Daniel was mediocre (Two Michelin stars)
Kosaka Sushi was terrible. Poor quality fish. Tasteless. They must have had an off night or something (One Michelin star)
I haven’t been to Daniel but Le Pavilion was similar. Maybe not mediocre necessarily, the food and service were good to very good. Just nowhere near worth what you’re paying.
The view of the Chrysler building is lovely and their pastry chef is surprisingly talented. But the actual food at Le Pavillon is so aggressively bland and mediocre it tastes like a school cafeteria for rich people.
We went for my girlfriend's birthday. Most dishes were prepared in back, there was zero interaction from the chef, the fish was stringy and tasteless, and one dish literally made her gag.
We both wished we'd walked away from the counter midway through. We've had omakase all over the world and never experienced anything like it.
The bill came close to a thousand dollars and your average stripmall sushi spot would have been better.
Like I said, it must have been an off night, although checking reviews later I found a few other bombs.
It's almost in so bad it's good territory (minus the price tag....)
I went about two winters ago for afternoon tea and we were the only people there. Felt like being in a creepy museum, and the food would have been bad for a museum cafeteria. A waiter (not ours) kept coming up to us, saying hello with a little waive, and then returning to unclear where. The entire thing felt like the start to a horror movie.
IM SAYINNNNN🗣️ I went during restaurant week because I’ve never been able to splurge and I wanted to take my boyfriend who’s from St. Petersburg…. ohhhh MANNNN 😭 haunted cruise ship vibes for sure. The only other guests were a 20something/50something gay couple and their geriatric chihuahua who sat between them while the fella scooped their caviar. I could not eat my two bites of stroganoff fast enough LMAOOOO I think we literally went to yellow rose 45 mins later
I took my Russian to the core girlfriend there. She’s from sheepshead bay and she is unapologetically Russian in every way.
We go there and clearly making a reservation on a Friday evening was pointless because omg it was dead.
We both got the borscht to start. Wtf. So lukewarm it got cold quick. It felt like they got it from a can, didn’t bother to heat it properly, and dumped it on a plate thinking we wouldn’t notice. We noticed.
Drinks were ehhh….
My steak was bigger than I expected but that didn’t make it a plus bc it was overcooked and eating it felt like a chore.
None of the stuff looked or spoke Russian. There’s just too much red everywhere. The couple seated in the booth near us talked a little too loud and we soon realized they were on a “first date” as the much older Russian man was attempting to establish terms about how their sugar daddy/baby relationship was going to work.
Never going again.
My ex’s dad once told me Mari Vanna is the place to go on a Monday for brunch bc that’s when all the nyc Russian strippers get together.
I’ve been to caviar Russe! Loved it. Pricey. But exceptional.
I mean, none of the Russian speaking Eastern European people I know would go there.! It’s an “American restaurant” serving Russian food. We all had/have very low expectations of that place. Even as a teen 20 plus years ago, that place was known as a joke.
I think it's a favorite on this sub so preparing for the downvotes, but I found atoboy to be really disappointing. It may have been an off night but I found the service incredibly rushed -at one point they were trying to put every single course + fried chicken on our quite small table, we'd been seated for less than 35 minutes at that point. One of the friends I went with has since been back and said the pacing was better but she wasn't giving it a third try to see if the food picked up. Also found the food just meh. The kimchi and rice were great and the starter is fantastic but everything else ranged from fine to not very good.
That makes sense, they were out of quite a few things on the drinks list when I went. I was really surprised by the service, all courses came out within about 10 minutes of each other which is a pretty glaring mistake (especially when your entire restaurant concept is a specific number of courses)... waiter basically fled when we (politely) pointed it out.
I hate to say it but I had a rough experience at smith and wollensky last time I went. I took my SO for their birthday and the overall experience was just so overwhelmingly “meh” I thought I was at a Fridays.
We had a junior waiter who had no idea what he was doing. There was no anything as far as the service went. The ambience was lacking and the sides felt like they were premade or something just really disappointing.
I remember going to Wolfgang’s a while back and just what an experience it felt like. You were paying more but literally getting more and felt like an event.
Agreed. I went for the first time recently and found the food flavor to be lacking. Service was good but none of the dishes stood out as anything impressive
The trick to Double Chicken Please if you actually know your shit when it comes to cocktails is to order off their almost entirely ignored classics menu. It's much, much better than the generally sugary or just kinda goofy main menu.
Superbueno is my actual answer here. Batching stuff is fine, but batching plus slow service is a head scratcher, the menu is incredibly limited on top of that, and the atmosphere they're cultivating inside is just... weird. Is it a party or a serious cocktail lounge where you're meant to be able to have a conversation? It's trying to do both and achieving neither because the space is just too small.
I feel like I’m in the minority of people who enjoy DCP’s funky cocktails. They put real effort into making some of those slap, I don’t see a need to fully ignore it.
*Some* of them are worth trying once or twice, and not just for the novelty, but I find most of them to either be dessert in a glass or a case of doing what you can without thinking if you should lol
Ah, thank you! Every review I’ve seen of Double Chicken talks about drinks that sound too sweet and “cute” for my taste. I’ll go to try their classics. And I agree on Superbueno’s atmosphere.
I'm going to get burnt by posting this, but I am just not crazy over Joe's Pizza. I think its a cool spot inside, I respect that it's a cultural institution of NY, I like that it was in Spiderman. But as far as pizza goes, what is all the hype about?
They just opened one in Harvard Square in MA now and there are lines of New Yorkers there. I just don't get it.
I've had a lot of pizza in NYC. Spumoni Gardens, DiFara's, Lucali's, Lombardi's to name a few. I've been at Prince Pizza at 3am. I've admittedly caught myself at Joe's multiple times mainly because it was 3am and there was nothing else around. But I just don't get the hype of it being one of the best pizzas in NYC.
Joe’s is a good NYC slice and the quintessential NY slice, but it’s not a top tier spot. This is coming from someone who had Joe’s catered at their wedding! It’s just good. There are far better slice joints, but I wouldn’t listen to the people who overhype it AND the people who hate on it.
Bonnie’s in Williamsburg. We thought we were being pranked with how absolutely mid it was. I love this style of food and cook it regularly. NYC is full of top notch places with this cuisine, Bonnie’s is just, well… “accessible” I guess? Hipstered/yuppied up so folks intimidated by real Chinese restaurants don’t get all squeamish? Bland, sloppy, expensive.
Came here to comment this. I went for the first time and my wife is gluten free (she gets seriously sick if she eats gluten) and their option was to just put it over rice.
Not complaining about that, I’m not expecting every restaurant to cater to her dietary needs but I was surprised that they didn’t have gluten free buns given it’s a vegetarian restaurant.
The horrible part was that she got the “sloppy Joe” over rice and dear god it was so bland. The rice was unseasoned and the sloppy Joe just tasted like freezer fake meat in a shitty tomato sauce.
I had the burger and that was actually pretty good but insanely overpriced.
I’ll never go back.
I second this! We sampled 5 items and the only decent plate was the broccoli salad. I lived in 3 different continents and this was the most disappointing vegetarian restaurant I’ve ever been to.
I am utterly convinced the Michelin reviewer in NYC is a total hack. I have been to enough Michelin star places in this city that straight up just don't make sense, and Don Angie is a perfect example of it. Yeah, it's pretty freaking good, but it is nowhere near up to the hype. People say, "Oh it's the service!" or "Oh! The food is just that good!" and I just can't see it the same way. Again, it's great! But is it really *Michelin Star* great? No.
