The Brick — Review by Gordon Ramsay
Newtown, United States — International/Hotel Restaurant
Gordon Ramsay visits The Brick hotel and finds a catastrophic kitchen operation serving frozen fish despite claiming fresh daily availability, spoiled ingredients, filthy equipment, and an ownership structure that prioritizes events over quality dining. The food is consistently terrible across multiple courses, with frozen items presented as fresh and basic dishes executed poorly.
What was great: The edible chrysanthemum flowers on one dish
What could improve: Nearly everything: frozen ingredients served as fresh, overcooked and watery trout, mushy risotto with soggy skin, dry chicken wings, tasteless French onion soup, canned crab sandwich, deteriorating scallops, disgusting mac and cheese, expired pre-cooked items, filthy kitchen equipment, disorganized staff, no head chef, frozen soup served as homemade, inconsistent menu items
The Dishes
The meal began with chicken wings served with homemade huckleberry barbecue sauce, but they arrived frozen and dry. The lobster mac and cheese, made with penne instead of traditional pasta, was split and looked plastic-like with no seasoning. The tuna burger was the worst of the initial courses, revealed to be made from frozen fish despite the restaurant claiming a fresh fish market relationship.
During the subsequent inspection, Gordon ordered mac and cheese that had been microwaved from the fridge, creating a soup-like consistency with no seasoning or salt. The fiesta stew was dated November 1st when it was November 6th, clearly not fresh. The trout, claimed to be caught yesterday 9 miles out, was actually frozen and watery. Seared diver scallops arrived cut irregularly and tasted terrible. The vegetarian mushroom ravioli with tarragon cream was also poor quality. A French onion soup was tasteless, cauliflower steak was a mess, and the crab sandwich was made from canned product imported from China.
The Experience
The dining experience was deeply flawed. Staff members were required to purchase their own name tags for $8 and t-shirts for $12, costing $20 just to work. The kitchen was massive but disorganized, with two chefs supposedly in charge but no clear head chef structure. The restaurant operates primarily on event revenue, with only 350 events per year keeping it afloat. Gordon discovered a bizarre kiosk selling beach towels, volleyballs, and bean bags, with only one beach towel in stock. The kitchen displayed shocking negligence with filthy equipment, dirty fryer water not changed, pre-cooked bacon dated October 31st still being used on November 6th, and an oven last cleaned a year prior.
Value & Pricing
Specific prices were not mentioned in detail, but the value was clearly abysmal given the quality of ingredients and execution. Paying staff members $20 out of pocket before earning suggests tight operational budgets that impact quality.
Notable Moments
Gordon on the frozen wings: I believe they come frozen. Gina knew I was coming, right?
Gordon on the trout: That has to be the worst trout I've ever seen in my entire career.
Gordon discovering frozen food claims: You said this fish market, fresh fish daily. Frozen fish, fresh fish. What's going on?
On the scallops: Tastes like diarrhea shit.
The kitchen revealed expired ingredients still in use, with staff claiming they change fryer water twice nightly while Gordon witnessed them cooking in visibly dirty water. The owner's practice of firing staff regularly and calling police on employees owed money created a toxic workplace.
The Verdict
The Brick is a complete disaster masquerading as a fine dining establishment. The owners prioritize events over actual restaurant quality, ingredients are routinely frozen despite fresh claims, kitchen equipment is broken and filthy, and management is dysfunctional with no real leadership structure. This hotel restaurant should not be serving food to guests. It exists solely because events generate revenue, not because of culinary excellence. Avoid entirely unless attending an event with catered food from elsewhere.