Cuisine

Neighborhood

CUISINE: American (New)
NEIGHBORHOOD: Upper West Side

2315 Broadway at 84th Street.

(p) 212-580-8700

Ouest has that old New York feeling down pat, complete with red leather banquettes and dark wood paneling.  As we arrived, our waitress seemed attentive and our table was perfectly placed on the balcony, allowing us to overlook the ground floor of restaurant.  Impressed, thus far, by the furnishings and waitstaff, I expected the food to be nothing short of excellent.  Both the specials list as well as the regular menu took an interesting twist on classic dishes, such as green gazpacho (special) and shrimp falafel (regular).  We ordered, and shortly after a...

...champagne toast, our waitress returned to tell us that they had run out of the green gazpacho.  Okay, no biggie-- we'll have the shrimp falafel instead. By the time we had finished our first bottle of champagne and the bread was cold, our red-faced waitress returned to tell us that, in fact, the shrimp falafel was out as well.  Hm, a special dish will understandably run out over the course of a normal evening's business, but a regular item menu?

In a better mood after our second reorder of appetizers had finally arrived and been ingested, we had high hopes for the second course.  Both the mixed seasonal green salad as well as the salmon gravlax appetizer was fresh as well as refreshing on a hot summer night. 

Finally the entrees arrived-- the chicken was beautifully grilled with a side of vegetables and mashed potatoes.  The special entree of two soft-shelled crabs sat delicately on a bed of arugula.  But wait-- something was not right.  One entree had yet to arrive.  Our waitress was nowhere to be found, most likely hiding in the kitchen out of shame.  When we finally got her attention, after one of our diners went to receive her, she apologized profusely because, alas, there was only one solitary crab left (see image).  Not enough for a full entree, to be sure (especially because the entree portion was not sufficient either). 

So I asked my fellow diners the ultimate question: Worth it, or Not Worth It?

"Well, mine was good but I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it if I had only received half of it."

Another piped in: "Unfortunately, this is a good introduction to dining on the Upper West Side-- there isn't much."

Two of them called me the next day to reiterate their opinion: Not Worth It.

Posted in FOOD on August 12, 2009 7:47pm by Madeline | 111 comments

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We are young (early 20's) and hungry (for knowledge! music! art! food!) friends living on (or in areas which border) Manhattan. We moved to the city seeking higher education, and an alternative to frat parties and gin buckets. We prefer a bottle of Chianti to a keg, lunches at City Bakery to a dining hall, Joe's to Starbucks, Frankie's Amatriciana to Batali's. Our uniting factor is our love for food. For detailed, personal information, keep reading.
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