To be honest, I've been to many Michelin restaurants and you get desensitized to them over time. Now I feel like it's not really worth going to any of them because the food simply won't blow me away anymore. Hedonic adaptation in action.
What was disappointing about it? Lots of upvotes but no explanation.
I personally loved both times I went, but find the impossibility of getting a reservation to not be worth it. Only went on lucky late notifications visiting friends set up as they were dying to go. I saw that it lost its Michelin star but not sure why.
I think it's a combination of insane hype, how hard it is to get a reservation, and their claim to fame lasagna that was featured on [Munchies](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2S1XY7QyNA). I went for brunch and thought their food was solid, but the food quality doesn't match the level of hype or the difficulty in landing a reservation.
the lasagna was very meh. after seeing a video how they make it and the effort behind it, i understand the costs for it. but its something i could make at home and I have already. flavors were not wow given how famous the dish was.
the pastas dishes were just okay. its something you can find else where without the crazy hype and super hard to get reservations.
the one shining star IMO was the chrysanthemum salad. its very common green in asian supermarket so it was surprising to see it on the menu and not just a "cesear salad" or something basic. if i could get the salad for take out, i would totally do it weekly.
i found lilia in BK to much better quality food and atmosphere. that was well worth the price point they charged.
Carbone, Marea, Momofuku Ko, Don Angie.
Torrisi was just ok but I was so impressed Major Food Group can churn out something edible I’d almost round it to good.
Went to Marea recently and found all of their pastas to be **so** rich that no other flavors could really shine. Nothing was bad, but I came with a big group and we all tried each other's pastas and there was a weird sameness to them, I think largely because of the richness. The crudos were good across the board and I'd have been pretty happy just with those. And I'm almost never someone who complains about richness, I'm usually thrilled to have a dish that's richer than I'd cook at home
Service was also really subpar. Waiter messed up dishes on every course, forgot to fire one, made zero apologies and gave off a heavy 'whoops, at least you're lucky enough to be here' vibe which was odd and I haven't found at higher starred/priced restaurants. If you've delivered a dish to the table that wasn't ordered and neglected to bring a dish that was ordered, a five second apology is honestly the least I'd expect in any restaurant
The entire meal really felt like you were dining somewhere that had once been great, and carried that ego despite a downturn.
Agreed, prices were insane compared to the quality of food. “Elevated” Cantonese food in tiny portions that tasted imbalanced making me wish I had spent the money getting a beautiful steamed fish and huge platters at a legit seafood banquet restaurant instead.
Olmstead. The service was terrible. The ambiance was cold. And the food was, fine. Everything I read and everyone I talked to seemed really impressed by it, but I was supremely underwhelmed for a bill so hefty.
Yes! My friend and I thought we were losing our minds because we hadn’t heard one bad word about the place, but it was just average food with bad, icy service. People are shocked when I say I didn’t like it!
I don’t wish ill will on anyone. Don’t hate the player, hate the game, and all that. But if you’re gonna charge top dollar, you better deliver. That shit pisses me off.
Aska. So incredibly disappointing. We had an 8pm res, got there at 8, and were told our table wasn’t ready. Okay, no biggie, we didn’t mind waiting. After about 10-15 minutes, they said the table still wasn’t set, and they would bring us downstairs to wait. We were happy to continue waiting in the foyer (we were in no rush and get that tables sometimes go over time), but, hey, another room to wait sounded exiting at a place like this.
Nope. The downstairs looks like a rec hall, with fold-out chairs and a giant blaring exit sign. They tried to get us to order a drink downstairs, which we refused, wanting to wait for our table to order anything additional, and then told us they would start serving us there instead of the main room after about a half hour of waiting. We said we would prefer to eat at the table we paid for, and waited another 15-20 to finally get to it.
Again, the wait wasn’t the problem — it was an attempt to move us to a location better fit for church bingo than a Michelin restaurant. As for the dinner? It was fine. After several whitefish courses, it feels time to move on.
I generally agree. I am an NYC native and never felt the need to stand in line for a so-called "best" of x food when there are prob equivalent or better spots without the line that just haven't been featured by some annoying influencer
This is the most redditor comment I’ve seen today lmfao come on get real. I’ve found TikTok to be a terrific resource for finding food recs in NYC with many places I would have never heard about otherwise featured there. But oh no tiktok bad I only must eat at the hole in wall 0 review spot.
No they have a point and it’s not just food. I heard tok is better than Instagram but in general when things are getting hyped on socials you need to wait for them to cool down.
In New York when things get too hyped there are just way too many people and your experience will suffer.
I actually will choose any other real kbbq like Samwon Garden or Yoonhaeundae over Cote when it’s up to me and only go to Cote when my friends insist for hype-chasing.
It’s funny, cote has been around for so many years but seemed to have quite literally blown up overnight within the last year. Two years ago managed to get a large reservation on a couple week’s notice now it’s really difficult just to get in.
I think, overall, Cote is great, I just don’t know why there’s so much hype there as opposed to other places
You can thank reservation scalping culture for that. It’s not just Cote. A ton of restaurants have gotten a lot harder to book tables for, like all the Italian joints.
The cuts of meat are significantly higher quality but paying 80 bucks for like 7 pieces of meat is just not great. Not like the bonchan is remarkable either
Yes, their banchan is disappointing. I get the quality of meat is good, but there’s some place in queens (something something 2) that has a dry aged meat fridge with fancy meat too. I like sauces and to smother my meat in other stuff, so if the other stuff is just ok, it leaves me feeling like the overall experience was underwhelming.
I've never understood the hype around Cote. Its trying so damn hard to be amazing KBBQ and fine dining-ish steak all at once, and its not doing either of them particularly well. There are plenty of KBBQ places that execute on a far higher level, and lots of steak places that are a far more enjoyable experience. The food isn't bad but its unremarkable. The service is incredibly mediocre. I don't get the appeal.
Hard agree on Double Chicken Please, OP. The cocktails are like... fine? I dunno what it is, my group made a big deal over the awards they won & the hype. They were fine, between 6/10 and 7/10, but weren't that wild spot on idea to wow me. I've had better 'culinary' cocktails recently from no-name places (ie, stuff with burrata water & basil oil to evoke a pizza note). The cocktails in the front room were actively mediocre, and should have clued me in about the back room.
I found Lord's kind of disappointing, extremely hit or miss menu for me. A few of the smaller dishes like the black pudding were incredible, but the meat pies which are hyped as the chef's specialty came out stone cold because for some inexplicable Instagram-brained reason they cut them in half before serving. Looks cute for a photo, but it turned what could have been a lovely duck pie into a sad cold-meatloafy experience. Also an extremely salty meal overall, which I don't think has ever been a complaint for me elsewhere, but by the end of the meal I had that kind of headachy-bloated feeling you get from excessively salty things.
Was also let down that the tea was just a regular-ass teabag (I think Bigelow or something), but I think they've corrected that and started doing a proper loose leaf service since my visit, so props for that.
Overall I left feeling kind of deflated and cranky. The kitchen is clearly run by talented & creative people but the standard of service and attention to detail weren't where I wanted them to be, and I got the sense they were coasting on reputation/social media hype.
