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“The fun and joy of eating a nice meal was completely lost.”
“The dishes offered were unique, very tasty and fresh from the lamb sausages, sardines with biscuits, large whole shrimp to the amazing pistachio ice cream (the best and freshest I've ever had).”
“If you like savory this is a fantastic place with a great bar menu that includes white anchovies and other great picks.”
“Delectable food”
“Great food, good size menu, great service and an unpretensious setting.”
“great place for showing outtatowners a hip NYC experience.”
“the last time i went, the hostess was so rude i decided that i will not go back there.”
“Good service, but the real star was the food.”
“This hole in the wall had the most overpriced sub par food I've ever eaten.”
“Our table was ready within 5 minutes after we arrived for our reservation which on a Friday night is not bad.”
A true destination spot on E. 1st St. Chef Gabrielle Hamilton's lack of restraint is all for your benefit. Indulge in sweetbreads, pâté and suckling pig and worry about your diet tomorrow.
Prune was an original, and its whole aesthetic -- the no frills decor, the funky, unvarnished food, the cool music -- has been imitated endlessly. But there's something special that adhere's to the original, and the food has never declined (or gotten better). In its own way, Prune has become as much of a New York institution as Katz's across the street.
Ratatouille Sandwich @ Prune.
I ordered the ratatouille open-faced sandwich ($14). Ratatouille is a Niçoise dish of stewed eggplant, zucchini and tomatoes. This one, atop crusty, toasted ciabatta bread, was flavored with olives, capers and a variety of herbs; it was topped with an unbelievably delicious, silky garlic aoli and toasted poppy seeds. The flavors were well-developed and pretty intense. The dish was simple and, for being meatless, surprisingly filling.
Read the rest at appetu.de/t1jOAS
Horrible Service Experience. I made a reservation at the restaurant for 10 people at 8pm on a Saturday evening. It was my 40th birthday and had some friends fly in from out of town just for this event. We were seated at 8:10pm which was no big deal. As I sat down the manager (Lauren) said coldly that the reservation was until 10:30pm. No good evening, no hello, no smile. The food was good and as expected. I like the intimacy of the space. The service has always been pleasant from past experience. I was cognizant of the time considering that they have a large clock on the wall in the corner. I saw 10:30 was approaching so I asked for the check. (over 1,300) As we were moving out, by then 10:35, the manager, (Lauren who was cold from the very first moment,) leaned over to my friend next to me as basically said the sooner we can leave the better and just walked away. The manner in which she stated it was so inappropriate. My friend who did not want to interrupt my celebration walked up to Lauren and told her since we were already leaving that there was no need to be not only rude and could have said it in a more polite manner. (It
Great Brunch at The Nexus of The Universe.
First and First, the nexus. The place is such a unique gem. To have an all star chef cook in the kitchen everyday is a rarity in nyc. Prune has a romantic small atmostphere and thoughtful artisinal dishes.
If i could afford to Id brunch there every weekend!
Generally unimpressed..
I brought my little brother here for a nice early lunch in celebration of his straight A report card for his first semester in college. I was expecting some delicious, exciting food, but I was sorely disappointed.
The chef really seemed to like capers that day. 75% of the plates I saw leave the kitchen were all speckled with the little green orbs.
I had the fried oyster omelet. I don't know what I was expecting really, but what I got was less than palatable. It was a slab of pale yellow, lukewarm eggs, folded over a hunk of fried oysters, which I cannot imagine were fresh. They had that "been frozen" powdery texture. The Tabasco sauce I got on the side was a mystery. They had added something to it which made it incredibly sweet. Sweetness + eggs = notsotasty. I left feeling a bit queasy.
My younger brother, under my insistence, and his own curiosity, ordered the sweetbreads with bacon. It was the better of the two dishes, although it wasn't anything spectacular. He said they were a bit on the greasy side. I tried it and agreed. The bacon was good, but there was hardly a strip of it on the plate. It seemed more a garnish than a part of the dish. Once again, his plate was littered with capers.
