06.04.09
Posted in Asian, Flatiron, New York City, New York City Reviews, rated 7 to 7.5, Southeast Asian at 02:14 by Dominique
30 W.24th & 5th/6th Aves., 212-727-7026
Great for: very hungry people, specials, large groups
This was the second (main) dinner of the night for my date with the Marketer. It’s an offshoot of the same restaurant in Williamsburg – I can see why they were successful enough to have two places. The menu is huge, but I stuck with the specials and wasn’t disappointed. I was, however, with him. Plus he said something really offensive and racist a few weeks later, giving me an excuse to stop talking to him entirely.
M got the special app of clams in Thai chili vinaigrette. The sauce was way too vinegary. Fortunately, my special of spicy tataki with tuna, mango, tobiko, eel and avocado made up for it. It looked lovely with tri-color tobiko on top and was fun texturally with crunchies inside. Everything was all chopped together and just the right level of spicy. (It might be too much for most people though, as I generally prefer my food on the blistering side.)
M had 15 pieces of sashimi and sushi which he said were good. My special entrée of pan-seared tuna with soba noodles was very spicy and great. The tuna steak was huge and there were lots of vegetables too. I loved the combination of spicy mayo and teriyaki on the tuna, though some of it had that chewy gristle. Actually, the dish overall may have been a tad too spicy, even for me. It was somehow less so the next day when I had the leftovers.
I liked the cool square pot in which my green tea was served. The waitresses were friendly but dopey. The place is crazy-looking, with a big, warm, aqua blue kitchen (yeah, I don’t know how blue can look warm either) and enough Ghost chairs to populate a haunted Starck mansion. There is an enormous thing above the bar that can best be described as a candy mountain made of colored lightbulbs. I liked the music. I wasn’t drinking that night, but they have a very long cocktail list with lots of fancy drinks that I’d definitely try another time.
The resto is huge. People started coming in around 8:30, and M said usually it’s packed. It seems to be popular for groups. I’d probably come again if I were nearby.
Rating: 7.5 / 10
Our cost: $60 + $40 tip
Noise level: it echoes
Chance of walking in: good.
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12.28.08
Posted in Asian, Lower East Side, New York City, New York City Reviews, rated 6 to 6.5, Southeast Asian at 18:14 by Dominique
78 Rivington & Allen Sts., 212-529-3901 [now closed]
Great for: Café Habana-style corn with less wait, noodle lovers, upscale Asian food near Chinatown, fried chicken appetizer
I had no dinner plans one Saturday – I know, shocking! This guy I really liked turned out to be a total flake – and instead of feeling sorry for myself, I capped a long, efficient day of shopping with dinner here. I wouldn’t know how authentically Cambodian it is but I hear good things about that. And the food is great, which is all that really matters.
The corn on the cob appetizer is fantastic. I love the same thing at Café Habana, and it was delightful to find it here unexpectedly. Basically, the Kampuchea version has spicier sauce, less cheese and more coconut. The ears are enormous as well. I was kind of happy no one I knew was there to watch me decimate two giant ears all by myself… it’s a bit of a messy process. I think I acquitted myself as daintily as could be expected though.
The duroc pork katiev with wide, flat, white noodles continued my happiness. I ended up adding a lot of hot sauce and ate all the leaves. I very much enjoyed the small and dried yet meaty shrimp. The pork was really good, with some fat but edible.
It’s a bright cheery place, with friendly servers, communal wooden tables and nicely sized stools. I wish they’d do takeout of more of the menu, but I can understand some things need to be eaten right away. I have actually been dreaming about the next time I can come back.
Rating: 8 6.5 / 10
My cost: $30
Noise level: I could still hear myself think
Chance of walking in: small. It’s not a big place, try early. They’re closed Mondays and lunch is only Friday to Sunday. Never mind, they’re shuttered for good as of December 2010.
I returned in March and June 2010 with a Boyfriend, and they’d added the Norry – basically doubling their space and adding a large bar – and revamped the menu. My beloved noodles are gone, replaced by entrees. By June the food was nowhere near as good as March. I can still halfheartedly recommend the corn and the fried chicken app with basil, spiced fleur de sel and lemon – I was so turned off by the gritty mussels in June, I don’t even care to research what happened with the kitchen staff. The brisket and pork ribs were pretty good in March. They are quite stingy with fish in the catfish num pang, though the little bit there is tastes nice. I did not enjoy the accompanying sweet potato chips, which didn’t taste like anything. The Boyfriend’s mussels were extremely sandy. Their broth with shallots and okra was good, but couldn’t possibly make up for mouthfuls of grit. I would have been really pissed about the poor food quality except I had a BlackboardEats discount. That might have been why they were still packed at 9 on a Wednesday. In any case, I’m disappointed and not bothering to go back any time soon. And it might be why they closed in August 2010 and reopened as a glorified hot dog place called Bun & Co. Which almost immediately closed too. Good riddance.
