Esca

07/19/2008 Posted by NYCFoodie80

The hype behind most of the Batalli restaurants is just that; hype. The food is always mediocre, the servers are bitter, the chefs are tired of cooking the same meals day in and day out, the hostess wants to go home so she does not want to seat you and to them you are just one filthy rich New York snob or a dumb tourist who read the reviews on Citysearch.. What else would you expect? Esca is not the best seafood the city has to offer. I could probably buy better tuna at the fish market and cook it myself and make better carpaccio from a Betty Crocker cook book. In other words New Yorkers stop being such guppies and build some gusto and stay away from the mainstream garbage and if you enjoy being in the mainstream, and it doesn't turn out the way you wish, shut up and move on, instead of ranting on about the employees of the restaurant.

05/28/2008 Posted by cmazzinichin

Somewhat disappointing first visit; overall from a food and service perspective it was inconsistent enough that we would not try dining here again considering the price point. Food - apps of octopus and anchovies were solid. Entrees however, dining companion's fish was overseasoned and my side of morels/favas came out mushy (morels), brown (favas) and also overseasoned. I have cooked in what some may consider "lesser" restaurants and the chefs there would have not let that go out of the kitchen the way it looked, let alone tasted. Considering that was half my entree it really overshadowed the meal (and I left it untouched after the first bite) Service - while the servers/bussers were attentive, our waiter was hurried and the only time we interacted was when he initially dropped the menu. Our orders were taken by a hostess who realized we were not being tended to in a timely fashion. Upon leaving the restaurant only a busser was gracious enough to wish us a good night and thank us while we walked by the hostesses unacknowledged. A trifling thing to some, yes, but it's nice to know one's patronage is appreciated.

Pros: Promptly seated, lots of choices (seafood)

Cons: Inconsistent

04/21/2008 Posted by JCharlotte

My boyfriend & I have been to Esca on several occasions & had wonderful experiences. We went this last weekend for my birthday & we left very disappointed. Since we were there for a special occation we deicded on the Tasting Menu with the wine pairing. The food that Dave prepared was wonderful as usual however the service left much to be desired. There was at least 20 minutes between us finishing 1 course and being brought out the next & our server knew nothing about the wines he was serving. In the end, I will most likely go back, but I won't be ordering the tasting menu.

Pros: Food

Cons: Service

12/26/2007 Posted by doctort

WE ENTERED THE RESTAURANT AT 5 PM IN ORDER TO CATCH A SHOW. THE FIRST THING I NOTICED WAS THAT THE MANAGER OR WHOEVER THE GENTLEMAN WAS AT THE FRONT DESK HAD A TOOTHPICK IN HIS MOUTH. NOT VERY PROFESSIONAL. THE NEXT THING WE DID WAS ORDER A BOTTLE OF WINE, WHICH THE ONLY CHOICE IS ITALIAN WINES ON THE WINE LIST( I ASKED IN ADVANCE ABOUT A CORKAGE POLICY AND THEY HAVE NONE). WE THEN ORDERED OUR DINNER. WHEN I ASKED THE SERVER A FEW MINUTES LATER, WHAT CAME WITH MY ENTREE, THEY REPLIED "WHAT DID YOU ORDER AGAIN?(NOTE:WE THE FIRST AND ONLY PEOPLE IN THE RESTAURANT. THEY THEN REPLIED" I'M NOT SURE, IT CHANGES ALL THE TIME. WHEN THE FOOD ARRIVED IT WAS VERY GOOD, HOWEVER AT THESE PRICES, TOOTHPICKS AND UNPREPARED SERVERS ARE A NO NO. WE WON'T BE BACK DR. T

Pros: FOOD WAS TERRIFIC

Cons: SERVICE AND PROFESSIONALISM WAS AWFUL

12/14/2007 Posted by justaddwater

I've walked by the restaurant many times before actually deciding to eat here. I was able to get a reservation through Open Table about a week in advance. We ordered the tasting menu with the crudo upgrade. The crudo was excellent. The rest of the tasting menu was so-so. The bouillabasse that the person at the next table was having looked really good (too bad it wasn't part of the tasing menu). I'll go back for the crudo, but I won't be ordering the tasting menu again. The service was good, but I found a sommelier to be a bit much for the casual atmosphere of the place. Prices were on the high side. Tasting menu x 2 + sparkling wine x 2 + modest bottle of wine + dessert x 2+ tip = $400.