We shared a side of stripped kale with pine nuts, which was probably the tastiest thing on the table. It was cold though, which was a bit off putting, but I don't know the laws of kale, so that may or may not be normal.
The coffee was pretty delicious though.
Overhyped Brunch.
My friends suggested coming to Prune for brunch. I read reviews online before I came so I had high expectations.
Prune is a very cute and tiny restaurant. We came here for brunch around 1PM and it was packed. I thought we had to wait for 45 minutes but luckily it was only 15.
I looked at the menu and it actually didn't really interest me much but I managed to get some scramble eggs with lamb sausage and their homemade whole grain healthy bread.
My food came and I was a little disappointed because it was tiny. The scramble eggs was more on the wet side and nothing special. The healthy bread was very hearty but besides me nobody in my table liked it. The lamb sausage is flavorful but seems to be slightly undercooked?
I was not too impressed with the food. Service was good and atmosphere was very cute.
Good food, but not worth the hype. I've heard and read reviews on Prune, everyone saying it's "one of the top brunch places in NY." My husband and I are HUGE brunch people - Saturday and Sunday brunches are sacred times for us, and we've been to almost all the top-rated brunch places in NYC - so of course we had to try this. I have to say, I was kind of disappointed. The food was good: very good quality (even something standard like the eggs benedict was very well made), but it wasn't anything to write home about. All of it - food, service, menu variety - was just good... but nothing to be tooted "top brunch in NYC". What made it more unattractive is the price: if it were cheaper it might be worth it, but for the price, I'd go elsewhere.
Fine - but not worth the hype.
If you like innards, the appetizer list at Prune has as good a selection as you'll find in the city, and several of them are quite good, especially the veal heart and the signature bone marrow. The fried sweetbreads, on the other hand, tasted far more of fried than of sweetbread.
The entrees are disappointingly safe, however, and I fail to understand the enthusiasm so many people have for whole fish dishes. Who wants to spend the better part of an hour trying to separate fish from bone?
Portions, as at many "value" places in New York are on the small side, so big men might walk out hungry. My only other complaint was the music, which was set just slightly too loud for comfortable conversation.
Don't Waste Your Time for Poor Food and Cramped Space. DON'T GO HERE. The fact that it has such a high rating is beyond me. The dinner was very disappointing. From the poor selection, we ordered the fish and two lambs. The first fish apparently burnt and it took over one hour to get our meals due to the cooking of the second fish. One of the lamb dishes was very overdone and the other lamb was underdone. The squash spaghetti was undercooked also. The white wine Sancerre was bitter and likely sitting in a re-corked bottle. The dishes are bland and unimaginative and EXPENSIVE given how they came out. Go to BIANCA - it's way way better and half the price.
The dutch pancake is an oversized slab of cornbread.... As every other new yorker who enjoys his/her brunch, I took the liberty as always to check citysearch before I get excited about a new eatery. Well, guess what? The only good thing about this place was that miraculously we got seated, and believe it or not, it was full. People were waiting to get seated, so I figured it must be worth it. Folks, the dutch pancake is an oversized slab of cornbread with a few pears on top, which had a decorative purpose. The rotsi potatoes were the worst. They tasted like unsalted McDonalds hashbrowns. And no one likes that kind of torture especially when it comes with high expectations in an overcrowded small room.
Unbelievably BAD service. 2 weeks in advance reservations. Showed up AFTER they confirmed my reservation only to find out they totally screwed it up. They had me and my wife down for a 6:15pm reservation. Who on earth eats dinner at a restaurant like this at 6:15p? NO ONE. They seated us with SEVERE attitude - like we will seat you but were knocking someone else off the list. Hey sorry, but your restaurant had 8 tables empty at 7:45pm on a Saturday night. Get a clue, Gabrielle - times are tough - you should appreciate someone going out of their way to eat at your restaurant. Perhaps you should reconsider who you should have to represent your business when you walk in. There is like 2000 restaurants in NYC to choose from, who needs this kind of attitude from a place that isn't even new enough to warrant a honeymoon?
