
The service can be hit or miss. Last time I went, server was clumsy and unsure of himself, needing to retake orders and making mistakes regarding the wine list. But he was friendly enough. I’ve also experienced cold personalities there. A little too cold for my liking. But it’s not always the case and I can look past it whenever I head there, especially since I’ve also gotten incredible service as well.
Circa is a bright spot in an area where there isn’t much of a restaurant scene an I love checking out the different dishes they offer.

This was a really great meal. We had: mezze plate, best hummus ever (really), meatballs (evil good), pappardelle rabbit ragout (awesome), steamed clams, and sautéed calamari. Matt out waiter was attentive and very nice. The place is warm old/​rustic. We will come again!!!

Circa used to be very good. Overpriced but good. Last week we went for drinks and something light and all of us were surprised at how the place has slipped.
Early evening and just a handful of people in the bar area — no one in the restaurant. We sat down at the bar which was littered with crumbs and drink spills from the previous customers. After waiting for a couple minutes, we waved to get the bartender’s attention as he chatted with people nearby. Youngish male bartender comes over but doesn’t notice that the bar is filthy. After placing our orders we had to ask him to wipe down the bar.
Drinks were slow. The food much slower. We actually finished two drinks before our appetizers arrived. These were cold dishes that didn’t need to be cooked! When the restaurant was empty! During dinner hours!
The charcuterie plate tasted off — as in spoiled. The cheeses were fine.
They’ve got some good beer selections. The wine list is good too, but they were out of my first two choices.
The place lacks a competent manager. The service, food, cleanliness were on the level of a dive bar.

Have a caipirinha – they actually know how to make it. Please don’t eat the food – it makes me sick to think you might. Horrendous service due to a manager who seems to be out to lunch. I won’t even say what I heard about the owners. Like they say you can take High Bridge out of the whatever, but you can’t take the whatever out of Circa… I can’t believe people fight for the few parking spaces to go here. Why are you in High Bridge anyway?

Wish I could give no stars. Not sure which was worse the food or the service. Never again.

the net-​net: if you are going out for drinks and an app or two with friends, this may not be a bad spot. Going out for a decent dinner? find another spot.
Dont get me wrong, this place seems like its good, but it hit so many things that grate me about bad restaurants. We made reservations and got seated in the bar area. She didnt even ask if we were ok with that.
The bar area is LOUD. Very loud.
It was, as you may suspect, pretty busy. it took well over ½ hour to get our drinks. We noticed that people at the bar were getting served that showed up after we did. Pretty disappointing. the server was apologetic, but for cripes sake, we were just about ready to walk out.
The food came out somewhat timely and at least hot. We went for their small plates which were OK. details:
green bean temupra — OK. greasy and slightly undercooked. I chalk that up to them being busy and the deep fryer dropped in temp from high use.
Asian Chicken Meatballs — Tasty. decent size. the lo mein noodles tasted good too albeit greasy from too much sesame oil (but I like sesame oil)
Duck tacos: real good. a little soggy for my taste — my wife didnt think so though.
goat Cheese Tart: Very good.
had cocktails — they were good (waiting time excluded). their wine list is small, but well varied. A word of caution though — we both though the wines were not very good. we had the malbec and the tempranillo. not impressed, in fact a bit hungover after 1 cocktail and 1 glass of wine.

Pros: Innovative, unique dishes. One of the best chicken pot pies I’ve ever had. The server was very attentive once he figured out that we were good tippers. The building is beautiful, very unique.
Cons: The bar doesn’t seem to stock a decent sour mix. The building seems a bit worn around the edges in places. I ordered a fish special that advertised a «fresh pineapple salsa.» The salsa was so spicy with jalapenos that I burned my mouth. The server apologized but did not take it off the check or even offer a discount.

At this place, the quality of the food versus the actual prices were negligible (and before I start on a rant about how much I love what I ate, the waiter was also the most accommodating I have encountered in New Jersey).
I seriously paid $ 13 for something that tasted like it was worth at least $ 25. I had a goat cheese tart with a small salad and although I have had cheese (government gives it out for free) and I have had goat (you sometimes taste what the goat ate), I have never had both.
It was a non-​issue because the tart itself tasted like a happy, salty, cheese cake in the middle and a flaky pie on the outside. The tart was somehow light and fluffy on the outside and smooth on the inside. The small bit of honey spread on top tasted extremely fresh and was an insane addition to the cheese and bread. Essentially, I had a super fancy empanada and my life was so much better because of it.

I am upgrading my review from 2 to 3 stars. I will however leave my original review at the bottom.
We decided to give Circa another try after a bad experience and we are very happy we did. It was like the old Circa when it used to be good. Food and service were both excellent.
We sat at the bar and had a bunch of their small plates and they were all great, but I especially recommend the Crab Fritters (not really like fritters, more like the best crab cakes you’ve ever had), the Braised Short Ribs and Gouda Quesadilla and the Duck Tacos.
I’m happy to say my boycott of Circa is over. Hopefully after a few more visits, I can give 4 stars.
My original review:
Stopped in at 3pm on a Saturday for a snack of mussels and fries. Bartender brought out the fries immediately (which means they were just sitting there, under a heating lamp, probably since lunch), mussels didn’t come for about another 10 minutes. The broth on the mussels was almost inedible, it had a strong burnt taste to it. The bathroom was disgusting and I could see a rack of silverware on the floor in the kitchen (see pics).
However, their food is usually good, they have great beers, fun events like live music and a great ambiance. It is only my fond memories of past visits that is keeping me from giving 1 star.