Graffiti Bistro & Bakery

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clairelin

Joined 5 years ago

Tiny little place with some good food. Super tiny place. Be ready to be squeezed and pushed.

The mango paneer is A-okay.

Zucchini hummus pizza is made with fluffy Indian fried bread with interesting crunchy fried peas and layers of sliced cucumber and hummus. Recommended.

The chili pork dumpling can be skipped. You get much flavorful dumpling in Chinatown for quarter of the price. Nothing special.

Chickpea skate is flavorful and tasty.

Graffiti Burger is cooked to perfection. Juicy and tender.

The one not to be missed is warm truffle almond strawberries. You smelled the truffle aroma in the warm strawberries. Very subtle but wonderful.

Just mind you the tap add up quickly. For two of us, we spent about $100, in a very minimally furnished restaurant.

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arbman

Joined 3 years ago

Fantastic. The flavor combination used to spice up common everyday foods is just awesome. This place had the best burger in town, and it's not your run-of-the-mill kind either. You'll be tempted to try everything, as the sizes are a tad larger than your traditional Spanish tapas places. It's not truly Indian food, per se, but many dishes utilize Indian spices and ingredients for sure. The only drawback is the space itself, which is quite tiny, and extremely cramped. If you're very tall (either way!), you're not going to have a comfortable meal. But suck it up, the food more than makes up for it!

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LauraTurn1

Joined 3 years ago

WOW!!. Thanks to Eatery Expert, we were sent to another AMAZING restaurant. To top it off, I'm a huge fan of the Food Network shows and I had NO idea that Chef Mehta (almost winner of the Next Iron Chef) owns and operates Graffiti. From start to finish - this was a dining experience worthy of foodies anywhere. The space was small, but that didn't really bother me because the food made you feel like you were dining like royalty. Thanks EE!

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Ben Albert

Joined 4 years ago

Graffiti experience. It was a spontaneous decision to visit Graffiti in East Village. We were in the neighborhood and had not made any bookings so we decided to take our chances with this small but cozy place. The restaurant was bustling with people and we had to wait a good 20 mins before we were led to those darling little tables. Since we were a party of 4 we got the corner table. One look at the interiors and I knew that the owner had an impeccable taste and had hired the right designer to get the job done. I was surprised to know that Chef Mehta, who is also the owner, had designed the whole place himself! We asked the staff to pass on our compliments to him. We settled quickly to realize that the place has some really good wine. The portions served are just right and I enjoyed it because I hate to eat a heavy dinner. I ordered for a Watermelon Feta Salad, Mint Sorbet. The watermelon and mint sorbet gave it a cool feel and the feta brought in the saltiness. The staff did tell me that they add something for tartness but by the time they reached that part of the description I had started digging into it. The food looked and tasted heavenly! Chef Mehta has given a thought to every aspect of the “Graffiti experience”. I missed out on tasting the Graffiti Burgers, which I read later are the specialty, so I will be back at Graffiti pretty soon. Though I will make sure to book a table this time since I know that Chef Mehta is celebrity chef now! I saw him cook on the Next Iron Chef on Food Network the other day. I would love to meet him! Hope I bump into him when I go there the next time.

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dpherson

Joined 4 years ago

Compelled to go back. Since a lot of you have thrown light on the restaurant’s interior and lack of space I am compelled to bring to your attention the uniquely, delicious food served there. In my life I follow one principle “Never eat an insignificant meal” and places like Graffiti make it possible for me to stick to it. I read the reviews and decided to go and visit the place. This was a year back and I have been hooked since then. The pork dumpling with the tomato-chilly sauce, the grapefruit confit and fried chickpea flour just leaves you wanting more. Not to mention the much praised braised pork buns and crab noodle rolls which I recommend very highly to all first timers. The whole restaurant and the food served are in such harmony that the place exudes warmth which, according to me, I find lacking in a lot of places. I feel his principle of “less is more” reflects in all the preparations. The portions are just right and stress is given on the flavors, taste and preparations.

Whenever I see Chef Mehta cooking on The Next Iron Chef I cannot help wondering if he is going to put this preparation on the menu. I just hope he does because he can count on me to come and taste it.

Whenever I see Chef Mehta cooking on The Next Iron Chef I cannot help wondering if he is going to put this preparation on the menu. I just hope he does because he can count on me to come and taste it.

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Aalbert Ben

Joined 4 years ago

Graffiti review: A “must go” place. I just saw the third episode of the Next Iron Chef and I felt that I had to write a review about Graffiti and the experience I had there. Every time I watch Chef Jehangir Mehta on the Next Iron Chef I remind myself to write a review but something always comes up. Anyway, here I am…

It’s a great place. Probably not good enough for crotchety old men and snobs (owing to its size) but then what place is? If they gave it a chance and tasted the food I’m quite sure even they would mellow down.

The food at Graffiti is deliciously different. It’s no wonder considering Chef Jehangir Mehta’s penchant for pushing the envelope as evident by his performance on the show (offering Jeffery Steingarten ‘take out’ calls for some serious guts). I really hope he expands his menu to include some of the new things he’s coming up with on the show.

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CSMobileUser

Joined 5 years ago

perfect. My wife and I have been here twice over the last year and it is consistently awesome. Besides the delicious food, the cozy confines are balanced by an excellent staff that not only guides your selections but goes to extended effort to make sure that your meal and experience are perfect.

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scotchstr8

Joined 7 years ago

A Great Place in a Small Package. I have rarely gone to a restaurant I loved and hated to tell someone about it and this is such an instance. If you haven't read any of the other reviews, the place is indeed small and make no mistake you will be cramped. Consider yourself informed. That being said, I want to assume whoever is reading this has an open mind and will not be dissuaded by personal space issues. This is about the delicious dishes you'll be served. My girlfriend and I ordered 5 items from the menu and they were all flavorful. I ordered all vegetarian and she the meat variety. She loved what she sampled from mine and assured me hers were equally delectable. The hosts were very cordial, attentive, and explained the purpose of the ingredients used in each dish. Honestly, if I were a real reviewer, I would have paid attention to what was said, as I find that preparation and execution are separate entities. Even so, the dishes came out great anyway.

And that's the rub. I have to tell the miserable public about such a great restaurant. But keeping it all to myself is a disservice to Graffiti. Thank you for a fantastic experience!

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ToadllyFoodz

Joined 4 years ago

Delicious Chocolate Steamed Buns. I'm heading to Graffiti pretty much as soon as work as over so I can replace my after work cocktail with this delicious Chocolate Steamed Bun I saw Chef Jehangir make on Behind the Burner. I don't even care if the quarters are cramped, food will eventually lead to comfort and from what I hear the rest of the menu is spectacular.

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kpn2

Joined 5 years ago

Eat here at least once. Strongly recommended. The food is absolutely delicious, the wine pairings very good at a great price, and the wait staff extremely sweet and knowledgale about the food. She recommend wines, explained why she recommended them, and detailed what to expect from every plate we ordered. Absolutely everything we had was very tasty, and I think we sampled almost everything from the menu. The pork buns and scallops were probably my favs. The cheese plate is very small but very good.

The cons are that the place is super tiny, and they offer communal dining. We were a paty of 5 and the table sat 7 or 8, so we were informed that more people might sit with us. That would normally be fine except that as it was were almost sitting on top of each other. Also just note that the servings are small, so it's really only sharable for a couple or 3 people max.

Great date spot, night out with a friend. A little challenging for groups. Overall delicious food (including the desserts) and incredible service.