10/24/09

almost excellent

by Idealmeal

This place just misses the mark - most things are absolutely wonderful - the place itself is simple, historic and warm. The bartender was superb as was our waiter in the dining room.

Two of our main courses were great - the pappardelle with shrimp and the veal ragout, a special. The duck breast was way oversalted for all three of us - but we finished it anyway!

Why on earth there would be paper protecting the cloth at a Friday night service is a mystery - as is the 'passing of the bread' ceremony - ice cold and rather not worth the pomp - and served with an equally cold plop of regular butter, also cold.

• Pros: beautiful location, great service
• Cons: tacky paper covering fabric cloth - on a Friday night!!

01/01/09

Best New Years Experience

by Melved

My wife friend and I were just looking for a warm drink after visiting the Cloisters, when we stumbled upon this beautiful cottage in the woods restaurant. It was snowing outside and we had hot chocolate on the mind. Boy did we stumble into the right place. Best hot chocolate I have ever had-with a wee bit of peppermint liquor in mine. They actually have a hot chocolate menu with a variety of flavors.

Then the fun started. We each had a different specialty drink from the cocktail menu and every one was a winner. The pomegranate martini was my favorite.

A jazz pianist started playing in the bar room and we ordered a bite to eat. Had no idea the food was going to be as great as it was plus really good fine dining at the bar.

Grilled Duck, fried oysters, scallops in lobster bisque oh and the best venison steak. The food was divine. And then we looked around and realized the entire restaurant was packed with people who had found this place before us.

We hadn?t planned on having a New Years Eve night, but we nestled right in and stayed till the ball dropped. And they did it right, with a raucous champagne toast and perfect music.

The service was wonderful, obviously a bunch of happy people working in a gorgeous place. A truly memorable experience.

• Pros: Woodland setting

09/27/08

Great location

by mizzy425

Beautiful setting, great food, and attentive service. I was pleasantly surprised to find this gem in Upper Manhattan. My boyfriend and I arrived 30 minutes early for our dinner reservation and had a drink at the restaurant bar. New Leaf has a great selection of wine. I had the duck and it was cooked perfectly. The food was great but I fell in love with New Leaf for the ambience. It is a romantic cozy restaurant in the middle of the park.

12/27/07

This restaurant is a joke

by lcartage

Yeah, the location is nice and the ambience (if you can get a seat inside of the restaurant) is rustic/charming. But the majority of people, including our group, get seated outside in a big white plastic tent, which is such a drag. Expectations were high as our group loves fine dining. Unfortunately this restaurant has so many bad things going for it. The menu is limited, boring. Our waitress/model took forever to serve us, literally 15 min? in the tent? waiting for a menu. I did not like the side dish my entree so I asked for something else and was told flatly that substitutions are not allowed. If I wanted a different side I would have to pay an extra $8 bucks! Why? I have no idea because when the food arrived my side dish (a plop of cold mashed potatoes) came on a separate plate anyway. My meal looked like a upscale TV dinner. We paid through the nose for a mediocre meal and horrible service. You live, you learn.

• Pros: Love Fort Tryon Park
• Cons: Pretty much everything else

07/24/07

Horribe Service - Don't Go.

by meandmydog

This past Sunday, July 22nd my friend and I stopped by New Leaf Cafe for brunch at about 2:30. The restaurant was full so we sat at the bar. The tall blond bartender never bothered to greet us. After 10 min of ignoring us I had to ask the waiter walking by to please get his attention. I asked for a ginger mojito and the bartender curtly replied, "No ginger." and literally turned and walked away. No explanation or second choice was given whatsoever. I then had to wave my hand in the air to ask for two simple beers. The bartender then raised his voice at me and said "Don't do that!" to which I responded "I've been trying to get your attention." The bartender rudely said, "Well, you damn well got it." I replied, "Finally."

After we finished our very uncomfortable meal the hostess asked us how everything was. I began to tell her about the horrible treatment we received from the bartender and that the waiter had dragged his feet bringing us our food (never asking us if we needed anything else after he placed it in front of us) she jumped in by saying that they were all in a "bad mood" because the manager is a "real a-hole." She continued by telling us that she had been receiving numerous complaints about the bartender. I was completely astonished by her crude openness and that customers had been complaining throughout the day.

When I was younger, I worked in the restaurant business for years at a number of high-caliber restaurants. I know all about customer service and the difficulty with customers in general. But this just seemed so gratuitously nasty and uncalled for. New Leaf Cafe has been one of my favorite places in the city for it's high quality food and casual atmosphere since it opened. I go in at least a couple of times a month and recommended it to dozens of people. Of course I could keep quiet about the horrible experience but where does that get me? Alas I have no desire to go into one of my favorite places ever again.

