I love good food. Eating out is a very social experience for me; sharing good food with friends is very important to me. So while I love good food, and will occasionally subject myself to discomfort for it, I don’t really enjoy waiting on ridiculous lines, wading through throngs of people who just want to be part of the latest trend, calling a place at exactly 10am every morning hoping to get a reservation for a month later… I just don’t get food being trendy, or hip, or the IT thing… Just if it tastes good, eat it!
On that note, I went to have dinner with my friends E & StB recently, and as is my usual practice, someone else chose the place. (There’s too much pressure to choose a place!) StB chose The Breslin, which she’d been meaning to try for a while, and so we made our way there the Friday of Labor Day Weekend, hoping this meant a shorter wait and less crowds, as they don’t take reservations.
E and I arrived first, and each got a drink while we waited. E ordered the Synchronicity, which had Pimm’s in it, which she hadn’t tried in the past, and like me, found Pimm’s very refreshing and a fun summer cocktail. Mine was, according to the menu online, called Lust for Life (ha!, isn’t that just me!), gin, lavender honey… tasty. Both of our drinks were very tasty and well-thought-out. Yum!
We decided to split everything; StB suggested the small terrine board ($25), which had – top left, going down – guinea hen with morels, rustic pork, rabbit & prune, head cheese, and liverwurst… the three small cups were a nice grainy mustard, gherkins, and some pickled veggies, along with four slices of rustic bread that’d been grilled lightly. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize E doesn’t eat most of this stuff, so it was up to me and StB to chow down! Luckily, both she and I eat all of this stuff with gusto. All of these were quite tasty – and I almost shamefully admit that the rabbit was definitely one of my preferred tastes of the night; not gamey, nice and meaty, with a hint of sweetness from the prune. But the rustic pork was also delicious, and really, each item was, but my least favorite would be the headcheese – if only because there were only 4 pieces of bread, not enough to complement the oiliness inherent to headcheese (it is, afterall, very fatty). So that was my one complaint about the terrine platter: not enough bread.
Our other appetizer was sweetbreads ($16), which, unfortunately, E also didn’t want to try… but StB and I convinced her to try a little piece! and she thought it wasn’t that bad! Actually, of the now-6? times I’ve had sweetbreads, this is definitely in the top half of the list. Not chalky, creamy, and well suited with the creme fraiche on the plate… just, yum. I could happily have eaten the whole plate myself. Not that it was all that big anyway!
We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to order “thrice cooked chips” ($7), and these were quite lovely, served alongside a slightly mustardy dipping sauce and a few spicy pickles. Pretty good fries, crisp outsides with hot potato insides. Yum!
Our main course was arctic char, one of the specials of the night. Cucumbers with creme fraiche, dill, and lightly grilled. The fish was juicy and moist, and the skin crisp. Yum!
For dessert, E went with the buttermilk pie, with strawberry preserves, blush currants and fresh cream. I tried a bite and it was really fresh and light tasting, despite its name seeming to imply otherwise. I know she really enjoyed it as well.
StB and I shared the chocolate stout syllabub.
No, I don’t know what a syllabub is, but the description of bubbled caramel and creme fraiche sold both of us. The bubbled caramel was crunchy and sweet, and the entire pudding-like texture contrasted nicely. I really enjoyed this dessert, though, at $9… I don’t know.
Here’s what’s interesting though, that I’ve refrained from mentioning this whole time: the food was good. Excellent, even; there wasn’t a single thing I’d change about what we ordered (aside from giving us more bread for the terrine board). But the pretention that oozed from the staff, the atmosphere, overall, rubbed me the wrong way. A number of incidents: sure, they can’t seat incomplete parties, not a big deal. But the hostesses/waitresses had entire conversations while we waited to ask them a simple question; we tried to order the steak – which is sold in certain sizes, so we ordered the smallest one – but were told they’d sold out of that size. They had another size, about 2oz’s difference, and it was $125! WHOA. You’re not even a steakhouse! Come on now, even the top places don’t charge that much for steak.