Pros: Excellent crudo, atmosphere

Cons: Fried fish sucked, price

12/09/2007 Posted by vy622

We love Mario's wonderful restaurants. His cooking are out of this world. However, I have to evaluate if the food can compensate the horrible service. The hostess in Esca is so unpleasant that it really left a bad taste in my mouth. Due to my husband's work, we can never make plan in advance. Luckily he was able to leave early one night so we decided to find a great restaurant to enjoy a wonderful night out. I understand that great restaurants always required reservation month in advance but I decided to try my luck. The hostess answered the phone was nicel. She politely told me that Esca was fully booked but at 10pm should have availablility at the bar or (if we are lucky) a real table. We thanked her for the tips and looking forward all day. When we got there at 10:10pm, we saw several tables were empty, some were having coffee & a couple at the bar was putting on their coats. We cherrifully asked the hostess how long is the wait. With a smirk on her face, she said NEVER! I couldn't believe it so I politely asked her what about those empty tables, she said they are all reserved. Based on my previous phone call, she told me the last reservation is at 10. There're 5 empty tables when we arrived, isn't it a standard policy that the reservation is void 15 mins after the reserved time. We told her we're willing to wait for the couple to leave at the bar.She obnoxiously told us that we can wait outside. When we saw the couple left, we came back in. She said those two seats were reserved. WHAT? She just said the bar is first come first serve.We're so upset with the way she treated us. When we were about to leave the place, we overheard the hostess said she rather have the table empty than giving someone a table at this time, etc..and started giggling. Mario - if you want Esca to be profitable, you should fired this girl. She's the most obnoxious, rude and unprofessional hostess I ever witnessed. To keep her around, it's almost a disgrace to your name.

Pros: Food

Cons: The rudest hostess, Horrible service

11/01/2007 Posted by plh1234us

We ate at Esca on 10/31/07 and I ordered the Polipo (Grilled octopus with giant corona beans and preserved sorrento lemon) dish. The octopus was burned, and I mean burned black. It was tough and chewy. I was very disappointed especially since the waiter said that the dish is lovely, he said “Often times octopus is chewy and hard to eat, this one is so tender, you can cut it with a fork”. Sounded good to me, so I ordered it. It was nothing like described. The waiter noticed that I was having trouble cutting it so he came by and asked if he could bring me something else. I asked him if the chef could just redo it, less burned. He returned and told me that chef said that is how it is supposed to me. I’m sorry, but no food is supposed to be burned like that. It was awful. Since we had theater tickets and were under time constraints, the waiter brought me a fish sashimi dish instead. The taste was fine, nothing to write home about. But I got 3 small slices of fish which was WAY overpriced. All in all, the service (except for the comment from the chef) was great, the food….just OK and way overpriced for what you actually get. It’s a shame. We won’t be eating there again.

Pros: Great service, except from the Chef

Cons: Chef burned the octopus and would not redo it. He said that's how it's supposed to be. ???

09/11/2007 Posted by stjb

I have always been an Esca fan so I was extremely dissapointed last night. The fish was over-salted and appeared to be masking the staleness and the sea urchin was downright inedible and obviously left over as we received three servings instead of one. In fact the server said he would never recommend it again after he saw our faces and we received free vegetables. Our entrees were luke warm and to top it off we saw a rodent squirring through the restaurant- like 5 times. When we let the Manager know he said it was inevitable b/c teh door was open and was not apologetic at all even though my friend almost passed out. For a $400 meal rodents should not be running around the restaurant... I have never written a review but Mario- I am truly dissapointed and actually quite sad that I cant go back to one of my NYC favorite restaurants...

09/04/2007 Posted by monkey0418

I came here about 2 months ago to celebrate my sister graduation with my parents and her boyfriend. I always wanted to try one of Mario Batali's restaurant but boy was I a bit disappointed. After reading raving reviews about the seafood I thought it was ok. My dad, sister and brother dish was really salty. I understand that sometimes ingredients are salty and it is hard to avoid but maybe it should have been counterbalance with another ingredient or they should warn you about the saltiness of the dish. And my sis really eats salty so for her to say that it MUST have been REALLY salty. we thought the chef went heavy on the dish but not for all three different dishes. But thankfully that didnt totally ruin the dinner because as we talked to our waiter on how salty it was and he explained to us it was because of the ingredients, we asked for the menu to order something else and he gracefully offered to check with the manager to see if the salty items can be removed from the bill (which it did) otherwise the bill would have been really hefty. I thought the food would be better seeing him how he cooks in Food Network but it was a bit disappointed. However I was REALLY IMPRESSED with the service, very well-coordinated. All food arrives at the same time and gets removed a the same time. We also ordered a bottle of Italian (of course) white one and it was exceptional with a wine connoisseur and all.

Pros: Exceptional Service

Cons: ok food

04/23/2007 Posted by lansman94

Had dinner here last night, a bit of a disappointment. Service was lackluster, slow, and disorganized. EVerything seemed just a bit off, even the food. The grilled fish all looked nice, but lacked taste and some were overcooked. The pasta was cooked well, but the sauces overwhelmed most of them.The setting is very nice, with some outdoor tables. Perhaps it was an off night, but I was underwhelmed and am not rushing back......expected better from all the publicity, but it was not worth the money at all.

Pros: pasta

Cons: seafood not the way it should be