milepig

You're thinking of his brother, Vito. Vino is the drunk guy trying to get you into a gypsy cab.

EWR764

Saison is the Alain Ducasse place. Had a decent burger, good beer selection, prices were expensive but not outrageous. Big, big step up from Gallagher's in terms of quality, variety and even value. Certainly not up to the standard of other 'real' Ducasse restaurants, but at the higher end of quality for airport dining, I think. So far, so good.

fjfv19

How was the service? I had a colleague head over there and he complained a bit about the "iPad on table" situation and somewhat slow service but he is rather impatient. Great to hear the review though - a good burger and beer can go a long way after a long day. The simple things. I'll have to check out the menu this Thursday. Hopefully they serve a few healthy alternatives as well.

dmurphynj

please let us know! You're spot on - sometimes just a good simple burger is all it takes.

I don't need 5 star dining everywhere but need something better than Sbarro for sure.

So far, the only real losses are Vino Volo and Dunkin. Don't care about the carb bombs but the coffee was more drinkable than anything I get in the United Club, even with the espresso machine by the bar. (Maybe I'm spoiled by my Saeco machine at home but still ...

So far - and it's early - I'd call the OTG makeover positive change overall. Having said that, about the only way EWR Term C could get much worse is if they sold the place to the folks who own LGA Central. Oh, wait ........

EWR764

I thought the service was adequate; after all, it is still EWR and likely the same people who a few weeks earlier were working at Gallaghers, et al. It seemed that the staff were still getting used to the technology but I didn't find it to be slow. That said, I wasn't in any kind of hurry, as this was during the Nor'Easter last week so we took a lengthy weather delay. The iPad interface seemed a little clunky, though. It appeared that some guests were having trouble figuring it out.

Xyzzy

Is there n way to order from a human being?

goodeats21

As I mentioned up-thread, the iPad ordering interface at the sandwich shop I tried to use was pathetic and not usable. I ended up leaving because I couldn't place an accurate order. And NO staff around to assist.

Thankfully, I am not in the EWR C terminal a lot. Maybe by the time I return they will have figured things out better.

EWR764

I am positive you can, but I didn't as I wanted to play around with the iPad app a bit.

kirkwoodj

I have many offensive answers for this, but instead I will "look forward" to the next time a EWR stop is unavoidable... ^

fjfv19

My company was gracious enough to donate my daily travel stipend in order to conduct a bit of a forensic analysis. This morning, I arrived at EWR painfully early with a colleague so we decided to try out both Oeno and Saison. It was 7:15 AM so we were both eating breakfast. This ended up longer than I expected, so feel free to stop now.

I went to Oeno for breakfast. The new design of Oeno is (shockingly, I know) almost identical to that of Vino Volo, with some updated fixtures. The order is now done via iPad however I was one of the few people there, so I got great service from the staff. The staff were friendly as I lamented the loss on Vino Volo and they seemed genuinely interested to hear about the old place since other regulars had commented (have you been there yet UA-NYC? ). I ordered the “Smoked Fish Platter”, which included white fish, Nova lox and salmon. It was remarkably good. I asked about the lunch / dinner menu which I perused and photographed (and have no idea how to upload). They’ve migrated to appetizers, a decent assortment of salads and a bunch of paninis. The food actually looked like it had good variety with some healthy alternatives. I was impressed / intrigued and look forward to returning. Prices on the paninis range from $10 to $14. Salads ranged from $9.50 to $12.50.

My colleague went to Saison. He sat down at an iPad “station” and immediately identified the iPad was frozen. He moved to another station. He told a member of the staff, who expressed frustration. He ordered the Croque Madame which he identified as “adequate”, although he said that several other dishes looked proper. The service was fine although he wanted it known that he feels bad for the staff as they look like they just purchased the entire apparel section of a tourist shop near the Eiffel Tower. I did my own diligence, and can confirm this. The menu is going for classic French bistro, with Steak Frites, mussels, salmon, trout, chicken dishes, beef tenderloin, a burger, some basic salads and the croque monsieur / madame combo. I would not eat the foie de veau or foie gras in Newark Airport unless somebody paid for both my meal and subsequent medical expenses. All in all, this is probably an upgrade from Gallaghers although I still don’t get the iPad concept. It seems like it will end poorly.

Verdict: The loss of Vino Volo hurts, but I actually think Oeno might turn out ok. I will see when I return during peak hours. Saison has good bistro comfort food and is located in the C3 concourse where many of the international flights head out so might be worth checking out. I may eat there before my EWR-LHR in Feb to avoid meal service. I have to hand it to EWR – they are certainly trying to make the best with what they have. The new "patisserie" called Mélange is fine as well and better than its predecessor.

Happy Holidays to you all.

IADFlyer123

Sorry if this is the wrong location to post this: Quick Question for the EWR Regulars: I have a flight coming into EWR from IAD at 7:10am and my flight to MBJ is at 8:00am (50 minute window). I am landing and coming into Terminal A and flying out of Terminal C. Is the air train back up to normal? How easy or difficult to make the transition from Terminal A to Terminal C for a 50 minute transition. Please let me know.

bmwe92fan

If you take the airtrain you will have to go through security again - a much better option is to take one of the buses that go from Terminal A to Terminal C - they run about every five minutes and you don't have to re-clear security. If your flights are on time 50 minutes is plenty of time - especially at 7:15am...

IADFlyer123

Thank you so much for that prompt insight. I will be on the lookout for the bus locations.

flyingnosh

I'm not really liking what I see in terminal C. The Garden State Diner is gone now too. C'mon, this is New Jersey, they need a Diner there. With all these fake names and cheap decors, it feels like Disneyworld or Vegas. There's no character. And what's up with that quickie mart at the beginning of the C3 concourse. Walls of potato chips. It's like an Apple store, but for unhealthy food.

I really, really hope Balducci's is staying. Where else could I pick up a decent salad to go?

dmurphynj

And yet, I'm finding quite the opposite. The Cibo markets seem to have more healthy options than their predecessors, at least for me.

I also brought a nice Boar's Head sandwich on board yesterday - that worked out just great.

I'm happy... we'll see how this plays out, but so far, so good.