Gotham Bar & Grill

This New American cuisine pioneer is still going strong.

by Josh Ozersky

In its heyday, Gotham was one of the most influential restaurants in America for its towering platings and ultra-seasonal cooking. The room was modern, airy and elegant and it still is; the only thing that has changed is that the rest of the cooking world has caught up with chef Alfred Portale. But the food is as good as ever. Typically, there is one top-quality ingredient understatedly supported by two or three elements; a soft shell crab might come with some chanterelles and asparagus and a brown butter aioli, or a king crab risotto might show up with a few braised artichokes and some pickled ramps. The vertical arrangements are long gone, but the confidence and competence are as reliable as ever.

10/02/09

Expected more

by trlyclsc

I went after wanting to for so long and being in the food industry, it was about time. Went for lunch, ordered 3 apps, 2 entrees, 3 desserts.

The terrine was definetly the best of the 3 apps, octo was a bit over-done, and the flavors didnt stand out at all. Their tartare was ok, I'm into slightly over-seasoning, but this was just too much for the dish +how it was plated, I promise you, gordan ramsey would have thrown it on the floor.

Tried the shrimp risotto, they put one shrimp split in the dish. you cant really call it shrimp risotto with one shrimp, come on. +the risotto was way over done. I tend to like my pasta a bit over done, just slightly past al dente, but this was like eating rice. no bueno.

The duck was ok. polenta and succotash were good.

The apricot terrine was eh. summer cheesecake, oh this was interesting. the sorbet was I believe a white balsamic huckleberry. Cheesecake though, it tasted tangy like there was blue cheese in it and no one seemed to know what it was made of. they found out for us and it was 80% mascarpone and 20% gorgonzola. I guess they knew people wouldn't order it if they had that on the menu. plus the linzer tart that came with it was bigger than the cheesecake. 3rd dessert I can't even remember what it was.

Service. Our waited greeted us with, "so 'bout some lunch today" No shit. Didnt smile once. never checked on us. when we didnt order wine they left the wine glasses on our small table with 3 apps.. never cleaned the crumbs off. left our empty bread plates. No one could or did explain the dishes. then when our waiter dissapeared, it seems his shift ended. No goodbye and so-and-so will be your waiter/waitress. Goodness. It was atrocious. Latte wasnt worth the 5$ something. which was even more than le bernadin's.

Perhaps it was because we came right when lunch was ending? I still dont think thats an excuse. Maybe it was just a bad day in general? Or maybe I just expect too much. Hope others have a better experience.

• Pros: room temp butter like it should be.
• Cons: service

02/25/09

Delicious Food

by LeeLee74

My Husband and I went to Gotham for Valentines day. The meal was amazing every bite was savory, we were disappointed when the meal was over. I wish the resturant itself had a little more character but other than that the experience was tops.

• Cons: ordinary ambience

08/01/08

Great food, lovely dining room

by grouchomarx

We ate there a few months ago for my boyfriend's birthday. We were on time for our res and seated promptly. The dining room has great lighting and a nice ambience, with beautiful white drapey things hanging from the ceiling. It's a little loud but auite manageable. We started with excellent house cocktails which are all very old school and for serious drinkers - no fruity watered down concontions and lots of bourbon based drinks. We ordered a nice bottle of rose champange for the meal. Wine list is pricey. The menu offers 3 savory courses and dessert, we figured there must be a reason for this so we went for 3 savory courses. All the food was very delicious, including ceviche, lobster, berkshire pork. All were wonderfully tasty and artfully presented. However portions are rather large and I was literally about to explode by the end. We didn't even have dessert which is unheard of for us. Service was professional and friendly. We saw Alfred Portale greeting some tables in the dining room. We were not among the lucky ones but it was nice to see him there. The place is enduring for a reason - excellent food, well prepared, beautifully presented. My only complaints: 1) tables are close together and it's an uncomfortable situation to go to the restroom - you need someone to pull the tabel out for you and if you don't wait for that to happen, your butt will be in your neighbor's dinner (and I'm not fat), and 2) the price! jawdropping prices, and I've eaten everywhere from Daniel to Eleven Madison Park but whoa, that $48 lobster makes your pause for a moment. It's a place for people with stacks of money who don't want to get dressed up but want 5 star food and great service.

• Pros: Food, ambience, cocktails
• Cons: Price

07/21/08

miserable attitude wrecks the food

by rachelz3

Lunch during Restaurant Week, second year. Hostess doesn't greet us. Arrive 5 minutes early for reservation, empty room, made to wait the 5 minutes. Returning then to the hostess, a male host tells her "we have another minute, (make them wait)".

Seated, our server tries to push drinks on us, condescending to our tap water order. I was in the mood for wine. Server brings a wine list, I asked him about wines by the glass but he cut me off and walked away mid sentence dismissing me with: "we have so many (read it yourself, don't waste my precious time)" . I finally got his attention to ask "how many wines by the glass do you have that are red and Italian?" Oh he says, we have two, a Chianti and a Rioja. I opened the wine menu and confirmed that a Rioja is Spanish, not Italian. For this kind of superior attitude, he should at least know the difference between continents, and further, the Italian wine is probably not a Chianti. In any case, I was put off the wines.