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12.22.08
Posted in Asian, New York City Reviews, rated 7 to 7.5, SoHo, Southeast Asian at 21:44 by Dominique
143 Grand & Lafayette Sts., 212-431-7999
Great for: beef pho (in my un-Vietnamese opinion), cheap drinks and sake
[I finally have more time to blog now! My musical is over. It went very well, I think. I’m three months behind on this thing, but at least I didn’t go to very many restaurants recently so the backlog is not as big as it might have been. Also the new Boyfriend and I stay in a lot.]
I’ve been to the sister restaurant, Bao Noodles in Gramercy, and I really liked it. (Not so much the exorbitant prices, but Blonde Hedge Funder took care of that.) When chef Michael Huynh announced round-the-clock service in SoHo in May, I signed up for one of the super late reservations for a free dinner. It turned out to be a good thing that I didn’t make it down there in time to keep my res, as they apparently ran out of food early and had to cancel the whole promotion after one day. A few weeks later I was looking for somewhere to go with my friend A and this popped up in my list.
For some reason she had already had dinner (not cool – never plan dinner and then do that to a foodie, half the fun is sharing dishes) so she just drank a glass of red wine while I ate. My spicy beef salad with endive, rocket, pineapple, grape tomatoes and mint was good. For a wonder, I enjoyed the pineapples’ contribution to the dish. Though not very hot it was quite satisfying.
The waitress recommended the garlic tiger shrimp chilies and lemongrass virgin olive oil with rice noodles for my main. I thought it delicious at first, but then I got tired of it. Perhaps it was because the sauce was a bit too sweet, or possibly the presence of the heads and tails. I liked my side of sticky rice with Chinese sausage. The shrimp is a big dish, though, so it turned out to be unnecessary.
They have an extensive cocktail list. My Julie lycheetini was great. The drinks are pretty cheap too, I think maybe $10 depending on how fancy you’re getting. Our waitress was very nice as well. A and I had a lot to catch up on but it didn’t seem to faze her that we were slow about deciding. She just checked on us periodically and patiently. It’s a surprisingly large space; rather narrow, but it extends quite far back. It seems to be decorated in the slightly ‘70s acid aesthetic.
I would have given this place a 6.5 but for the bun hue ($12), which I had at 3am one Sunday night. It was so ridiculously good. Everything about it was just heaven; the broth, the noodles, the meat, the abundant veggies… if I’d been mad about something that day, although I wasn’t after an afternoon of Paradou champagne brunch, a fashion show with VIP seats and free-flowing vodka at a rooftop bar, it would have put a smile on my face anyway. And then I found one of my favorite sakes, Koizuimi Komekome, on the menu! It being only $42 for a bottle, barely marked up, was just icing on the cake. I loved that sake from the wine pairing at Momofuku Ko. It was just a delightful dinner all around.
Rating: 7 / 10
Our cost: $45 + $10 (food for 1, 1 cocktail, 1 glass of wine)
Noise level: quiet, but I’m sure it gets rowdier at peak times
Chance of walking in: good, though they’re no longer open 24/7
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09.05.08
Posted in Asian, New York City, New York City Reviews, rated 7 to 7.5, Southeast Asian, West Village at 12:49 by Dominique
643 Hudson St. & Horatio/Gansevoort Sts., 212-352-3590
Great for: sliders, spicy food, skinny people with great hearing
Midtown Hedge Funder finally asked me out, but he left it so late all I had free was a Monday. I’ve been meaning to try Fatty Crab for ages. The menu is small but I was enthusiastic about most of it, a rarity for me. I’m a pretty picky eater.
We started with the Malay fish fry with turmeric [which was misspelled tumeric] tempura, crab curry, green chili and tamaki. It was like fish without chips and some bits were very hot. I found the coconut rice with pepper slices and parsley leaves quite good, despite my dislike of coconut, though a bit gritty. The fatty sliders of beef & pork on toasty buns were probably the best thing we had. They’re very juicy and the fat is blended in well enough that I didn’t feel the need to pick it out.