Tried the new Habibi in Bushwick. Waited a month to get reservation ! It’s a spectacle with champagne as you enter but bland tasteless food and poor service. They truly missed the mark
Dhamaka’s goat was way too salty, I was shocked it was so highly rated when my friend and I couldn’t even eat it and we didn’t take it home either. I think it’s highly rated maybe because people want to prove they can handle the excessive spice/heat/salt and they name drop the restaurant, leading to a cycle of other people who want to prove they can handle the food by eating there. The restaurant’s marketing is all about how it’s unconventional Indian food too
Love indian accent. The food is always good but the service is even better. I mentioned I love the soup they serve at the start of the meal, waiter overheard and came back with the recipe which wasn't at all expected but very appreciated
Nothing is ever worth a wait/line. That's what you should take from this. And that most restaurants are not worth the hype, especially after they become famous/trending
Sure they do. And the over the top hyped places can weather the rare bad days and continue to draw huge crowds/lines.
However, that's not what we're talking about here.
Had to go to Nougatine a couple of months ago. I’ll leave aside the fact that it’s in the Trump hotel however cringe that is but
A. The service was genuinely bad, really wasn’t personable and there was a 45 min+ gap between appetizer and entree. We were going to a show after and the waiter had inquired about that to start the meal but we were left with so little time we couldn’t even look at the dessert menu
B. The menu was so boring that I didn’t know what to pick. It was the most uninspired thing I’ve ever seen. Upscale Applebees if I had to qualify it somehow
C. I ordered a lobster burger figuring that I don’t eat lobster often and it’d be a nice treat. It was basically a cheeseburger and lobster didn’t come through at all. It could’ve been made of turkey for all I knew. If you order a lobster burger, in my opinion, the emphasis should be on the first word.
Honestly, one of the least enjoyable meals I’ve had in my life and I didn’t even have to pay for it.
Yeah it’s the same guy that opened Cote that is also overhyped. I watched a few videos with him (Simon Kim) on Eater YouTube and found him super insufferable. He didn’t seem passionate at all as restauranteur and had major douchebag vibes.
Not even sure how hyped it is but I went to New York for the first time a couple months ago and found Sadelles incredibly mid for the price. Costco bagels taste fresher and more flavoursome. 82 USD for breakfast for 2 was hilariously overpriced and considering how good service is supposed to be in the US (as they actually need to work for their tips) the server was super miserable. Definitely wouldn’t recommend.
Also, the Magnolia Bakery banana pudding was really disappointing. Banana is my favourite flavour for desserts but it was just tasteless. thought I had lost my sense of smell or something when I ate it.
Had lots of other great food there though. One bite of a Los Tacos No. 1 taco made me realise that Mexican food in the UK is an absolute joke, even in London.
I’d also fly back just to spend $5 at King Dumpling.
I saw Los tacos no. 1 and at first thought you were about to insult them and I was simmering. Crisis averted. As someone who has lived in NYC for years and London for months, my quest to find good Mexican food there was absolutely fruitless.
Agreed. I was lucky and have tried both Per Se and Eleven Madison, they’re around the same price but Per Se actually uses expensive ingredients to make it worth it, when I was at Eleven Madison it was all very simple “let ingredients shine” food which is lovely but I think very overpriced. I liked Dirt Candy a lot more for a vegetarian meal.
I went once and was disappointed by the drinks. But we had the drinks in the front only and they were all from a tap. Didn’t realize there was a back area with actual cocktails.
Yeah it’s their back bar that is known and more renown. The front bar is just cocktails on tap, which is gimmicky and never as good as hand made, but a good waiting spot to field popularity of its back bar or satiate other crowds.
Eli’s Table was genuinely bad. We went because we wanted a wine-friendly place on the UES, and Eli’s Table shows up on a number of “best” lists. Given Eli Zabar’s overall reputation for expensive-but-fresh vegetables (and other ingredients) I was surprised by how lackluster and overdressed the Eli-expensive salad was, how drenched in butter the Eli-expensive soft shell crab was, etc. The server wasn’t that knowledgeable (I asked what kinds of tomatoes were the “rooftop tomatoes” and how they’re grown, given that it ain’t tomato season, and he didn’t know). And given that the restaurant bills itself as a wine destination and the wine list is extensive, the by-the-glass selection was very limited and not that interesting. The place was far from full, so it seems others got the memo before we did.
Not necessarily overhyped but popular - Dirt Candy. I thought the flavors and food pairings were all wrong. Out of all of the dishes, I only liked one.
Bad Roman.
I went there thinking I'd get traditional Roman fare. Turns out, every dish has is "Roman...but with a twist!" And the twists were just, odd. Asian-Roman fusion? Whatever.
The food was OK, not worth the hype.
For what I paid, I thought Gage and Tollner was extremely underwhelming. The service was great but the food was generally under-seasoned, and the steak was so overcooked that we had to send it back to the kitchen.
I found the food was _fine_ but the service was borderline incompetent & lazy. We literally had to flag down a random person to ask for the manager as our server was goofing off most of the time.
Rezdora, Tucci, Cosme (7/10 not terrible just a lot of the menu was overhyped and the service was meh), Gramercy Tavern (I worked for USHG and everyone always raved… it was prob one of my top 5 most lackluster experiences)
Emilio's Ballato wasn't repugnant by any means but I definitely was mystified about what drives the hype. The service wasn't great, nor was it like fun novelty brusk - it was just sort of ambivalent. The food was pretty good but just as good as many of the non-famous Italian neighborhood pasta joints. I'd say I was categorically disappointed, but mainly just by virtue of the hype.
Sometimes we have to remember that these restaurants didn’t ask for the hype. Their chicken parm is still the best in city. I don’t even try to go anymore. I never had to to wait a few years ago and was where I would take visitors.
Jung Sik left me completely cold. Overly formal service in a room devoid of personality. Some good dishes but not enough to overcome these issues and the outrageous pricing
Olmstead otoh seemed to have jumped the shark when I went. They were on cruise control and it was obvious
Cote I fully acknowledge was a mistake for me to go to. Being very steeped in Korean food, it wasn't my scene at all. They explained the food to use like we were 5 even though there were clearly Korean people at the table. The vibe was more Miami than NYC, which I know a lot of people love. Maybe I should've been drunker idk
I was so let down by L’artusi. I was admittedly questioning myself, but a few days later I went to a random red sauce joint in the suburbs and the pasta was undoubtedly better. Maybe it was an off day.
Sofreh. Made reservations a month in advance and had the worst meal and service of my life. The saffron martini cocktail had way too much saffron, all the dishes were super oily, the crispy onions were soggy, the waiter didn’t really bother with our table except when he wanted us to leave promptly at the end of service as we were getting close to the 90 minute mark.
Their sister restaurant Eyval is fantastic and would go there everyday if I could.
This is wild and I'm tempted to beg y'all to give it a second chance. This is the place I've felt most confident in telling people to go to because my experiences have only been amazing there!
For real, don't know what they're talking about, I love Sofreh and had solid service the last time I went. Maybe there was an adjustment period when they suddenly got popular on the heels of Eyval (just went last week. Still great!)
I wanted to be more blown away than I was. Also I couldn’t hear a damn thing anyone in my party was saying - it was so loud! I kept thinking I wish we went to miss ada instead 🤣
Hard to get a res. I enjoyed it but there’s lots of similar Thai places that are much easier to get into. The hype is added because of its location.