The Restaurant Week menu is not only diminutive but also I am fairly sure it is identical to last year's.

I get it that Restaurant Week is discounted, and many people tip only the percentage of the cheap prix fixe price, I am sure they would much rather have people paying full price and buying liquor and leaving big tips, but they sure as heck are not going to get there with snotty abbreviated service. I would have ordered wine and full entrees from their main menu but insulted, I ordered the minimum.

The food was nice- I choose that word intentionally. We ordered melon salad, gazpacho, steak (2, as the other choices were boring cod and cheap gnocci), panna cotta and chocolate cake. We asked to share and they looked at us like we were from Mars. The cake was especially lovely and light consistency with dark chocolate- but overall:

The Food is not good enough to compensate for the miserable condescending attitude and LOUD dining room. Try Union Square Cafe.

• Pros: nice food
• Cons: horrible condescending attitude, LOUD room

05/01/08

STILL TERRIFIC

by brunyfood

This is the most reliable place on earth. Need I say more? Service is wonderful. The bar is one of the best in the city. And the food is superb. Thank you, Alfred.

• Pros: always great
• Cons: no more tuna on the menu

04/02/08

1 of the best meals I have ever had

by dreadnoght

I was in New York on a trip and we ate here for lunch, I had the black cod it was amazing the presentation the taste the textures just truly great. It was really busy for lunch and the service was still top notch. Everything was timed perfectly, the server was able to answer every question we had. If your ever in the area stop and eat you wont be disapointed.

• Pros: food and service
• Cons: not in minnesota

02/22/08

Most Memorable Dining Experience

by heidstar

My boyfriend and I are huge fans of the TV show ?Top Chef? on Bravo, which is where we learned of the chef of Gotham: Portale. We try to spend one romantic night at a ?top? restaurant in New York every time I am able to visit. On my most recent visit to the city for our anniversary, he took me to Gotham. We were seated immediately and greeted promptly by our server. Our first impression of the restaurant was disappointing: the wine list was unimpressive - especially considering those at other top restaurants in the city - so we ordered an entire bottle of something familiar and reasonably priced. However, when it came to ordering an appetizer, entrees, and dessert, our waiter?s recommendations were right on: the octopus appetizer was delicious even for those unadventurous with their tastes. For dinner my boyfriend ordered a steak which seemed to melt in your mouth, while I ordered the grilled halibut which was not even on the menu. *It is the single most delicious dish I have ever tasted.* And for dessert we ordered the S?more, which staid true to it?s name. We even recommended it to the pair sitting at a nearby table who noticed it when it arrived. Despite the wine list, this was the single most romantic and delicious meal I have ever shared, and I look forward to returning to Gotham for future celebrations.

• Pros: Interesting but delicious food, very romantic, famous chef
• Cons: Wine list is lacking

12/28/07

Very good for lunch

by harlock_jds

Food

I had the mushroom pasta and the black miso cod. The Pasta was delicious, very rich and earthy like i expected (and the bread we were served was very handy in mopping up the sauce) and the pasta was well cooked. The Miso Black cod was extremely tasty, the fish was perfectly cooked as was the veggies and rice. My only regret was that i didn't order something more 'unique' to the restaurant as this seemes to be a common dish.

My wife ordered a warm mushroom salad and the free range chicken, She enjoyed the mushrooms and other stuff in the salad but was overwhelmed by the greenery on it (which was almost comical in how over the top it was stacked). As for the chicken it was perfectly cooked and she enjoyed it. personally I'm not a fan of chicken, esp chicken breast so i found the sample i had disappointing (but it's not something i would have ordered in the first place). The root veggies that came with the chicken were really well done.

About the only disappointment with the food was the lack of options at lunch, the menu was really heavy on seafood, it would have been nice to have more non seafood options as an appetizer or an entree. Also the soup selection was disappointing, Both of us really wanted soup but the one they had (celery and pear) just sounded blah.

We had the chocolate cake for desert and it was very good, it came with gingerbread ice cream which i didn't care for (but then I'm not a ginger fan) but she loved.

Service.

Service was friendly, we were early for our reservation but were seated immediately coat and bag check was very nice and the hostess was as friendly as you'll find in a place like this in NYC. Service was a bit stuffy but again that is to be expected in a place like this and it wasn't as bad as you'll find in other places. The lack of a dress code was also very nice

Overall

It was great for a 'special lunch' not sure if I'd come back for a dinner as I'm not sure if the same value would be there.

• Pros: Good food, lack of dress code, not as stuffy as it may seem
• Cons: Limited lunch menu, some dishes are rather generic

10/27/07

Delicious soups

by mahlman

Recently went to Gotham for lunch and it was delicious! I never knew where it was, but was familiar with the restaurant from seeing the chef on bravo. I stopped in for a quick bit...their soups are fantastic and the atmosphere is excellent. I found them to be very hospitable. I look forward to an opportunity when I can try the lunch prix fixe.

• Pros: Super good food!
• Cons: none come to mind