The somewhat eponymous chili Dungeness crab on white toast was pretty good. The sauce is a bit sweet for my taste, and the crab is nice though difficult to eat, primarily because it’s hard to hold onto the shells with all that sauce. I liked the giant, fluffy, thick slabs of toast. The fatty duck, both steamed and fried, with toasted tamaki on rice and pickle slices was also yummy. The sauce was really sweet and the peppers medium spicy, while the duck was crispy and very fatty but with good meat. It’s a small dish, you can definitely handle a side with it. We had the enjoyable and tender baby bok choy with oyster sauce.
Be careful, the hot sauce on the table is fishy and super hot! I went a little crazy with it and had to gulp down my Dark and Stormy cocktail. It’s made with Goslings black rum, ginger and lime. Too gingery at first, it grew on me. The bartender’s quite friendly too.
We liked our waiter, who managed to squeeze in and out of the narrow space and take care of all his tables with flair and grace. The place is cozy, if you’re feeling charitable – cramped might be more accurate. Don’t drink too much water, as you may not want to maneuver away from your table more than once. The music is super loud and I wanted cold water, but overall it’s a decent restaurant. If I came back I would get a snack of the sliders and then probably go somewhere else.
Rating: 7 / 10
Our cost: $160 (1 Tiger beer, 2 Dark & Stormys)
Noise level:
Chance of walking in: It’s not too bad early, like at 7pm. No reservations.
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06.03.08
Posted in Asian, Chelsea, Japanese, New York City, New York City Reviews, rated 6 to 6.5, Southeast Asian at 03:26 by Dominique
143 8th Ave. & 17th St., 212-691-8600
Great for: eating & drinking cheaply, bathroom amusement, male waiter ogling
It was my friend A’s birthday, and sixteen of us came out to dinner. A’s friends who sat close to me know about the blog and very kindly shared bites of their dishes with me so I could review them. I love this (non-) job.
The Bangkok drumsticks – fried minced chicken wrapped over sugar cane skewers with sweet & sour sauce – were yummy, almost all meat and no filler. I liked them better with hot sauce than their only slightly spicy accompanying sauce. The crispy beef special was just well-done slices of beef with sriracha dipping sauce. We found them tasty, albeit a little chewy. The Thai chicken salad was a bit sour in a good way with lots of raw vegetables like onions, carrot and lettuce.
I rather liked my pad see oui enu (traditional fried chow fun noodles) with sliced beef, egg, giant pieces of cabbage, scallions and crispy garlic. I found the beef slightly sweet but the noodles scrumptiously soft and almost gooey. The stir-fried udon with black pepper beef was the best dish I tasted all night. The meat was done medium well and the noodles were lovely and tender. Considering it was practically the same dish as mine, it’s funny how much better the udon was. I wish I’d gotten that instead.
They have a huge menu of cheap cocktails, mostly $8 or $9. Champagne ones cost a bit more. I tried the special Hawaiian coco with green tea vodka, rum and lime, which was pretty good though very coconutty. You might need glasses to read the astonishing number of drinks crammed onto the one-page menu. They have a nice little bar in the middle of the restaurant, but we didn’t see any people come in just for drinks. It’s definitely more of a restaurant – though certainly a crazy, futuristic-looking one.
The waiters were super cute and nice. So much so that I wasn’t upset they forgot my entrée until they’d served everyone else and realized their mistake. They do tend to be a little slow, though that’s probably a kitchen issue, since the restaurant is not that big. I was amused by the funny LED scroll across the mirror in the bathroom showing pickup lines. I guess if you’re too drunk to come up with your own, you can go get some inspiration in the bathroom. If I’m in the area again I would definitely stop by for the black pepper beef udon. Nooch serves until 11:30 on weekends, and is fairly spacious for the area, so it’s a good choice if you’ve got a bunch of people out late and are hungry and/or thirsty.
Rating: 6.5 / 10
Our cost: $30/person (1 cocktail)
Noise level: dance music in the background, not too noisy otherwise
Chance of walking in: medium.
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05.15.08
Posted in Asian, Lower East Side, New York City, New York City Reviews, rated 8 to 8.5, small plates, Southeast Asian at 11:11 by Dominique
65 Rivington & Allen/Eldridge Sts., 212-777-5882
Great for: sharing lots of satay skewers, noodles, cocktails in this BYOB neighborhood, spicy food lovers
My friend D had a visitor from California, and we ended up having dinner together with another friend of hers. We’re all fairly broke (they’re at NYU, my life is… complicated) so I picked Kuta as a good, cheap place. Most importantly, it actually serves alcohol besides wine or beer. On the Lower East Side it’s hard to find casual little places that even have a liquor license.