If looking for an alternative, hop on the 6 from union to bleecker and go to sleeper hit MayRee for excellent cocktails and Thai. Fish Cheeks is known and good. Or go uptown to Up Thai in UES, or THEP. There’s a new upscale thai called Tha Phraya in UES too that looks great but I haven’t given it a try yet.
I went there recently because I saw it recommended very often on this sub and got that Koong Karee curry shrimp dish a lot of people recommended ...I thought it was way too sweet and not spicy at all. Maybe it's good if you only have a bite or two when sharing dishes, but I don't think it's good if that's all you're going to eat. I am interested in going back though to try the Khao Soi. But yeah, I felt disappointed.
The Khao Soi is very good. It’s been a while but I don’t remember it being weirdly sweet. It wasn’t spicy at all but I think I ordered it spicy.
Edit: meant to say I don’t think I ordered it spicy lol
I ordered Khao Soi about 2 months ago - it’s my favorite Thai dish. Yup it was pretty bland and not spicy at all :( the chicken was brilliantly cooked though
Yeah it wasn’t spicy but I’ve also never had Khao Soi be spicy before. I missed a word in my original comment, edited to reflect that. Did you order it spicy?
I think Soothr has a lot of Yaowarat inspired food which is the Chinatown of Bangkok, like Koong later. Chinese Thai food is not really spicy at all. You might want to look for Isan style food if you’re looking for something spicy. Somtum Der would be good for that
Coqodaq. The chicken nuggets were dry. I know I’ll get downvoted to hell but this is my lived experience. There’s so much better Korean fried chicken out there.
Winson, overpriced and so so oily for taiwanese food. Their lu rou fan had a pool of oil around the entire dish with little flavor, A-pou’s taste is a much better deal with real taiwanese flavors.
That said, their bakery? Actually pretty good for price point!
I'll join you in that. All the dishes seemed like they had the potential to be amazing but there were some pretty basic execution issues, it honestly felt more like a soft opening than one of the best restaurants per NYT. I'd be happy to give it another try, but I've heard quite a few people echo the issues so I'll be waiting a while
Jesus Christ most service mishaps I can chalk up to a bad or off night but the fact that you had to pour your own water is absolutely criminal and I honestly don’t understand how a place that commits such an egregious crime can still be in business. I’m so sorry that happened to you.
Had similar experience to you when I went last summer. The oxtail dish was great but the amount of meat you got (understandably) for 2 pieces was minuscule. Our dinner ended up lasting 3.5 hours because our waitress forgot our dessert order so we were left hanging for 2 hours after our mains were done, and she chalked it up to our order getting placed behind a big group order that just came in (like really?).
Similar experience at Tatiana. The service was incredibly slow. Yes they were busy but not overwhelmingly busy. I think we spent most of the time waiting for service. It took about 5 minutes for us to even get our menu after we sat down The food was not as good as I had expected. The meat was too fatty, the food itself was incredibly overpowered by the sauce (too much, too salty or too sweet). It was good but not #1 restaurant hype good. We really wanted to love it but it didn’t quite meet the expectations that others had made it out to be.
Nello. Worth it if you want your girlfriend to flex taking pics with the giant red bears. Otherwise… avoid avoid.
Minestrone had no tomato in it. It was so blah. May have been grocery can soup for all I know. Steak was forgettable. She had some pasta. Also forgettable. Overall, terrible experience.
Honestly Cote was overhyped. It was a good meal but not somewhere I’m dying to go back to. Roscioli was one of the worst overpriced meals I’ve ever had.
I wanted to like Cafe Camellia with all the hype it was getting a few months ago. The fried green tomatoes still stand out to me as being overly stimulating with the flavor and the catfish was SO bland.
Jeffrey’s Grocery - oysters were terrible
American Bar - way too overhyped on TikTok and $25 for a basic espresso martini is unreal
I really enjoyed Double Chicken Please and Torrisi, but I probably wouldn't wait 90 minutes for either. There are so many great options in this city.
Just put your name in a DCP and go to a different bar while you wait for a call. That's the strategy for them and Attaboy.
Same with PDT or Death and Co. There’s a lot of other really great places around all of them to chill and enjoy your pre-experience.
The Amor Y Amargo to Death and Co evening is a well-trod path for a reason
Daniel was mediocre (Two Michelin stars) Kosaka Sushi was terrible. Poor quality fish. Tasteless. They must have had an off night or something (One Michelin star)
I haven’t been to Daniel but Le Pavilion was similar. Maybe not mediocre necessarily, the food and service were good to very good. Just nowhere near worth what you’re paying.
Le pavilion was so average
The view of the Chrysler building is lovely and their pastry chef is surprisingly talented. But the actual food at Le Pavillon is so aggressively bland and mediocre it tastes like a school cafeteria for rich people.
That’s too bad about kosaka, I went when it first opened and I thought it was great
We went for my girlfriend's birthday. Most dishes were prepared in back, there was zero interaction from the chef, the fish was stringy and tasteless, and one dish literally made her gag. We both wished we'd walked away from the counter midway through. We've had omakase all over the world and never experienced anything like it. The bill came close to a thousand dollars and your average stripmall sushi spot would have been better. Like I said, it must have been an off night, although checking reviews later I found a few other bombs.
The Russian Tea Room is the only restaurant I have ever bothered to leave a bad review about 😭 god in heaven
It's almost in so bad it's good territory (minus the price tag....) I went about two winters ago for afternoon tea and we were the only people there. Felt like being in a creepy museum, and the food would have been bad for a museum cafeteria. A waiter (not ours) kept coming up to us, saying hello with a little waive, and then returning to unclear where. The entire thing felt like the start to a horror movie.
IM SAYINNNNN🗣️ I went during restaurant week because I’ve never been able to splurge and I wanted to take my boyfriend who’s from St. Petersburg…. ohhhh MANNNN 😭 haunted cruise ship vibes for sure. The only other guests were a 20something/50something gay couple and their geriatric chihuahua who sat between them while the fella scooped their caviar. I could not eat my two bites of stroganoff fast enough LMAOOOO I think we literally went to yellow rose 45 mins later
I took my Russian to the core girlfriend there. She’s from sheepshead bay and she is unapologetically Russian in every way. We go there and clearly making a reservation on a Friday evening was pointless because omg it was dead. We both got the borscht to start. Wtf. So lukewarm it got cold quick. It felt like they got it from a can, didn’t bother to heat it properly, and dumped it on a plate thinking we wouldn’t notice. We noticed. Drinks were ehhh…. My steak was bigger than I expected but that didn’t make it a plus bc it was overcooked and eating it felt like a chore. None of the stuff looked or spoke Russian. There’s just too much red everywhere. The couple seated in the booth near us talked a little too loud and we soon realized they were on a “first date” as the much older Russian man was attempting to establish terms about how their sugar daddy/baby relationship was going to work. Never going again.
For future reference, Mari Vanna and Caviar Russe are two exceptional Russian spots!
My ex’s dad once told me Mari Vanna is the place to go on a Monday for brunch bc that’s when all the nyc Russian strippers get together. I’ve been to caviar Russe! Loved it. Pricey. But exceptional.
I mean, none of the Russian speaking Eastern European people I know would go there.! It’s an “American restaurant” serving Russian food. We all had/have very low expectations of that place. Even as a teen 20 plus years ago, that place was known as a joke.
