We went last night. Charming room and warm, welcoming service. I was surprised that the room was 3/4 empty in a Friday night but that surprise vanished as soon as the food started arriving. I love a briny oyster but the chef apparently belongs to the more is better school as he added an extremely salty sauce. But that was nothing compared to the salt level in the broccoli with lardo. I couldn’t eat more then a few pieces without starting to feel sick. We then asked the waiter if the salt level could be toned down for future courses. He replaced the broccoli with a very nice crisp refreshing pea dish.
We then had an adequate chicken liver mousse and a delicious preserved tuna dish. This was followed by a rather dull lamb and all the salt they held back on in the last few courses made its way into the octopus.
The semifreddo was tooth achingly sweet but the torrija was just perfect. Great texture and flavor.
Aska - It just keeps getting better and better. Every time we go they have a couple of new dishes just for us. This time one of those dishes was a hake rapped in mustard flowers that was so good.
Cagen - Sadly they no longer serve the Omakase menu because they can’t find qualified kitchen stand and chef wants to focus on Sushi and essentially serve the best sushi and raw fish in NYC. The 2nd time I have had this menu and I really like and I would certainly put his Sushi in the top echelon in the U.S.
Vinegar Hill House - An old favorite that is just a special experience. I usually reserve this for out of towners because it is such a unique experience and the Vinegar Hill area is a time warp. Anyway the food was delicious and the chicken which is cooked in their wood burning over outstanding.
Wow! Uchu was amazing. The Chef, Samuel Clonts, trained at Brooklyn Fare which is one of my favorite restaurants and it shows. The food is to me very similar to Brooklyn Fare which is great. Very good wine and sake list. And a huge whiskey list which I know zero about. The somms were great and very welcoming. I had incorrectly heard that they did not have wine so I brought, corkage is $75. 90 Krug was fantastic and the best bottle I have had of that wine.
Yes $200. Not cheap but very fair considering the ingredients A5 Waygu, Golden Osetra, Truffle etc. I will say that that they use the higher end ingredients in a wonderful way were they are an integral component and not just thrown on top to be over the top for the sake of it.
As I said above the food reminded me very much of Brooklyn Fare and it is less than half the price.
Finally went to Le Coucou on a lark as I expected not to love the food. It is August and we did not have a reservation and thought we would see if they had a table for two at lunchtime, they did and were very nice. The food was as expected just fine. The omelet was excellent and everything else just ok. I had chicken for my main course and noted that the chicken at Vinegar Hill House a few days ago blew it away. The wine list was good and fairly priced. With so many exciting places to eat in NYC I just don’t have any desire to go back. However I see why it is doing so well and certainly has a place in the NYC.
I was at Le Coucou on Friday. Enjoyed my meal again very much. The pike quenelles are the best I’ve ever had. Robert, I do disagree on the wine list. I don’t find it reasonably priced at all. I was just chatting this morning on FB with someone whose company sells them wine and she agrees knowing what they pay for it. At least, they have some more mature wine on the list now. Six months ago it was all new vintage stuff. Corkage is high at $95 but I still prefer paying that and bringing a nice higher end mature wine then paying their wine list prices.
Paul - Rereading what I wrote I see your point. I said fairly priced when what I really meant was not as bad I would have thought. The wine I ordered was 2.5x retail which for a place like Le Coucou sadly is not that bad. I saw a number of wines in the 2 -2.5x retail zip code and a few that were in the 4x. In summary there are a number of very good wines under $100 (90 JB Becker) and some higher end wines at 2-2.5x retail so I consider that a good list for that type of place. I should also not the glasses are average at best.
i’ve been a few times and the list is basically the same - if you want to have a “nice” wine you need to spend a lot. as horrible as the corkage is, i’d still rather pay $95 and bring a good bottle. it’s honestly a very odd list.
Need some help… I’m heading up to NYC in late Sept. with 3 foodies, guy’s who love and appreciate extraordinary dining experiences. This trip is centered around dining. I’m in charge of finding a place for a dinner on the Friday night.
Everyone seems to be impressed with Brooklyn Fare and Contra. Are these still stellar options? Any other suggestions.
Going tonight, and looking forward to it. Anyone have any dish reccos? I called, and they do $10 corkage (!). If it’s as good as the hype, I may be prematurely in love
We found ourselves in NYC late yesterday afternoon looking for a place to have dinner and made the excellent decision to try out Tori Shin. Undoubtedly the best yakitori we’ve had outside Japan.
I loved Tori Shin when it was on the UES, it was much more intimate and you could sit at the bar and talk to the chef cooking for you. You could also just walk in as it wasn’t nearly as popular and was something of a local secret. I went to the new place and wasn’t aware of the multi-storied layout so we were sat at a table. While the food was excellent, the place is much bigger and feels less personal. That said, I’d be happy to go back, though next time I go I’ll ask for bar seating.
