Eleven Madison Park (*), NYC, a la carte at bar

Ate at the Eleven Madison Park bar on Friday, 17 October 2025. Got to try their re-introduced honey lavender duck as well as a couple of other dishes. Also included the menu for those curious about prices. The duck was the only non-veg dish listed among the snacks/a la carte items.

I was able to get a seat at the bar as a walk-in at 7pm on a Friday but in hindsight I'm kind of surprised I did. The bar/lounge was completely full and I got the last seat at the bar. As other walk-ins left their seats were filled almost immediately. Not totally surprising since this is the first week of their omnivore menu but the hype is there. The kitchen seemed to be struggling a bit with the wave of demand. I did the 5-course bar tasting menu back in August and it took me 2 hours and 20 minutes. My 3 dishes here took 2 hours.

In terms of taste I loved all 3 dishes but the duck was the star. Previously my favorite duck dish was Gabriel Kreuther’s. In terms of first bite vs first bite I enjoyed them equally. Different flavor profiles (GK's is smoky, EMP's is lavender) but both had rich taste and a nice tender/not-too-chewy texture from aging. That being said, with GK’s smoky flavor and lack of any acidic sides I got some palate fatigue before finishing. EMP’s pairing with an acidic side (daikon and plum) made for a stronger dish overall in my opinion.

Also nice bonus is if you order a la carte the duck comes as a double portion (side note: I had GK's duck in their lounge and it was also a double portion). When I ordered the duck the bartender actually had to check with the kitchen first to make sure they had enough so it's definitely being ordered quite a bit.