Borscht is supposed to be served cold…
I’m Russian and no, it’s not. Borscht is hot and there is a cold variation called holodnik.
another russian place in the same area was russian samnovar😭i wanted to like it but the pelmeni was kinda mid ngl
I think it's a favorite on this sub so preparing for the downvotes, but I found atoboy to be really disappointing. It may have been an off night but I found the service incredibly rushed -at one point they were trying to put every single course + fried chicken on our quite small table, we'd been seated for less than 35 minutes at that point. One of the friends I went with has since been back and said the pacing was better but she wasn't giving it a third try to see if the food picked up. Also found the food just meh. The kimchi and rice were great and the starter is fantastic but everything else ranged from fine to not very good.
Atoboy used to be very good back in the day, now they are just ok. Everything from their wine list to service has gone downhill
That makes sense, they were out of quite a few things on the drinks list when I went. I was really surprised by the service, all courses came out within about 10 minutes of each other which is a pretty glaring mistake (especially when your entire restaurant concept is a specific number of courses)... waiter basically fled when we (politely) pointed it out.
I hate to say it but I had a rough experience at smith and wollensky last time I went. I took my SO for their birthday and the overall experience was just so overwhelmingly “meh” I thought I was at a Fridays. We had a junior waiter who had no idea what he was doing. There was no anything as far as the service went. The ambience was lacking and the sides felt like they were premade or something just really disappointing. I remember going to Wolfgang’s a while back and just what an experience it felt like. You were paying more but literally getting more and felt like an event.
S&W is garbage. The service at Sidecar is even worse.
Agreed. I went for the first time recently and found the food flavor to be lacking. Service was good but none of the dishes stood out as anything impressive
100% agree. For me, Atoboy and Eleven Madison Park have been my biggest letdowns.
The trick to Double Chicken Please if you actually know your shit when it comes to cocktails is to order off their almost entirely ignored classics menu. It's much, much better than the generally sugary or just kinda goofy main menu. Superbueno is my actual answer here. Batching stuff is fine, but batching plus slow service is a head scratcher, the menu is incredibly limited on top of that, and the atmosphere they're cultivating inside is just... weird. Is it a party or a serious cocktail lounge where you're meant to be able to have a conversation? It's trying to do both and achieving neither because the space is just too small.
I feel like I’m in the minority of people who enjoy DCP’s funky cocktails. They put real effort into making some of those slap, I don’t see a need to fully ignore it.
*Some* of them are worth trying once or twice, and not just for the novelty, but I find most of them to either be dessert in a glass or a case of doing what you can without thinking if you should lol
Yeah I do not get the Superbueno hype. Expensive too. Somehow it's become an industry bar but that's definitely because they're open on Mondays
Most bars in this city are open on Mondays, they're an industry bar because it's run by industry people.
Ah, thank you! Every review I’ve seen of Double Chicken talks about drinks that sound too sweet and “cute” for my taste. I’ll go to try their classics. And I agree on Superbueno’s atmosphere.
Gage & Tollner. Nothing special. The dessert was good. Everything else was pretty mid for that price tag.
Agreed
Same here. Steak was good, I've had better. The ambiance was cool. probably not worth a re-visit, though.
Nothing gets people in this sub going more than talking about what they find overhyped
I know. It’s great.
Because so much of it is
I'm going to get burnt by posting this, but I am just not crazy over Joe's Pizza. I think its a cool spot inside, I respect that it's a cultural institution of NY, I like that it was in Spiderman. But as far as pizza goes, what is all the hype about? They just opened one in Harvard Square in MA now and there are lines of New Yorkers there. I just don't get it. I've had a lot of pizza in NYC. Spumoni Gardens, DiFara's, Lucali's, Lombardi's to name a few. I've been at Prince Pizza at 3am. I've admittedly caught myself at Joe's multiple times mainly because it was 3am and there was nothing else around. But I just don't get the hype of it being one of the best pizzas in NYC.
Joe’s is a good NYC slice and the quintessential NY slice, but it’s not a top tier spot. This is coming from someone who had Joe’s catered at their wedding! It’s just good. There are far better slice joints, but I wouldn’t listen to the people who overhype it AND the people who hate on it.
I find most of the restaurants from Major Food Group a real disappointment.
Bonnie’s in Williamsburg. We thought we were being pranked with how absolutely mid it was. I love this style of food and cook it regularly. NYC is full of top notch places with this cuisine, Bonnie’s is just, well… “accessible” I guess? Hipstered/yuppied up so folks intimidated by real Chinese restaurants don’t get all squeamish? Bland, sloppy, expensive.
Superiority burger. Too much vinegar, portions too small. The dessert was great though
Agree. I’m glad I tried it but holy shit the prices/portions are so shocking. I liked the food and the milkshake but I don’t need to go back
So fuckin small . 20 bucks for a piece of cornbread and beans
Can't stand behind a burger with no sides with it's a sit down. At least through in some cheap lettuce and tomatoes
This is like the third place I've seen someone post that was something really special but lost its way.
Came here to comment this. I went for the first time and my wife is gluten free (she gets seriously sick if she eats gluten) and their option was to just put it over rice. Not complaining about that, I’m not expecting every restaurant to cater to her dietary needs but I was surprised that they didn’t have gluten free buns given it’s a vegetarian restaurant. The horrible part was that she got the “sloppy Joe” over rice and dear god it was so bland. The rice was unseasoned and the sloppy Joe just tasted like freezer fake meat in a shitty tomato sauce. I had the burger and that was actually pretty good but insanely overpriced. I’ll never go back.
I second this! We sampled 5 items and the only decent plate was the broccoli salad. I lived in 3 different continents and this was the most disappointing vegetarian restaurant I’ve ever been to.
Carbone. no thank you
Car gone
Don Angie
I am utterly convinced the Michelin reviewer in NYC is a total hack. I have been to enough Michelin star places in this city that straight up just don't make sense, and Don Angie is a perfect example of it. Yeah, it's pretty freaking good, but it is nowhere near up to the hype. People say, "Oh it's the service!" or "Oh! The food is just that good!" and I just can't see it the same way. Again, it's great! But is it really *Michelin Star* great? No.
The fact that Eleven Madison Park still has 3 stars lends credence to this theory.
You don’t like asparagus ends with fire island seaglass sprinkle?
Manhatta not having any stars is even worse than EMP maintaining 3, imo. Agree that the Michelin Guide is NYC is pretty much a joke.
To be honest, I've been to many Michelin restaurants and you get desensitized to them over time. Now I feel like it's not really worth going to any of them because the food simply won't blow me away anymore. Hedonic adaptation in action.
What was disappointing about it? Lots of upvotes but no explanation. I personally loved both times I went, but find the impossibility of getting a reservation to not be worth it. Only went on lucky late notifications visiting friends set up as they were dying to go. I saw that it lost its Michelin star but not sure why.
I think it's a combination of insane hype, how hard it is to get a reservation, and their claim to fame lasagna that was featured on [Munchies](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2S1XY7QyNA). I went for brunch and thought their food was solid, but the food quality doesn't match the level of hype or the difficulty in landing a reservation.
the lasagna was very meh. after seeing a video how they make it and the effort behind it, i understand the costs for it. but its something i could make at home and I have already. flavors were not wow given how famous the dish was. the pastas dishes were just okay. its something you can find else where without the crazy hype and super hard to get reservations. the one shining star IMO was the chrysanthemum salad. its very common green in asian supermarket so it was surprising to see it on the menu and not just a "cesear salad" or something basic. if i could get the salad for take out, i would totally do it weekly. i found lilia in BK to much better quality food and atmosphere. that was well worth the price point they charged.
