This restaurant must have been good previously given the previous reviews. My boss had eaten there a few years ago and gave us a gift certificate to eat there. We went there for our first anniversary.
We love food and can find greatness in hole in the walls to New York City's finest. Honestly, this was one of our worst meals ever. I don't think that it was just a bad night. We were the only diners that evening. Based on reading previous reviews, it seems that the menu has not changed in at least 3-4 years because we had the exact same meals as stated in previous reviews. We started with an oyster, mixed spring green salad, a roll, chateaubriand/sea bass, lime sorbet, poached pear with cheese, profiteroles in orange sauce.
I will start with the positive. The chef knows how to cook beef. The chateaubriand was the only really edible part of the meal. On the website which has not changed since the ownership changed some years ago, misleads you into thinking that there is something unique about the chef. Clearly, the chef does not know any more than the average home cook. The oyster was overcooked. The salad was clearly a bagged salad mix that had sprinkled on it bleu cheese, untoasted walnuts and a dressing that seemed to be heavily tossed with Ken's Steakhouse Rasberry Vinaigrette. The roll seemed to be a frozen roll that had been baked. The beef was well cooked and succulent. The seabass was so dense that it was inedible. It was potato encrusted and heavy as a hockey puck. I am not sure what the issue was because it did not even flake when you tried to cut it with a fork. It required a knife. The vegetables were boiled carrots in butter that were those you get from a grocery store that are made to look like mini-carrots. You know the ones that are put in snack packs -- rounded on each end. The lime sorbet was fine. The poached pear and cheese was proudly displayed and was steaming hot. The poaching liquid must have been pure red wine as there was no hint of spice in the pear. Again it just tasted like a pear boiled in red wine (it was inedible). A profiterole is supposed to be flaky. These were soggy dough covered ice cream balls slathered in a citrus sauce.
The chef was pleasant and honestly felt as if she was serving good food.
This is only one of two negative reviews I have ever written, but I don't think it is right that they can misrepresent themselves with a Zagat rating and charge $80 for something that is inedible.
more