Socarrat

RUDE hostess

by nyblue123

I have been in this place more than once, best paella in the city, no doubt. But if you have to deal with a hostess that first tells you the wait is ten minutes when you come back tells you with the WORST attitude and without apologies that it will be over an hour....you will without a doubt (!) forget that they serve the best paella in town. Too bad for them to hire people with attitude. This was tonight March 10th. NY has way too many GOOD restaurants to deal with people like this.

Great -- if you avoid rush hour

by Scoop NYC

This is one of those New York restaurants that serves great food but is made utterly unbearable by overcrowding unless you can convince yourself to eat at really unfashionable hours.

Arrive before 7 or after 9:30 and you'll sit down immediately and eat the best paella you'll find outside of Valencia. It's not just good; unless you've actually had great paella in a paella-making region of Spain (which most tourists never visit) this will taste nothing like any paella you've ever had. The rice is completely different as is the way they soak it with flavor.

What you've had before is Chef Boyardee, this is spaghetti Bolognese from Il Mulino. But none of this will matter to you if you make the mistake of eating here at prime time.

If you do that, you will wait an hour, then get squeezed onto a couple stools at a communal table with loud groups of semi-intoxicated people, then you'll wait way too long for the food. The paella you get then will be just slightly undercooked because the kitchen is trying to turn the tables and you won't have room enough to eat it properly anyway.

New York is full of restaurants like this -- places that serve wonderful food but are unable or unwilling to manage prime-time crowds so as to prevent the crowding from utterly ruining the experience. This is a far, far better food town for people who can happily eat at off hours.

Gone downhill

by sazam

The first few times we tried this place, the wait was long but it was worth it for the delicious paella, tapas, and cozy atmosphere. But this time, the wait was still long and the food was mediocre and overpriced. We had a fava bean and clam tapa at the wine bar next door. For $11.00 we got only three tiny clams in a container filled with beans. I dropped one, so that left only two. Once we were seated at the long dinner table, waited a long time for lifeless paella. Unfortunately, the meat, chicken, sausage, and beef (?) chunks were charred and dry like after a nuclear attack and had no flavor. The rice was not particularly flavorful either. And at $22/person, it was definitely not worth it. A sad loss for the neighborhood.

• Pros: This place was great the first few times we tried it.
• Cons: Serious decline in quality, but the wait still long

Tasty paella, average tapas

by coog78

I really enjoy the concept of this restaurant. We sat near the middle of the table across from each other. Sangria was good, not great, but was fine. Potato tapas were basically like french fries, a bit disappointing. The fried artichokes were decent, but bland. Quail egg and chorizo on a toast was the best tapa and tasted nice.

The paella was why we came and it did not dissapoint. We ordered the pescados and mariscos paella and it was done very similar to paella in Spain. The rice on the bottom was crunchy and the peas were perfect. Seafood was tasty and overall a very nice dish. Average tapas can be forgiven by the success of the paella.

• Pros: paella, communal setting

Great Paella, Cute little place

by shert

The socarrat paella is amazing. The tapas were good as well. They don't take reservations but they put your name on a list and call when they're ready for you. We waited about an hour for 4 people on a Saturday night, not too bad. The staff is all very friendly. Definately go.

• Pros: Paella, Tapas, Sangria, Ambience
• Cons: No reservations