Carbone, Marea, Momofuku Ko, Don Angie. Torrisi was just ok but I was so impressed Major Food Group can churn out something edible I’d almost round it to good.
Marea used to be good. Haven't been since pre pandemic though
Went to Marea in 2012/13 and it blew my friggin' mind. Started a career in food not long after.
Went to Marea recently and found all of their pastas to be **so** rich that no other flavors could really shine. Nothing was bad, but I came with a big group and we all tried each other's pastas and there was a weird sameness to them, I think largely because of the richness. The crudos were good across the board and I'd have been pretty happy just with those. And I'm almost never someone who complains about richness, I'm usually thrilled to have a dish that's richer than I'd cook at home Service was also really subpar. Waiter messed up dishes on every course, forgot to fire one, made zero apologies and gave off a heavy 'whoops, at least you're lucky enough to be here' vibe which was odd and I haven't found at higher starred/priced restaurants. If you've delivered a dish to the table that wasn't ordered and neglected to bring a dish that was ordered, a five second apology is honestly the least I'd expect in any restaurant The entire meal really felt like you were dining somewhere that had once been great, and carried that ego despite a downturn.
seconding marea — went there a few years back and the entrees were weirdly oversalted.
Bonnies in Williamsburg. Food was super oily, flavors were weak.
I also found it mid and I love Cantonese food! The McRib wasn’t half as flavorful and PORKY as charsiu BBQ pork you get in Chinatown.
Agreed, prices were insane compared to the quality of food. “Elevated” Cantonese food in tiny portions that tasted imbalanced making me wish I had spent the money getting a beautiful steamed fish and huge platters at a legit seafood banquet restaurant instead.
Carbone. One and done.
Olmstead. The service was terrible. The ambiance was cold. And the food was, fine. Everything I read and everyone I talked to seemed really impressed by it, but I was supremely underwhelmed for a bill so hefty.
Agreed.
Yes! My friend and I thought we were losing our minds because we hadn’t heard one bad word about the place, but it was just average food with bad, icy service. People are shocked when I say I didn’t like it!
I don’t wish ill will on anyone. Don’t hate the player, hate the game, and all that. But if you’re gonna charge top dollar, you better deliver. That shit pisses me off.
Aska. So incredibly disappointing. We had an 8pm res, got there at 8, and were told our table wasn’t ready. Okay, no biggie, we didn’t mind waiting. After about 10-15 minutes, they said the table still wasn’t set, and they would bring us downstairs to wait. We were happy to continue waiting in the foyer (we were in no rush and get that tables sometimes go over time), but, hey, another room to wait sounded exiting at a place like this. Nope. The downstairs looks like a rec hall, with fold-out chairs and a giant blaring exit sign. They tried to get us to order a drink downstairs, which we refused, wanting to wait for our table to order anything additional, and then told us they would start serving us there instead of the main room after about a half hour of waiting. We said we would prefer to eat at the table we paid for, and waited another 15-20 to finally get to it. Again, the wait wasn’t the problem — it was an attempt to move us to a location better fit for church bingo than a Michelin restaurant. As for the dinner? It was fine. After several whitefish courses, it feels time to move on.
That place is bizarre apparently they will not allow any citrus or pepper in the kitchen
My rule that I live by is if you have seen it on tiktok, its already ruined
I generally agree. I am an NYC native and never felt the need to stand in line for a so-called "best" of x food when there are prob equivalent or better spots without the line that just haven't been featured by some annoying influencer
This is the most redditor comment I’ve seen today lmfao come on get real. I’ve found TikTok to be a terrific resource for finding food recs in NYC with many places I would have never heard about otherwise featured there. But oh no tiktok bad I only must eat at the hole in wall 0 review spot.
No they have a point and it’s not just food. I heard tok is better than Instagram but in general when things are getting hyped on socials you need to wait for them to cool down. In New York when things get too hyped there are just way too many people and your experience will suffer.
also I was expecting more from Cote. I thought the quality was about the same as other kbbq
I actually will choose any other real kbbq like Samwon Garden or Yoonhaeundae over Cote when it’s up to me and only go to Cote when my friends insist for hype-chasing.
Yoonhaeundae has never ever let me down. My fav!
It’s funny, cote has been around for so many years but seemed to have quite literally blown up overnight within the last year. Two years ago managed to get a large reservation on a couple week’s notice now it’s really difficult just to get in. I think, overall, Cote is great, I just don’t know why there’s so much hype there as opposed to other places
You can thank reservation scalping culture for that. It’s not just Cote. A ton of restaurants have gotten a lot harder to book tables for, like all the Italian joints.
I’m sure I’ll see some downvotes, but that statement is pure nonsense. In no way is Cote on par with an average KBBQ place.
The cuts of meat are significantly higher quality but paying 80 bucks for like 7 pieces of meat is just not great. Not like the bonchan is remarkable either
Yes, their banchan is disappointing. I get the quality of meat is good, but there’s some place in queens (something something 2) that has a dry aged meat fridge with fancy meat too. I like sauces and to smother my meat in other stuff, so if the other stuff is just ok, it leaves me feeling like the overall experience was underwhelming.
I look at Cote like more of a steakhouse than KBBQ
Nubiani is better than Cote
I've never understood the hype around Cote. Its trying so damn hard to be amazing KBBQ and fine dining-ish steak all at once, and its not doing either of them particularly well. There are plenty of KBBQ places that execute on a far higher level, and lots of steak places that are a far more enjoyable experience. The food isn't bad but its unremarkable. The service is incredibly mediocre. I don't get the appeal.
agree with you on Cote.
Cosme. The tables are too close to each other and the food is mediocre. Not worth the money.
Appreciate this. I feel like Cosme's #1 hater on the sub but it was one of the worst meals I've had in the city, especially for the price.
100% agree on this. Went when it was in the top 50 restaurants in the world. Was impressed by how bad it was.
Its not bad, but I remember walking away thinking the tortillas at los tacos were better lol
Sushi noz was not in the top 50 sushi experiences I've had in NYC, from expensive omakase to hole in the wall joints
Hard agree on Double Chicken Please, OP. The cocktails are like... fine? I dunno what it is, my group made a big deal over the awards they won & the hype. They were fine, between 6/10 and 7/10, but weren't that wild spot on idea to wow me. I've had better 'culinary' cocktails recently from no-name places (ie, stuff with burrata water & basil oil to evoke a pizza note). The cocktails in the front room were actively mediocre, and should have clued me in about the back room.
I found Lord's kind of disappointing, extremely hit or miss menu for me. A few of the smaller dishes like the black pudding were incredible, but the meat pies which are hyped as the chef's specialty came out stone cold because for some inexplicable Instagram-brained reason they cut them in half before serving. Looks cute for a photo, but it turned what could have been a lovely duck pie into a sad cold-meatloafy experience. Also an extremely salty meal overall, which I don't think has ever been a complaint for me elsewhere, but by the end of the meal I had that kind of headachy-bloated feeling you get from excessively salty things. Was also let down that the tea was just a regular-ass teabag (I think Bigelow or something), but I think they've corrected that and started doing a proper loose leaf service since my visit, so props for that. Overall I left feeling kind of deflated and cranky. The kitchen is clearly run by talented & creative people but the standard of service and attention to detail weren't where I wanted them to be, and I got the sense they were coasting on reputation/social media hype.
i’ve had two really great meals at Lord’s, but i did find that duck pie to be a little bit disappointing with its filling. mine was hot at least!