Okay, so that’s not pretention, but what happened next was: we asked to see the menu again, and requested that our appetizer orders be put in the meantime. The waitress tilted her head, looked at us as if we weren’t quite speaking her language, and then said, “Sorry, the kitchen doesn’t accept partial orders! Let me know when you’re ready!” and walked away. We were starving because we’d had to wait for so long already (yes, there was still a wait), and were just kind of like, um, ok… And of course I later snarkily commented to my friends that ordering dessert makes our previous order incomplete (I know, I know, that’s not really true, but whatever). Overall, the experience was just kind of icky dealing with the staff, the air of derision and just … ech.
Yvo says: The food here was excellent. Aside from the ridiculous price of the steak, everything was fairly reasonable, and were I able to go to just enjoy the food, without the staff or other people there… I really would. If they allow to-go orders (for some of the stuff; other stuff is just meant to be eaten there, obviously)… I would totally do that. But the attitude of the staff, the “We don’t really need you” sense I got from everyone? Sorry, I don’t go out to dinner to be treated poorly. I’m not into that. But hell, if that’s what floats your boat…
recommended for the food; the attitude, not so much
TT says
yea, I don’t do pretension either, but glad the food is worth it.
I met April Bloomfield at the James Beard House a couple weeks before The Breslin opened. She was super nice!
Aimee says
That’s a shame. I hear she’s a great chef but with snooty staff, who cares?
Witzel says
Especially since Spotted Pig is so laid back… oh well. At least the food is still a showpiece.
Lizz says
I love the Breslin! I agree the food is excellent and upon my next visit, I will have to try the terrine board. That’s unfortunate you got such haughty service. The atmosphere is a bit too Euro-cool for me but I had a fantastic waiter who let us keep adding on to our meal and was great at suggesting other plates/dishes we’d like to try.
Feisty Foodie says
That makes it even more insulting that our server told us the kitchen only takes complete orders! Damn it, I really liked the food, too. I want your waiter 🙁
Lizz says
All good.. there’s always a bad one in the bunch. Don’t let it deter you from trying the other goodies!
T.C. says
Mmm fries! Buttermilk pie and it’s light tasting? Cool.
Everything else looks aight. Glad you liked the food.
Hungry says
Ugh, bad service really does ruin the experience for me too.
CT says
How do restaurants think bad service is acceptable?! The terrine board sounds pretty fantastic though… now I’m torn whether I want to try it.
skippymom says
Okay. I have heard of this practice where you have to order everything at once because otherwise it would upset the Chef’s balance of your meal.
I rarely use these words in interweb land, but I have to say “F*ck off” and I won’t be dining at your establishment.
That is the most pompous, arrogant, stupid thing I have ever heard of.
I am an adult. I can order as I damn well please and will do so at my pace, my leisure – don’t tell me how to order. I am paying good money to sit in your restaurant and I don’t give a rat’s butt what is going to bother the chef. I KNOW how to dine out – hell I was a waitress for years – I KNOW how not to piss off people, but do.not.tell.me that I have to order what I want to eat when you have $125 steak on your menu. You are lucky anyone shows up at those prices.
Pretentious is an understatement.
Now – do your really want to know how I feel? 😛 hee
jay says
Ugh!
Really its just daft, who can afford to pass up repeat business really right now?
Mic says
Easily the worst meal I had in 2010. And the other 3 people I ate with thought it stunk too. And that’s just the food. I won’t even get into the service. It’s beyond bad. How this dump stays in business with 1000s of other places to choose from in Manhattan is beyond me.
Steve says
totally agree-went there for the first time last night.The food is beyond putrid-exact same tasteless breading for both appetizers? Lamb burger way oversalted-service amateurish by a bunch of 18 year olds.Worst restaurant I’ve been to in years.
Mic says
I have to add I just can’t overstate how much I despised this place. I forgot about it until I saw your review and it brought back such unpleasant memories.