Kuta does a lot of satay, so it’s great for sharing many different meats. The girls aren’t as carnivorous as I am – we just tried two kinds. The Korean kalbi (short ribs) with Asian pears cooked in sesame barbecue sauce was very spicy and tender. The Heavenly Kuta of flank steak, coriander seeds, garlic and sambal was great too.
I loved my Jakarta mie goreng egg noodles with beef, snow peas, sambal and crispy shallots. It was so well-executed. The softness of the meat and noodles contrasted nicely with the crunchy snow peas and carrots. The pad thai was excellent as well. One of the girls found her spicy drunken noodles still too spicy after she asked them to make it milder, so I would recommend being very clear with the waiter on how much fire your mouth can take. I love spicy food, though, and I thought that dish was very good.
We had fun with the bellini flavors. All of them – guava, raspberry and mango – are delicious. The pomegranate kutahito, a mix of soju, sake and fruit juices, was also tasty. I found it a cozy little place with lovely patient servers. It was a good choice for our girls’ night out – easy on the wallet, yummy on the tongue.
Rating: 8 /10
Our cost: $150 (4 people, 2 cocktails each)
Noise level: happy hum
Chance of walking in: medium.
They do a $25 dinner prix fixe (on weeknights only, I think) for satay, starter, entrée and dessert. They’re closed Mondays.
I got takeout here in May and it wasn’t quite as good. The satay of Singapore fish balls tasted very strongly of curry and weren’t as spicy as I’d expected. The beef Madura satay was a bit bland and chewy. And the Sumatra beef rendang was only pretty good, with a curry-ish sauce and lots of tendons in the meat. I think the lesson is to stick to the spicy stuff and noodles – which I did next time I came in June. We liked the crab cake and the spicy tofu entrées. The Saigon beef noodles were not very good though. Be warned, the menu they have online is not exactly the same as the menu in the restaurant.
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05.02.08
Posted in Asian, Meatpacking District, New York City, New York City Reviews, rated 8 to 8.5, Southeast Asian at 00:59 by Dominique
403 W. 13th St. and 9th Ave, 212-675-2322
Great for: dates, Asian-French fusion, getting hammered in a civilized fashion, impressing out-of-towners, pre-club wallet lightening, family style
My friend V was about to set off on a very long tour of Asia and Europe, so we had dinner to celebrate and say goodbye temporarily. It’s fun eating with her – she loves meat and food in general about as much as I do. Plus I am usually out with the Boyfriend (like last time), and it’s nice to have a girls’ night once in a while.
We shared three entrees and a side instead of doing the normal three course meal. First up: a really good seafood laksa, which was Gulf shrimp, scallops and some kind of white fish in a curry coconut broth with thin noodles. The seafood was tender, and the noodles were properly slender. I usually don’t like coconut-flavored things, so I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the broth. Next, the pork vindaloo was also great. It’s not actually that hot if you’re used to spicy food, but we liked it a lot. The cod with Malaysian chili sauce and Thai basil was comparably excellent. We thought it was actually spicier than the vindaloo. To balance out all the meat, we got the baby corn and broccoli with lemongrass and chili over seared corn, and were delighted with that too. Everything was executed very well.
We tried the pattaya, kumquat mojito, Saigon cosmo and ginger margarita from the cocktail menu. They were all good, but I think my favorite was the Saigon cosmo, made of Skyy and plum sake, while V’s was the self-explanatory kumquat mojito. The verbena mint tea we shared at the end to sober up a bit was good as well. Our cute waiter took attentive, friendly care of us; the décor is still the same sexy Asian chic as always; and the food was consistently excellent throughout the entire meal. I’m looking forward to my next visit.
Rating: 8.5 / 10
Our cost: $150 (2 cocktails each)
Noise level: happy noisy
Chance of walking in: low (I made a reservation).