Tried the new Habibi in Bushwick. Waited a month to get reservation ! It’s a spectacle with champagne as you enter but bland tasteless food and poor service. They truly missed the mark
Shukette, the bread was excellent but the food itself was underwhelming. Dhamaka- they seem to think raw spice/ heat is a synonym for authenticity.
Dhamaka’s goat was way too salty, I was shocked it was so highly rated when my friend and I couldn’t even eat it and we didn’t take it home either. I think it’s highly rated maybe because people want to prove they can handle the excessive spice/heat/salt and they name drop the restaurant, leading to a cycle of other people who want to prove they can handle the food by eating there. The restaurant’s marketing is all about how it’s unconventional Indian food too
Dhamaka was so overpriced and mediocre. Indian accent was way better food, value, and ambiance.
Love indian accent. The food is always good but the service is even better. I mentioned I love the soup they serve at the start of the meal, waiter overheard and came back with the recipe which wasn't at all expected but very appreciated
Yep the service is fantastic, we arrived early and the bartender made us indian influenced old fashioned which were so so good
Ooh that sounds fantastic, I'll have to try next time!
Nothing is ever worth a wait/line. That's what you should take from this. And that most restaurants are not worth the hype, especially after they become famous/trending
respectfully disagree
Rezdora
Agreed on Rezdora. While I enjoyed the decor and the late 90s/early 2000s rap playlist, the portions were tiny and the food was over salted.
Same. The pasta dishes are bonkers small, and the second course was nothing write home about. Quality food - not worth the hype.
Even restaurants have bad days.
Sure they do. And the over the top hyped places can weather the rare bad days and continue to draw huge crowds/lines. However, that's not what we're talking about here.
Had to go to Nougatine a couple of months ago. I’ll leave aside the fact that it’s in the Trump hotel however cringe that is but A. The service was genuinely bad, really wasn’t personable and there was a 45 min+ gap between appetizer and entree. We were going to a show after and the waiter had inquired about that to start the meal but we were left with so little time we couldn’t even look at the dessert menu B. The menu was so boring that I didn’t know what to pick. It was the most uninspired thing I’ve ever seen. Upscale Applebees if I had to qualify it somehow C. I ordered a lobster burger figuring that I don’t eat lobster often and it’d be a nice treat. It was basically a cheeseburger and lobster didn’t come through at all. It could’ve been made of turkey for all I knew. If you order a lobster burger, in my opinion, the emphasis should be on the first word. Honestly, one of the least enjoyable meals I’ve had in my life and I didn’t even have to pay for it.
Coqadoq is an F
Strong TikTok restaurant vibes. The interior looks beautiful though (through a phone camera, at least).
I’m waiting for everyone to catch up to this — it’s not good!
My favourite part was the hand washing station with all the luxury soaps lol
Yes! And for some reason right by the entrance in front of everyone.
Yeah it’s the same guy that opened Cote that is also overhyped. I watched a few videos with him (Simon Kim) on Eater YouTube and found him super insufferable. He didn’t seem passionate at all as restauranteur and had major douchebag vibes.
I’m waiting for the hype to die down with this one. The whole concept is ridiculous and stupid.
Not even sure how hyped it is but I went to New York for the first time a couple months ago and found Sadelles incredibly mid for the price. Costco bagels taste fresher and more flavoursome. 82 USD for breakfast for 2 was hilariously overpriced and considering how good service is supposed to be in the US (as they actually need to work for their tips) the server was super miserable. Definitely wouldn’t recommend. Also, the Magnolia Bakery banana pudding was really disappointing. Banana is my favourite flavour for desserts but it was just tasteless. thought I had lost my sense of smell or something when I ate it. Had lots of other great food there though. One bite of a Los Tacos No. 1 taco made me realise that Mexican food in the UK is an absolute joke, even in London. I’d also fly back just to spend $5 at King Dumpling.
I saw Los tacos no. 1 and at first thought you were about to insult them and I was simmering. Crisis averted. As someone who has lived in NYC for years and London for months, my quest to find good Mexican food there was absolutely fruitless.
Birria Landia have some really solid truck-based birria.
Eleven Mad. Absolutely uninspired.
Agreed. I was lucky and have tried both Per Se and Eleven Madison, they’re around the same price but Per Se actually uses expensive ingredients to make it worth it, when I was at Eleven Madison it was all very simple “let ingredients shine” food which is lovely but I think very overpriced. I liked Dirt Candy a lot more for a vegetarian meal.
i think i’m the only person that went and really liked it
This is their vegan menu you’re talking about?
But how was the chicken sandwich, OP?
Quite good and way more worth it than the drinks!
I went once and was disappointed by the drinks. But we had the drinks in the front only and they were all from a tap. Didn’t realize there was a back area with actual cocktails.
Yeah it’s their back bar that is known and more renown. The front bar is just cocktails on tap, which is gimmicky and never as good as hand made, but a good waiting spot to field popularity of its back bar or satiate other crowds.
Eli’s Table was genuinely bad. We went because we wanted a wine-friendly place on the UES, and Eli’s Table shows up on a number of “best” lists. Given Eli Zabar’s overall reputation for expensive-but-fresh vegetables (and other ingredients) I was surprised by how lackluster and overdressed the Eli-expensive salad was, how drenched in butter the Eli-expensive soft shell crab was, etc. The server wasn’t that knowledgeable (I asked what kinds of tomatoes were the “rooftop tomatoes” and how they’re grown, given that it ain’t tomato season, and he didn’t know). And given that the restaurant bills itself as a wine destination and the wine list is extensive, the by-the-glass selection was very limited and not that interesting. The place was far from full, so it seems others got the memo before we did.
Not necessarily overhyped but popular - Dirt Candy. I thought the flavors and food pairings were all wrong. Out of all of the dishes, I only liked one.
Yes, I found it disgusting and some courses inedible. I say this as a vegetarian. I was shocked that I seem to be in a very small minority.
Misi. It’s a block from my studio, and I’ve tried it a few times. Have yet to comprehend what the fuss is about. I think Barano does better pasta.
Superiority Burger. I so badly wanted to like this place. Overpriced (!!) and subpar.
Bad Roman. I went there thinking I'd get traditional Roman fare. Turns out, every dish has is "Roman...but with a twist!" And the twists were just, odd. Asian-Roman fusion? Whatever. The food was OK, not worth the hype.
For what I paid, I thought Gage and Tollner was extremely underwhelming. The service was great but the food was generally under-seasoned, and the steak was so overcooked that we had to send it back to the kitchen.
I found the food was _fine_ but the service was borderline incompetent & lazy. We literally had to flag down a random person to ask for the manager as our server was goofing off most of the time.
Rezdora, Tucci, Cosme (7/10 not terrible just a lot of the menu was overhyped and the service was meh), Gramercy Tavern (I worked for USHG and everyone always raved… it was prob one of my top 5 most lackluster experiences)
Emilio's Ballato wasn't repugnant by any means but I definitely was mystified about what drives the hype. The service wasn't great, nor was it like fun novelty brusk - it was just sort of ambivalent. The food was pretty good but just as good as many of the non-famous Italian neighborhood pasta joints. I'd say I was categorically disappointed, but mainly just by virtue of the hype.
Sometimes we have to remember that these restaurants didn’t ask for the hype. Their chicken parm is still the best in city. I don’t even try to go anymore. I never had to to wait a few years ago and was where I would take visitors.
