303 replies to this topic

[Sneakeater]

A friend went with one of her friends a few days ago. They had to leave because the food as presented on the menu was too "strange."

I take this as a firm endorsement of this restaurant. But I worry that Williamsburg cannot produce a sophisticated enough clientele to support it.

[Anthony Bonner]

Isa or Masten Lake? has anyone other than JMM been to both?

(corrected for spelling)

[Wilfrid]

I haven't been to Masten Lake yet.

[Wilfrid]

A friend went with one of her friends a few days ago. They had to leave because the food as presented on the menu was too "strange."

Yes, and you have to buy into the strangeness because the choice is so limited.

[jmoranmoya]

A friend went with one of her friends a few days ago. They had to leave because the food as presented on the menu was too "strange."

Yes, and you have to buy into the strangeness because the choice is so limited.

That is true, I specially still feel sick when I remember the scallops sashimi, it tasted really bad!!!! But there were not too much else to order as small appetizer.
I encourage you to go to Masten and Lake, they had one of the most interesting ducks dish I've tried recently - I would say even more interesting combination than the Eleven Madison Park one.
The picture is so bad but you can get an idea:

[Wilfrid]

Jay Cheshes in the new Time Out completely gets it.

five stars

Anyone hasn't been: go. Before something goes wrong.

ETA: Now has a la carte capability and a license.

[changeup]

That's a lot of stars.

[oakapple]

That's a lot of stars.

TONY uses their stars in a totally different way than the other star-bestowing local media (NYT, NYM, Bloomberg, and The Post). TONY will give five stars to a casual place that is "perfect on its own terms." So he gave that rating to places like M. Wells, The Harrison, and ABC Kitchen; whereas, at The Times or NYM, those places can't have 4/5 stars, no matter how much the critic likes them.

(Whether ABC Kitchen was ever "perfect on its own terms" is a whole other question, but the point is that Cheshes' system permits it to get five stars, and in everyone else's system that is just impossible.)

[Sneakeater]

I'm jumping on the bandwagon. But I need to eat here a couple more times to see if it's rapture or modified rapture.

It should be easy, now that I've convinced myself that it isn't that hard to get a cab home from here.

[Wilfrid]

Good.

For me it's rapture compared with the other new things I've been invited to marvel at this year (oysters sliders, for example).

[Sneakeater]

That's the thing. Part of me thinks I might be overrating it slightly because it's so much what I've been hoping for (and not getting).

I'm also troubled by Eric Asimov's comment that the dishes don't change enough -- that the proteins stay the same with the sides changing. Looking at the menu, I could see that happening.

Having said that, two out of the three savories I had last night (I added a dish to the prix fixe) were among the very best things I had this year. (The steak tartare and the porridge with leeks, if you care.)

[Sneakeater]

They're no longer having any trouble attracting a crowd, BTW.

[robert40]

That's the thing. Part of me thinks I might be overrating it slightly because it's so much what I've been hoping for (and not getting).

I'm also troubled by Eric Asimov's comment that the dishes don't change enough -- that the proteins stay the same with the sides changing. Looking at the menu, I could see that happening.

Having said that, two out of the three savories I had last night (I added a dish to the prix fixe) were among the very best things I had this year. (The steak tartare and the porridge with leeks, if you care.)

I found their twitter page and seems they post their menu daily. Unique menu design in itself is worth checking out.
https://twitter.com/#!/Isanyc

[Wilfrid]

Have you had the duck tartare? That and the beef were incredible.

[Orik]

The beef tartare is one of the five favorite things to eat in the world according to wealthy hipster/dbag publication Monocle. (a publication that just made me realize almost all watch ads show a time just after 10:07, apparently a 90 year old tradition)