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02.21.08
Posted in Asian, fusion, New York City, New York City Reviews, rated 7 to 7.5, SoHo, Southeast Asian at 20:43 by Dominique
60 Thompson St. & Spring/Broome St., 212-219-2000
Great for: large parties, romantic trysts, lovely drinks, a great introduction to Thai food
Our friend decided to do her birthday dinner here, and got a special prix fixe deal for the 14 of us. They gave us 3 appetizers; 2 fish, 2 meat and a vegetarian entrée; and 2 desserts to share. It was a really generous menu, I was surprised that they’d give us so much. Especially since they brought 4 plates of everything.
The first course was Kittichai fish cakes with cucumber and red onion chutney; Grade A “Meing” tuna tartare, limestone tartlets, peanut, ginger and lime; and Northern Thai beef salad, Chinese long beans and roasted sticky rice powder. The Boyfriend didn’t love the fish cakes, but he generally hates all fish-type things that aren’t actually fish – I liked them a lot. The tuna tartare was great and so was the beef salad, all of which we wished there was more of. The limestone tartlets just seemed to be little chips, not rocks, and they were quite yummy.
The next course was crispy whole fish in lesser ginger curry; pan-roasted line-caught fish fillet, holy basil, wild ginger and green peppercorn; and sautéed gai-lan with garlic and ginger. We were in raptures over the whole fish, which was something white, fresh and fork-flakable. The odd-sounding sauce was also fantastic and not too gingery. I remember my Chinese mother forcing me to eat gai-lan, aka Chinese broccoli, when I was younger, and hating it because it was always giant, bitter and hard to chew. At Kittichai, they make it so crisp and flavorful that I loved it. Luckily for me, everyone else was a bit puzzled by what the hell it was, so I got to eat most of it. The pan-roasted fish and its spicy sauce were pretty good but a bit disappointing next to the excellent whole fish.
Next, we had the lemongrass chicken hot pot with kabocha and black mushroom in black pepper sauce and pineapple braised short ribs in green curry, Thai eggplant and sweet basil accompanied by steamed jasmine rice. The short ribs were all right, a bit sweet for my taste, not really anything special. The chicken, on the other hand, was great – tender, tasty, it made a chicken-hater like me tempted to steal the last piece. (I usually only like chicken in fried or wing form.)
We were stuffed full of yummy food at this point, but when they brought dessert we ended up finishing both the flourless Valrhona chocolate cake with fresh cream and the banana spring rolls with burnt honey ice cream. I detest bananas, so didn’t try the “spring rolls”, but the other people told me they were ok. The chocolate cake completely made up for it though; it was really good. I liked the way they presented it as well.
The drinks here are well-mixed. I had or tried the muddled grapes, strawberry pear margarita, gin saketini, pear-almond martini and blackberry cognac. They were all quite good, although I did not like the cucumber slices in the saketini. The muddled grapes and the strawberry pear margarita were the most popular at our table.
The decor of the place is lovely. It looks kind of pan-Asian/New York downtown sexy, and I told Boyfriend I’d love to come back for a date. The waiters are quite hot and much friendlier than you’d expect them to be. They took good care of us. Sometimes I’ve found that service when I’m in a big party is inattentive, which I think is because they know big mixed parties tend to be bad tippers. The waiters made sure we all had drinks and cleared our small individual plates whenever they were too dirty. Overall it was a great experience, and definitely a good choice for large parties so you can try lots of different dishes.
Rating: 7.5 / 10
Our cost: $115 per 14 people with about 3 cocktails for prix fixe large party menu
Noise level: good, we didn’t have trouble hearing each other
Chance of walking in: medium.
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02.09.08
Posted in Asian, French, fusion, Midtown East, Murray Hill, New York City, New York City Reviews, rated 8 to 8.5, Southeast Asian at 17:40 by Dominique
200 E. 54th St. & 3rd Ave., 212-486-9592 (now closed, sadly)
Great for: small intimate parties, converting people who think Asian fusion is over, wallet-friendlier Jean-Georges
The Boyfriend and I went snowboarding in the Poconos one weekend, and after much exertion (and aprés-ski drinking), felt that we’d earned a nice dinner out. Vong has been on my list for a while, and we were in the mood for a nice, grown-up, sophisticated place, so uptown we went.
It was pouring outside, so the restaurant wasn’t that busy and we were lucky enough to get one of the little alcoves. They’re upholstered in leather and very romantic. I liked the tables as well, which seemed to be topped with granite. I wasn’t much a fan of the sesame rice cakes with spicy peanut sauce, but then I don’t like sesame or peanut sauce. The Boyfriend does, and says they were very good.
