Had a lovely meal at Essential on the upper west side of NYC recently. My friend and I did the 4 course tasting menu and loved the meal and the menu had a good variety of options for each of the first 3 courses.
To start was an amouse bouche of cappuccino mousse with sweet potato. It was light and a great start to the meal, which was followed by olive bread. For the first course, we both had the foie gras – out of all the garnishes the Marco Polo tea jam was the best.
For the second, I had the scallops and caviar. This and the subsequent lobster for the main were my favorites. The sauces were great and all parts of the dish really paired well together. I’m usually wary of excessive caviar at restaurants, but this was a perfect touch.
Lastly, the orange soufflé with cardamom ice cream for dessert made for a heavy way to end a fairly heavy meal. No way I’d rather have it. The service was excellent thoughout the meal and our waiter was attentive to the point that my mind was read before even asking for more butter. I wouldn’t say this was a mind blowing or life changing meal by any means, but it was a truly excellent French fine dining experience. The 4 course tasting was $205 which is expensive, but ultimately not too crazy for NYC fine dining. I’d go here on a special occasion again for sure.
by MaxG650
2 Comments
Thanks for sharing. I’m going on Wednesday and I’m really excited. I feel like this place flies under the radar a bit (I mean, as much as any Michelin starred restaurant does)
Where you hungry afterwards? That doesn’t look like much for $205.