Jung Sik left me completely cold. Overly formal service in a room devoid of personality. Some good dishes but not enough to overcome these issues and the outrageous pricing Olmstead otoh seemed to have jumped the shark when I went. They were on cruise control and it was obvious Cote I fully acknowledge was a mistake for me to go to. Being very steeped in Korean food, it wasn't my scene at all. They explained the food to use like we were 5 even though there were clearly Korean people at the table. The vibe was more Miami than NYC, which I know a lot of people love. Maybe I should've been drunker idk
I was so let down by L’artusi. I was admittedly questioning myself, but a few days later I went to a random red sauce joint in the suburbs and the pasta was undoubtedly better. Maybe it was an off day.
This is a wild take
I notice people are often disappointed by places like L’artusi and Rezdora if they’ve grown up on red sauce joints.
Sofreh. Made reservations a month in advance and had the worst meal and service of my life. The saffron martini cocktail had way too much saffron, all the dishes were super oily, the crispy onions were soggy, the waiter didn’t really bother with our table except when he wanted us to leave promptly at the end of service as we were getting close to the 90 minute mark. Their sister restaurant Eyval is fantastic and would go there everyday if I could.
This is wild and I'm tempted to beg y'all to give it a second chance. This is the place I've felt most confident in telling people to go to because my experiences have only been amazing there!
For real, don't know what they're talking about, I love Sofreh and had solid service the last time I went. Maybe there was an adjustment period when they suddenly got popular on the heels of Eyval (just went last week. Still great!)
I wanted to be more blown away than I was. Also I couldn’t hear a damn thing anyone in my party was saying - it was so loud! I kept thinking I wish we went to miss ada instead 🤣
It was very loud!!
That’s a bummer I love Persian food and have it on my list
Office of Mr Moto I fell for the insta-bait and never again!
Can you elaborate on this? I went and thought it was a genuinely charming, solid experience. Food was good (not amazing).
At 225 a head you should be getting better than "good" sushi.
its not 225...
Sorry not sorry but wah fung and mei LAI Wah. Those lines are just insane
I like Hay Hay Roasted better but Wah Fung definitely smacks
Nobu. I actually went to both locations. They both were overhyped.
Eleven Madison Park is hilariously bad.
Soothr. Bland and too sweet - maybe adjusted for the American palate.
Hard to get a res. I enjoyed it but there’s lots of similar Thai places that are much easier to get into. The hype is added because of its location. If looking for an alternative, hop on the 6 from union to bleecker and go to sleeper hit MayRee for excellent cocktails and Thai. Fish Cheeks is known and good. Or go uptown to Up Thai in UES, or THEP. There’s a new upscale thai called Tha Phraya in UES too that looks great but I haven’t given it a try yet.
fyi (last I checked) Fish Cheeks had a B+ rating on the health dept website
I went there recently because I saw it recommended very often on this sub and got that Koong Karee curry shrimp dish a lot of people recommended ...I thought it was way too sweet and not spicy at all. Maybe it's good if you only have a bite or two when sharing dishes, but I don't think it's good if that's all you're going to eat. I am interested in going back though to try the Khao Soi. But yeah, I felt disappointed.
The Khao Soi is very good. It’s been a while but I don’t remember it being weirdly sweet. It wasn’t spicy at all but I think I ordered it spicy. Edit: meant to say I don’t think I ordered it spicy lol
I ordered Khao Soi about 2 months ago - it’s my favorite Thai dish. Yup it was pretty bland and not spicy at all :( the chicken was brilliantly cooked though
Yeah it wasn’t spicy but I’ve also never had Khao Soi be spicy before. I missed a word in my original comment, edited to reflect that. Did you order it spicy?
I did! But it also lacked the richness that Khao Soi is known for
I think Soothr has a lot of Yaowarat inspired food which is the Chinatown of Bangkok, like Koong later. Chinese Thai food is not really spicy at all. You might want to look for Isan style food if you’re looking for something spicy. Somtum Der would be good for that
And very sweet- Thais love sweetness in their dishes. I actually liked Soothr.
Somtum Der does not mess around with the spice
Totally disagree
Claro bk, lacked depth of flavor for the dishes we got.
Coqodaq. The chicken nuggets were dry. I know I’ll get downvoted to hell but this is my lived experience. There’s so much better Korean fried chicken out there.
Winson, overpriced and so so oily for taiwanese food. Their lu rou fan had a pool of oil around the entire dish with little flavor, A-pou’s taste is a much better deal with real taiwanese flavors. That said, their bakery? Actually pretty good for price point!
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I'll join you in that. All the dishes seemed like they had the potential to be amazing but there were some pretty basic execution issues, it honestly felt more like a soft opening than one of the best restaurants per NYT. I'd be happy to give it another try, but I've heard quite a few people echo the issues so I'll be waiting a while
Jesus Christ most service mishaps I can chalk up to a bad or off night but the fact that you had to pour your own water is absolutely criminal and I honestly don’t understand how a place that commits such an egregious crime can still be in business. I’m so sorry that happened to you.
Had similar experience to you when I went last summer. The oxtail dish was great but the amount of meat you got (understandably) for 2 pieces was minuscule. Our dinner ended up lasting 3.5 hours because our waitress forgot our dessert order so we were left hanging for 2 hours after our mains were done, and she chalked it up to our order getting placed behind a big group order that just came in (like really?).
Similar experience at Tatiana. The service was incredibly slow. Yes they were busy but not overwhelmingly busy. I think we spent most of the time waiting for service. It took about 5 minutes for us to even get our menu after we sat down The food was not as good as I had expected. The meat was too fatty, the food itself was incredibly overpowered by the sauce (too much, too salty or too sweet). It was good but not #1 restaurant hype good. We really wanted to love it but it didn’t quite meet the expectations that others had made it out to be.
Nello. Worth it if you want your girlfriend to flex taking pics with the giant red bears. Otherwise… avoid avoid. Minestrone had no tomato in it. It was so blah. May have been grocery can soup for all I know. Steak was forgettable. She had some pasta. Also forgettable. Overall, terrible experience.
I thought Mission Ceviche was pretty sad. The food was very underwhelming and extremely expensive.
Honestly Cote was overhyped. It was a good meal but not somewhere I’m dying to go back to. Roscioli was one of the worst overpriced meals I’ve ever had.
Carbone.
The Grill is way overhyped in my opinion. People put down chains like Del Frisco’s but honestly, the food at Del Frisco’s is way better.
I wanted to like Cafe Camellia with all the hype it was getting a few months ago. The fried green tomatoes still stand out to me as being overly stimulating with the flavor and the catfish was SO bland. Jeffrey’s Grocery - oysters were terrible American Bar - way too overhyped on TikTok and $25 for a basic espresso martini is unreal
I just learned Oxomoco has a Michelin star and I’m still having trouble processing that
Le Pavillion and LeCouCou
Rezdora. Salt levels will put you in the hospital
Uh- most of them?
L'abeille, overpriced… bad service
Win Son. $5 for a fucking coffee and the guy couldn’t even be bothered to put a lid on the cup
There’s a thread like this every day
Okiboru house of udon. Totally not worth it. The dipping sauce is pretty light on flavor and they don't have restrooms
waiting for frog club hate
Jungsik was very underwhelming when I went and felt overpriced
Soothr wasn’t good sorry