LAN
New York, NY 10003-5534
Phone: (212) 254-1959
User Reviews for LAN
05/12/2008 Posted by keenan55
I am a New Yorker and very picky about where I eat and drink. The choices are endless and there are many great places to choose from. Living in NYC until 2005 I really missed the restaurants that I would frequent when I moved away. One of these all time favorites is LAN. I would dine here at least once a month and would entertain guest here at the bar. When I return to NYC and my friends come to NYC for the first time I always refer them to LAN as one of my favorite places for sushi or grilled meats. The owners are the same but the staff and management are different but always polite and professional. It gets crowded quick so reservation is recommended. I beautiful way to start a romantic evening. Authentic unique Japanese cuisine.
03/22/2008 Posted by dassmarschett
Yesterday I went to this restaurant with my families coming from out of town, and I have been ever so sorry that I brought them there. Initially, we were really impressed with the nice cutlery and tableware, but the experience pretty much ended there. We ordered 3 appetizers, 3 main courses, and a shabu-shabu for two. It took 30 minutes for the first appetizer to come. It was a 12-dollar crab salad that barely fill the cavity in my tooth. Imagine when the 4 of us saw the portion. You would think that small portion is compensated by quality. But there is zero quality, it tasted like something I can make myself- two pieces of thinly-sliced avacado with the kind of crab salad you get in any deli. The following dishes, a lobster egg custard and tofu with sea urchin. Egg custard is edible, similarly mediocre. The sea urchin became hard because it sat on a piece of steamed tofu- the sea urchin was consequently ruined. And mind u, the two lousy dishes were served at a 20-minute interval. At this point we have been fed up with, not food, but anger. I complained to the manager about how slow the food came. He listened and left. After 5 minutes he came back, uttering 3 words, "RED OR WHITE," with a noticeable roll of his eyes. The apology was very perfunctory, just like their decor, their food, the design of the menu- pretentious with no content. The main courses and the shabu-shabu came afterwards. Black cod was average. Sushi for two was very, very third-rate. You can get the same quality in whole food with much less money. The shabu shabu is not even worth mentioning. So it had been about 3 hours before we could get the check; to complete the experience, even the bill took the waiter 10 minutes to get. My overall opinion is that the only thing that the restaurant can boast about is the tableware. The service is polite but essentially fake and perfunctory. The wait is exasperating. And the food, bottom line, is not worth your consideration or actually my further comment.
Pros: tableware
Cons: everything else