We opted for the tasting plate to start. It comes with four yummy dipping sauces of lemon ginger rosemary, tamarind, ginger garlic and sweet chili, and two each of five appetizers. We thought the lobster daikon roll and the tuna, avocado, carrot and cucumber roll were not bad, light and refreshing. The lobster roll is very gingery though. The breaded and fried shrimp satay was pretty good. We especially liked the crab spring roll, and the spiced quail on watercress salad was definitely our favorite. The meat was delicately and perfectly flavored, while the greens were tart and delicious.
For entrées, I had the duck and Boyfriend had the sea bass. My Muscovy duck breast came medium rare in tamarind sauce with baby bok choy and a spring roll of duck confit. It was so good. The duck slices were succulent and tender, the vegetables were too and the spring roll was scrumptious. I’ve never tasted duck in that form, but I hope I will again soon. I love the way it was presented too, like two fans; the top half of the plate a fan of duck slices, while the bottom half a fan of bok choy. The Boyfriend’s black sea bass was a white island in a shallow lake of coconut lime juice with sandbars of parsnip purée. I’m not sure either of us had ever had parsnips before – I just had a vague idea that they were nasty root vegetables – and I almost don’t want to eat them again, except at Vong, because they could only be worse. What an interesting and unique pairing, too. The purée was very light, which was perfect for the lovely texture and taste of the fish. Boyfriend’s only quibble was with the sauce, which was good initially but got a bit sweet after he had a lot of it.
They brought us jade tea while we waited for our fantastic passion fruit soufflé. We had a mini-joust with our spoons over every bite, it was that good. It was a fluffy wonder. The complimentary chocolate petit-fours with mint sorbet at the center were also yummy.
The service at this place is as good as the food. Our waiter never rushed us, but kept a keen eye on whatever we might want. He was unobtrusive yet attentive. The whole place feels welcoming without being overbearing. Everyone is helpful and very friendly, but only when you need them. I love that kind of service. The decor is very stereotypically Asian, done so tastefully it still brought a smile to my face. I like the funny red temple door or whatever that they have close to the entrance. Everything just feels sophisticated and zen, without being precious or pretentious. It’s great. We love it, and are definitely going back once we’ve crossed a few more places off my list.
Rating: 8 / 10
Our cost: $165 (no drinks)
Noise level: nicely quiet
Chance of walking in: medium (the NYC location is now closed, though there is one in Chicago).
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01.22.08
Posted in Asian, Meatpacking District, New York City, New York City Reviews, rated 7 to 7.5, Southeast Asian at 18:15 by Dominique
403 W. 13th St. and 9th Ave, 212-675-2322
Great for: dates, Asian-French fusion, getting hammered in a civilized fashion, impressing out-of-towners, pre-club wallet lightening
The Boyfriend and I had a friend visiting from England, and thought Jean-Georges’s take on Asian street food would be a nice New York-y place to take him. We’d had dinner elsewhere separately so we just did drinks and appetizers. The times I’d been here before, the food was quite good, and this time was no exception.
We got the pork satays, beef skewers with lime sauce, salmon sashimi and spicy chicken wings. The wings had a bit too much sauce, unlike the way I remember them, but were still yummy. The fish was really good, as was the pork, and the beef was my favorite. I also couldn’t stop eating the spicy chips with hot sauce that come in lieu of bread. They remind me of papadoms, a kind of super-thin baked Indian thing that looks a bit like a tortilla chip.
The cocktails are great. Between the three of us we had several beers and the pattaya, Saigon cosmo, mai tai and East India cocktail. They’re all delicious; the East India, made of Courvoisier VSOP, Cointreau, Angostura bitters and pineapple, was my favorite.
I love the way the place looks. It’s dark and romantic but also good for a bunch of friends. It’s pretty upscale for street food, although I’d expect nothing less from Jean-Georges. We had great service as well. Our waiter was clearly very busy but managed to be there every time we needed new drinks, plates cleared, etc. It’s also not as difficult to get a reservation as it used to be, which is nice. One time I went with two girlfriends and their guy friend, and it took him a $100 handshake to just get past the bouncer, then another $100 to persuade the hostess to believe his lie that we had a reservation. This time, we were able to walk in and get a table right away, although it being a Monday night at 9:30 probably helped. Overall, I like the place a lot. It’s definitely one of my favorites in the meatpacking district.
Rating: 7.5 / 10
Our cost: $130 for drinks and appetizers for 3 people
Noise level: medium, and there are lots of private nooks
Chances of walking in: low.
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