Savoy Restaurant

12/19/10

Blithe, Rude, Hostile Service

by gibble at Citysearch

I was unexpectedly disappointed with Savoy. I had been here a few years ago and had a wonderful and memorable dinner. I couldn’t wait to return. Unfortunately it turned out to be one of the worst dining experiences I’ve ever had.

We had a reservation and waited close to 45 minutes for a table. We were supposed to be seated upstairs, but were given a table by the bar. When we were eating our appetizers and into our bottle of wine, the manager told us we had to move. Another party who had reservations for that table was an hour late and had finally arrived. Long story short, our original table was occupied by a group of people who had finished eating and paid their bill, but were enjoying their conversation. We had been given this table because our wait time was approaching 45 minutes. This is a common occurrence in restaurants, and many, especially those of Savoy’s caliber, are able to navigate through this type of situation. This was not the case, but it could have been easily remedied by comping our $46 bottle of wine or our appetizers. Instead we were unapologetically urged to move. When we declined, the wait staff proceeded to clear our plates, even though we were still eating, and literally dropped another appetizer we had ordered on the table. When asked if there was a problem they pretended as if they didn’t know what we were talking about. The manager came over later, pretending to apologize, only to turn around and tell us how wrong we were for not moving. The food wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t stellar. My duck was a bit undercooked and sinewy. I ordered tea for desert and it never arrived. When I asked if it was still brewing our server told me she thought I didn’t want it.

This used to be a wonderful place. I have to wonder if their existence is riding on a previous reputation for being a wonderful and warm place to dine. It’s now a complete nightmare.

03/15/09

Horrible Service

by fuchsia13 at Citysearch

My boyfriend made reservations at Savoy ion Saturday night n hopes of a nice dinner. The best part of our experience was getting seated and being given menus promptly upon arrival. After that, we waited, and waited, and watied almost 30 minutes for even a glance from our waitress before deciding to leave, at which point our she actually asked us if there was a problem. Amazingly enough, she was oblivious that a 30-minute wait was unacceptable. On our way out, we asked to see the manager, were told he would be right down and--you ugess it--waited again for about 5 minutes before we'd had it. DO NO GO TO SAVOY!

• Pros: None
• Cons: Nearly half hour wait for service until we decided to leave

02/15/09

Boring, unfufilling, decent food

by umdmike at Citysearch

So I had reservations at Gotham Bar & Grill for Valentine's Day, but balked in the end because of the high price for the prix fixe. I chose Savoy based on internet recommendations and reviews, although I had never been to the restaurant before. Before I go into the experience, please understand that I have been to a fair amount of NYC restaurants and consider myself well versed in the NYC scene.

I made a 6pm reservation a month prior, which I was told was the only one available. When my girlfriend and I got there, the place was 40% full until about 7pm. There was no music to fill the scene, the place was small and the ambiance was disappointing. The food was decent, but nothing to even write up about. Portions were small and although cooked well, I will not remember what I had in two weeks from now. Service was ok, our glasses and silverware were dirty, and the tables and chairs were dinky.

When we first arrived there were about 15 minutes where I wanted to get up and leave and try my luck somewhere else without a reservation. For a $300 meal (which was honestly worth about $100) I could have gone to many of the finer establishments in NYC. Please do not let their self-recommendations on the internet fool you. This is a below-par restaurant putting up a false facade. Save your money for somewhere worth remembering. I feel like I was duped and am very, very disappointed.

• Pros: Nice fireplace upstairs, vanilla creme brule was good
• Cons: very bad value

11/12/08

Don't Stomp at the Savoy

by pj10128 at Citysearch

When our movie at the Angelika was "moved" to the Village East who at 1:30 was not answering the phone we stumbled upon Savoy for lunch. The menu looked promising. We started with a cabbage soup with a julienne of apples and fennel. A sickly bowl of broth arrived that tasted like pepper with a micro sliver of apple on top.Recession is here, not famine. My friends bluefish was over-spiced as was my duck sandwich. Our waiter brought desert menus, but upon discovering that the neighboring table was from his birthplace of Hawaii, we were forgotten. We waited at least 15 minutes for him to finish reminiscing with his new found friends only to order a very mediocre dessert. When the movie theater finally answered the phone, our film would not be shown for two more days. what a day!

08/04/08

Fantastic time!

by pugliapal at Citysearch

I had had a very long day. My girlfriend and I had decided to go someplace we'd never been. We happened along Savoy and sat for dinner around 7:30 on this particular Sunday evening. We were led upstairs to a quaint corner table overlooking the intersection below.

We ordered a hearty meal as to repress the stresses of the day. I usually never order a soup as an app but took the chance and was won over by the cream of garlic and pork sausage. Plenty of flavor and was paired well with a glass of white wine by the manager. The lady had delightful watercress, strawberries and pork belly, an refreshingly interesting combination.

We followed that with the house recommended duck and the suckling pig. Both entrees were superb and finished off with bottle of red (that the restaurant owners produce or own themselves). I so very pleased with the service, the descriptions, and the food that I have made the effort to go back several times since. Keep up the good work.