Gotham Bar and Grill

I’m not a huge fan of restaurant week in New York, especially because I feel like you end up spending a lot of money on wine (waiters are super pushy for you to order wine with your meal during restaurant week), the menu is usually the cheaper stuff that is easier to prepare, and I usually walk out thinking I should’ve just gone and ordered off the regular menu. Also, the better restaurants participate for lunch (the price points are $24.07 for lunch or $35.00 for dinner) and they’re usually in areas not close to my office. However, I decided to give restaurant week another chance – I made a reservation at Gotham Bar and Grill because Sara raved about it (she said it was one of the best meals she’s had in NYC) and it was close to our old office, so I could sneak out for an hour to enjoy lunch.

I started off with the lobster chowder:

It’s funny because for Restaurant Week, portions are slightly smaller. Why wouldn’t you use a smaller bowl instead of just filling up this large bowl to the halfway point? The soup was creamy and there were large chunks of lobster. Not too heavy – a good start.

Chris started off with the pear, walnut, and frisee salad:

The consistency of the pears were a little too mealy for me and I am definitely still not a big fan of mixing savory with sweet. It was a simple salad that was dressed well.

White Fish:

Another shot of the fish:

Alfred Portale, the chef at Gotham, is known as the “father of stacked foods.” Back in the 80’s (when Gotham was THE PLACE to eat), Portale would present his dishes with the food stacked very high. I think it was so popular in the 80’s that it was even mentioned in American Psycho. The fish was cooked well, but I think the presentation was better than the taste.

Chris ordered the rigatoni with duck:

A little on the salty side but probably the better main course from the Restaurant week menu. The rigatoni was cooked al dente and the duck was flavorful but a tad salty.

For dessert, I ordered the macadamia nut tart:

I thought it tasted very similar to the macadamia nut tart at Union Square Cafe. Crunchy, sweet, and definitely a treat.

And Chris ordered the chocolate cake with poppy seed banana ice cream:

Neither of us were huge fans of the poppy seed banana ice cream, but we both enjoyed the rich chocolate cake.

Gotham was packed with Restaurant Week patrons – even though our exact menu isn’t available now, they do have a really good deal for lunch everyday. I’d go back to Gotham after Restaurant Week; the waiters were a little rude and tried to rush us while we were eating and then completely ignored us when we were trying to wave them down for our check.