Peacock Alley at the Waldorf Astoria

The Good old days are gone

by brandonfel

This place has going downhill. I don't know if it the recession or what but it is not what it used to be. However the price has not come down. I am specifically talking about the brunch. The lobster and crab were tough and the desserts were hardly worth the calories. I guess if you have never been there you should do it just to say you have done it, but what can you expect from a Hilton hotel. Avoid

• Pros: The History
• Cons: The Food, Service and Price

A very factual review - you decide for yourself.

by namor16

I sent the following e-mail to the management of Peacock Alley twice. Both times I received a confirmation that my e-mail was read, but no reply followed. I invite you to judge for yourself. I gave management over 30 days to provide some sort of explanation, so as promised, I decided to share my experience with future patrons.

To: Mark.Axxxxxxx@hilton dot com

Dear Mark,

On Apr 19, 2009, we visited your establishment for the Sunday Brunch. It

was our parents' 40th anniversary and we wanted to surprise them with

something that they would both enjoy and remember for some time. Having

reviewed your website showcasing

the "lavish Sunday Brunch", which "was awarded a singular honor of Most

Luxurious Brunch in New York" and featuring "spectacular array of 12

themed food displays and over 100 gourmet treats", I promptly made

reservation under the name of xxxxxxxxxx for a party if six.

When we arrived to the brunch, and proceeded to food selection, I was

both surprised and disappointed by what I saw. If it was not for my

parents anniversary, I would have simply left and went to another place.

On Apr 19th I did not have that luxury. The following list summarizes my

observations:

1. While there were a few stations, the food looked borderline stale and

it was obvious that many stations were not replenished timely.

2. Other than Beef Wellington and lobster, nothing else fit into the

category of gourmet treats. Neither the selection of bagels with cream

cheese and salmon, nor the Eggs Benedict, nor the stale grilled

vegetables, nor the roasted potatoes qualify for a the "Most Luxurious

Brunch in New York".

3. The sight of dinner rolls and bagels literally scattered around the

table, without any utensils and/or napkins around to take them with, is

neither lavish nor sanitary.

4. At a price of $95 per person the selection should include true luxury

items, such as caviar. We took our parents to Sunday Brunch at the Plaza

Hotel before it closed for renovations; that brunch included caviar, had

a much better food selection and cost less.

We were happy with service; the waiters did go out of their way to make

our visit special. But they obviously can't compensate for the

shortcomings of the main offering.

My wife and I travel all over the world. We stay in some of the best

hotels, including Villa D'Este and Il San Pietro in Italy, the Paris

Ritz, the St. Regis in New York, Delano in Miami Beach, etc. We are

members of Andrew Harper, LHW Leaders Club and carry Platinum American

Express. In all of our travels, we have rarely discovered such a

stunning disparity between what is being advertised vs. what is being

offered, and between value charged vs. value delivered, as we observed

at Peacock Alley.

My first inclination was to post my views on various forums, but then I

concluded that it would be unfair to do so without giving the Management

of Peacock Alley a chance to explain what happened on Apr 19th.

I will be eagerly awaiting your response.

Regards.

• Pros: good service
• Cons: quality & selection of food

Perfect salmon

by shelleyyy

One quick thing: the grilled wild salmon= awesomeness!

Would come back here and order the grilled wild salmon like 20 million times or until I exploded...

If that happened the allure of it's romanticality would be tarnished and I wouldn't want to do that....

Yes one the the most romantic places for a date.

Yes it's all worth every penny!

Restaurant Week

by lexislee2002

Unfortunately, I did not enjoy my time at Peacock Alley. I was there for Restaurant Week. The portions were ridiculously small (15 pieces of pasta with 3 pieces of small pork for an entree, one scallop with a mushroom for an appetizer). The manager came by to ask if we were enjoying our meal and stared at the ceiling while doing so. It was obvious he didn't care about our answer.

It was a comfortable restaurant with a kind server and nice hostess.

Besides the small portion, the food wasn't that great, or even good. My friends and I decided we give up on Restaurant Week. It's meant to expose different people to fancy places in the hopes of convincing them the food is worth the money, but instead you're just reminded that even if the food was reasonably priced, it's still overrated and in most places, if you're under 35, you're just not welcome there.

We'll stick to moderately priced places with reasonable portions and good tasting food.

• Pros: nice hostess and server, nice ambience
• Cons: snobby manager, small portions for the price, food not exceptional for the price

Expected more...

by jasnyc

I must say that the presentation and taste of the food at Peacock Alley was really good. Yes, the portions were small, but I expected that. The service, however, was a disappointment. My friend and I were seated at the table for what seemed like a really long time before the waiter finally brought us the dinner menus. After we ordered, there was a LONG wait for the food. Also, the waiter was not attentive at all. We purchased a bottle of wine and he failed to fill our wine glasses until we asked him, and, in fact, he never filled our water glasses at all. For the menu prices, I was expecting better service. Frankly, there are plenty of better choices.

• Pros: food presentation, quality of food
• Cons: poor service