• Pros: Ambience and Food
• Cons: Lack of professionalism and very poor customer service.

05/22/07

Delicious meal, beautiful setting

by sharopooks

Had a wonderful birthday dinner here recently in this restaurant nestled within lovely Fort Tryon Park. Because the setting is so beautiful, they will open all the windows on a nice day, even if it's not necessarily warm out, so be prepared if you're the type who gets chilly (like me). Everything was yummy here, from the bread to the risotto cakes to dessert. The staff was very friendly & service was great until later in our meal, when things got busier. My Irish coffee took about 25 minutes to get to me...we asked about it more than once but by then the bar was more hectic than it had been earlier & our waiter had more tables. The drink was on the house & both the manager & waiter offered sincere apologies. A very nice restaurant - great food & locale - & since we live in Washington Hts., we hope this place thrives for a long time. But I must admit, our experience was pleasant but not utterly stellar.

• Pros: Beautiful location, great food (risotto cakes, dessert)
• Cons: After dinner drink took 25 minutes to receive

01/19/07

A must-go

by richard75

It was great! New Leaf Cafe is in a wonderful setting hidden in the last natural forest in NYC, Fort Tryon Park. I've been there several times over the summer during all the times I visited the Cloisters and I was eager to go there during the winter (but c'mon, it's hardly winter lately, huh! :)

I came on a busy Saturday night and though I didn't have a reservation, they were very accomodating. The service staff was very friendly and attentive. I don't think my glasses and bread plate were ever empty!

The food came promptly and although the prices, seem a little steep (at least I didn't have a date!), it was still good. I definitely recommend this place for your out-of-NYC dining experience, yet still-in-NYC. I cannot wait to go back.

• Pros: Setting, service, food, drink selection
• Cons: prices

01/02/07

Worst Service Ever

by inwoodgirl

Our Service Experience:

The first time we attempted to dine at New Leaf, we had to stand around the entrance for quite a while until finally someone noticed us and adivsed that we would need reservations. I was a bit suprised because the place looked empty. So I made reservations for another time, and when we showed up, again it took a long while until they acknowledged our presence. It seemed as if we were an interruption or an inconvenience to them. They seated us in a cold tent to the side when there were many empty tables inside during the entire time we were there. Our waitress came off as very cold, never smiled and the impression we got was that she was doing us a favor by serving us. She had to ask her manager on three different occasion for simple answers to questions we had about the menu. It seemed to take a very long time to be asked our orders drinks dinner and dessert. We had to ask for our breadbasket and the butter came about 10 minutes later. When one of our party asked to have the hamburger (which is on the bar menu) because nothing on the table menu looked appealing - the answer was a rude no. By the time we got to dessert, my sister was actually a little nervous to ask if she could have different ice cream scoops instead of one flavor. I am not joking; we really felt like we were not welcome and they were not accomodating at all.

The Food:

Fortunately, the food was very delicious. A bit pricey and the servings are tiny. The presentation of the food was lovely as well.

I am really sorry to have to write a review like this because Ft. Tryon Park is my favorite of all the NYC parks and this is a neighborhood restaurant for me. When I first saw the restaurant from the outside, I was enchanted and had wanted to dine there for a long time. I do not know if this is an isolated experience or if the staff needs some major attitude adjustments, so I am very reluctant to recommend this restaurant to anyone.

• Pros: Beautiful location in Fort Tryon Park
• Cons: Lousy service

A divine miss: Despite its scenic setting, uptown eatery fails to thrill.

by Contributor

The Scene
Bette Midler is the big name behind this novel venture: a chi-chi yet rustic restaurant housed in a renovated 1933 Fort Tryon Park facility. The clientele is an attractive mix of locals, curious downtowners and tourists visiting the nearby Cloisters, but the main attraction is the spectacular view: the park on one side, the Bronx on the other--the latter best experienced from the outdoor patio.

The Food
Considering that the money goes to a good cause--the upkeep of the park--it would be nice if the food were more adventurous, or, at the very least, better. Although the menu constantly changes, staple dishes include mundane grilled filet of salmon, roasted chicken, filet mignon and burgers, decently delivered at midtown prices. If you pop by for brunch, order the mixed basket of fresh muffins, easily the most impressive part of the meal.

07/18/06

Beg To Differ

by d_caro713

Unfortunately for being such a good looking restaurant in a beautiful location it fails to deliver. Nothing about the menue struck me. The service was terrible. We waited about 15 min. at the door for a hostess to show up than 45 minutes for a table. Our waiter didn't greet us until about 20 minutes and by that time we had enough...we walked out. will never go back again.