Gramercy Tavern

Although located super close to NYUMC and one of the restaurants that I've wanted to try through-out most of med school, it's taken over 5 years for me to finally make it into Gramercy Tavern.

We decided to go all-out and have the seasonal tasting menu, but unfortunately the tasting menu didn't include the one dish that Yu was most excited to try - the duck confit. Simple solution: we added it as an additional entree to our tasting menu, for a total of 7 items


Gramercy Tavern's amuse bouche of the night was a raw scallop with cherry tomato (not visualized in the picture because it's resting below the scallop): I thought it was delicious - especially since I actually enjoy raw scallops more than seared

For a first appetizer, we had the fluke sashimi: with sunchoke, Shiitake mushroom, and smoked jalapeno (one of my favorite dishes of the night)

Next came the lobster dish - prepared on a bed of corn, sucrine lettuce, and pickled green tomato: lobster in general is not as sweet as crab, so the sweetness of the corn was a nice pairing in this course

The first entree of the night was a halibut dish - pan seared and served with a zucchini, black olive, and lobster sauce. While there was no single particular thing I could criticize about it, somehow this dish was not particularly stand-out to me

Entree #2 was squab on a bed of potato puree served with artichoke hearts and tomato (Jenn was a fan of this course, since squab is a popular bird used in Asian cooking - especially for events like weddings or other celebrations. My guess is that it probably reminded her of home)

Our third entree was our requested addition to the tasting menu: duck confit. At this point we were all starting to get pretty full, but the duck was very well prepared and delicious - another of my favorites that night

The final entree was roasted and braised beef with peppers, black garlic, farro, and topped with a fried onion ring

We had a dessert amuse bouche as well: raspberries and cream with a butter biscuit

Dessert itself was a chocolate gelato with strawberries

Unlike most fine-dining restaurants of it's caliber, Gramercy Tavern was pleasantly casual (don't let the "dress code" fool you). The decor and atmosphere were not at all stuffy, and service there had just the right amount of attentiveness.

At one point in the middle of dinner when Dave had to visit the men's room, the next course was served before he returned and the staff brought a silver cover for his food to preserve the heat:

 To close out the evening, Dave and Jenn elected to have a cappuchino, whereas I was so deep in food-coma that I can barely remember how I got back home: I call that a gigantic win

Overall rating: 9/10


42 East 20th Street
New York, NY 10003