Doesn't Recommend

Ryans

Joined 4 years ago

Terrible food and even worse service. It was for a birthday celebration and we regretted it as soon as we sat down. The decor was like a cafeteria. The food was really bad. We expected much better for the price. There was even a hair on the plate of my friend's thankfully it didn't reach the food so I simply removed it by hand but yikes! The service was unprofessional and sloppy. Each entree was at least $30 and the tasting menu was $220 per person (with wine pairing). Totally overpriced and an underperformer. Don't waste your money on the hype and media. Who cares how famous the chef is if the food is bad (even disgusting) and the service below par.

Doesn't Recommend

lottin

Joined 4 years ago

Aweful.. I love creativity but if Im putting it in my mouth it has to taste good! If not put it in a museum. Flew to NYC and especially made a trip to WD 50, Not impressed and disappointed. Would have loved to gone to some really good restaurants. Everyone else in our party agreed.

Doesn't Recommend

h2bomb

Joined 4 years ago

Unspectacular Food. Sloppy Service. I must say, they did put a lot of effort to make the menu LOOK innovative.

That said, I personally don't care for how innovative it is as long as it tastes good. In my opinion, the food tastes just the same as the restaurant next door.

If that is not enough to feel disapointed about the place, the waitress had a full glass of water splashed all over my girlfriend.

Luckily it was only a glass of water. Otherwise I would walk out immediately.

Recommends

foobar1234

Joined 4 years ago

Outstanding. One thing is for certain about WD, this is not your father's haute cuisine. The atmosphere is totally casual which is to be expected given the location. The service was excellent, our servers helped pick an excellent cocktail for my wife and were very attentive throughout the meal describing each dish that came out as part of the tasting menu and no dish was a disappointment. The timing of the dishes was also spot on. Each dish, aside from the first course of fluke wrapped in milk skin, brought me back to the flavors of my childhood. The everything bagel with salmon was an interesting take and with a little bit of each component on my fork it tasted like the best bagel and lox i've ever had. That is an important thing to remember, you must get a little bit of each component on your fork for the flavor to really come through. In most cases if you take each component on their own the dish comes off as bland but when you get a little of everything together the flavors will knock your socks off. The foie with a core of passion fruit was one of my favorites. Another was a new dish of snails and red lentils that they were testing out, it was a winner. The cold fried chicken was excellent as well, the ricotta it is served with is silky smooth and when combined with the chicken it all just worked. The squab was perfect and it was the first time I've had something cooked sou vide and while the color of the meat is a bit grey the taste was incredible. It was hands down the best squab I've ever eaten. Then we moved on to dessert. Alex Stupak is nothing short of genius. The hazelnut tart was incredible and the brioche was simply amazing. I was completely stuffed by the 3rd and final dessert course which topped off the meal perfectly. These guys are mad scientists and I can't wait to see what they come up with next.

Recommends

allforone

Joined 5 years ago

Excellent, always changing, very creative, check the online menu before you go.. This is a new experience. Very creative. Big strong, rich and intense flavors abound. The Fois gras was amazingly rich but if you dont like Fois gras, then not for you. The pork belly was served here before anyone else dared try it and now its all over NYC.Amazing dish that I often think of five years later after that first meal. I notice many clueless wonders giving poor reviews. Some people are not willing to try new things, or experiment with new food and/or new cultures etc. If your sheepsih and tend to follow the herd then its not the place for you. Its like garlic ice cream. If you would never ever try garlic ice cream then WD50 is probably not for you. Go to Per Se and spend a grand. baaaaaaa

Doesn't Recommend

msk83

Joined 5 years ago

no!. I was so disappointed in WD 50! I think innovative cuisine is great - I'm all for it - when it tastes good. The food at WD 50 is very interesting and I was very impressed by how weird the menu was - but I didn't like anything I ordered. In fact, I went home and made a box of macaroni and cheese and enjoyed that more; had a 5 course dinner at WD 50 and left hungry! Had some version of Arctic Char that just kind of lay inert on the plate with some neon purple mushroom thing that tasted like cardboard. It's interesting what they do with food - but it should be in a display case, not in my mouth.

Recommends

tdv

Joined 8 years ago

Very Unique. It's exactly what people described it as - very unique. The experimental cuisine isn't really my cup of tea so I wouldn't take my review too seriously. I thought the restaurant was very nice and the unusual combinations were always surprising. I didn't like the food too much, but it was worth the trip. I'm glad I went.

Recommends

choulli

Joined 10 years ago

EXCEEDED OUR EXPECTATIONS!. After having read about Wylie Dufresne & "wd~50" for years,

my husband & I decided to give it a try for our anniversary dinner.

Prepared for the unique & unusual, we were not disappointed.

Our server, Chris, helped to make the entire experience even more special,

by being helpful, friendly, informative & efficient.

He even replaced a cocktail that I disliked with something more pleasing to me -

a courtesy that I would expect at an establishment of this caliber.

Their bartender's version of a Cosmo is out of this world by the way - not the usual bright red, (many of which border on cough syrup) but rather, a cool, smooth tonic infused with fresh fruit juice & vodka & topped off by a generous slice of fresh lemon zest. Amazing!

Don't eat too fast or you'll miss the marvelous mix of flavors & textures that chef Dufresne has concocted, from the banana with quail to the lychee candy with grilled octopus, it was like taking our palates to an amusement park!

The menu is small, but interesting & the wine & spirits list is quite extensive, featuring some excellent choices, especially when it comes to aperitifs & dessert wines.

Our server kindly brought us several tastes of different wines, before we committed to our dinner accompaniments.

I would love to return to wd~50, but with a group next time, so that we can all share the experience & freak out together!

Loved the ambience too, with its colorful lighting, soothing bamboo walls & wooden tables. And the ladies room is terrific.

The juxtaposition of this serene little gem in its gritty, artsy, lower east side neighborhood is something so typical of Manhattan that it only adds to its allure.

In closing, I don't know why anyone would come to "wd~50" without some advanced knowledge of what to expect. If you want a cheeseburger, go to the appropriate venue for that, rather than whine & complain that you didn't get a meal on par with McDonalds.

Doesn't Recommend

star67

Joined 11 years ago

Excellent Food, Terrible Waiter. My boyfriend surprised me with dinner at this restaurant as a congratulations for my new job, so needless to say we were not dressed to go here--jeans, sneakers, flip-flops and what we got was sub-par service to say the least. I have been wanting to go here since it opened, and while eating here won't break us, it's not a cheap date! When we didn't order the tasting menu, the waiter was annoyed. I was totally annoyed at him from the get-go. Although he didn't do anything outright confrontational, he was totally a snob (smirks, snide remarks, haughty tone) and did not speak to us like the waiters at the other table spoke to their patrons (didn't check on us or explain/describe each course). I know because we were surrounded by three tables. I was super-excited about the great food (get the pork belly--perch is cooked to perfection, but the sauce was not my thing, duck appetizer was AWESOME). The patrons next to us were friendly--get rid of that guy! I am so sorry I didn't get his freakin' name.

Doesn't Recommend

drlisadds

Joined 7 years ago

Not worth it, don't go here. We were very disappointed! We did not order the tasting menu because they don't tell you what you are getting, It's a $125 mystery, so we ordered from the regular menu, the lamb was very rare/bloody, even though I asked for medium well and super fatty. There was more white chewy fat on it than meat. Same thing with duck, rare and extremely fatty. Food tasted bland, and was very expensive for being very mediocre. The only good thing was the flat bread (sesame crackers they give in the begining) and drinks.