So what’d you think? Been considering going here for a while.
ghidorah97
The photos:
1. Two items:
a. Fushka (on the right) filled with hot pot seasoning, satsuma, silver mushrooms, and something else that I neglected to jot down, topped with a radish slice and a dot of satsuma gel. – **A perfect amuse bite to start the evening with a myriad of textures and flavors, a hint of spice, and something so pleasantly crunchy.**
b. Mushroom “tea” (in the cup on the left) a broth/soup/”tea” of silver mushrooms and so many other components that I couldn’t get them all down. – **This. Was. Amazing. Earthy, unctuous, buttery, it warmed you from head to toe. 10/10**
2. Oyster custard, hot & sour soup, potato, foie gras, and truffle – **This dish had so much complexity. So many ingredients that played wonderfully together – complementing and enhancing the overall experience. For me, it was the lowly potato and acid from the hot & sour soup that made the dish truly sing.**
3. “Flavors of French Onion”. A fried onion ring with dehydrated and crumbled onion soup flavors, dry aged beef tartare, and a caviar demi-glace – **Another dish that had a fascinating interplay of flavors and – most notably – textures. It was delicious, although it didn’t necessarily evoke French onion soup for me. I will say that adding the caviar to the demi seemed superfluous as the dominant flavor of the demi overpowered any of the subtle nuances that caviar brings. Maybe the demi was enhanced by adding the caviar? I wouldn’t know without tasting it prior to the addition, but I do know that I couldn’t discern the caviar as a separate component**
4. Crab & Veal tortellini with brown butter, beef tendon, and nuoc cham – **Italy and Vietnam come together in a single dish and I couldn’t have been happier. As with the prior dishes, it was the effective use of acid that made this really stand out.**
5. Steelhead trout with oregano beurre blanc and habanero emulsion – **The trout was cooked perfectly and the pleasant heat from the emulsion came on the back end. It’s between this and the mushroom tea for my favorite dish of the night.**
6. “Thai Surf & Turf” of peanut-crusted shrimp, chicken/shrimp sausage, passion fruit, red curry, and kafir lime – **Another extremely complex dish combining complex flavors and contrasting textures. While delicious, it was probably my least favorite course of the evening. I found the shrimp slightly dry and the sausage a little lacking. It was still *good*, just compared to what had come previously, was less *wow*.**
7. Lacquered duck with pastrami beets and jeow som – **This was my first time tasting jeow som and all I can say is YUM! The duck was rendered wonderfully and I *loved* the beets.**
8. Nitrogen-frozen sake with lemongrass, wasabi, and koshihikari rice cream – **So light, so refreshing. The wasabi was essential and made this a perfect bite.**
9. Brown butter panna cotta with citrus snow and cappuccino – **I love panna cotta and this was so unique. Much deeper flavor than the prior transition course and a great end to the meal.**
ghidorah97
The story:
My wife and I had plans to meet with some friends for dinner in NYC. We presented them with several options to choose from, including The Musket Room, Jua, 63 Clinton, Kochi, and Luthun. They chose Luthun, so I went ahead and made the reservation. This was to be the second visit for wife and I; the first for our friends.
Leading up to our reservation I did some anticipatory searching for other reviews. Our prior experience (Jan. ’24) had been wonderful, so I expected to see mostly glowing reviews. And, granted, most of the ones I saw spoke highly of the food, the sommelier, the creativity, and the staff. But I also saw more than a handful of comments – here on Reddit and elsewhere – about Chef Nahid yelling at the staff and/or “being toxic”. I was surprised, and at least a little apprehensive that we might experience the same. Glad to say that we didn’t – not at all.
In all, this was a stellar menu. The staff were focused, professional, but also exceptionally friendly. They looked like they were having fun all evening, but never got distracted from the task at hand (or got frustrated with all the questions I was asking!). They even invited our group into the kitchen with them for a group photo after the meal. I noticed absolutely no yelling or any other form of mistreatment. We are already planning for a return trip. Hope this review was helpful!
Murph523
It was very much ok
Chef was visibly disinterested and rude to staff . Took a face time call during presentation but the shushed staff multiple times
We heard staff expressing anxiety over him multiple times
Staff was great, food mid, chef was a dick. Will not be going back
4 Comments
So what’d you think? Been considering going here for a while.
The photos:
1. Two items:
a. Fushka (on the right) filled with hot pot seasoning, satsuma, silver mushrooms, and something else that I neglected to jot down, topped with a radish slice and a dot of satsuma gel. – **A perfect amuse bite to start the evening with a myriad of textures and flavors, a hint of spice, and something so pleasantly crunchy.**
b. Mushroom “tea” (in the cup on the left) a broth/soup/”tea” of silver mushrooms and so many other components that I couldn’t get them all down. – **This. Was. Amazing. Earthy, unctuous, buttery, it warmed you from head to toe. 10/10**
2. Oyster custard, hot & sour soup, potato, foie gras, and truffle – **This dish had so much complexity. So many ingredients that played wonderfully together – complementing and enhancing the overall experience. For me, it was the lowly potato and acid from the hot & sour soup that made the dish truly sing.**
3. “Flavors of French Onion”. A fried onion ring with dehydrated and crumbled onion soup flavors, dry aged beef tartare, and a caviar demi-glace – **Another dish that had a fascinating interplay of flavors and – most notably – textures. It was delicious, although it didn’t necessarily evoke French onion soup for me. I will say that adding the caviar to the demi seemed superfluous as the dominant flavor of the demi overpowered any of the subtle nuances that caviar brings. Maybe the demi was enhanced by adding the caviar? I wouldn’t know without tasting it prior to the addition, but I do know that I couldn’t discern the caviar as a separate component**
4. Crab & Veal tortellini with brown butter, beef tendon, and nuoc cham – **Italy and Vietnam come together in a single dish and I couldn’t have been happier. As with the prior dishes, it was the effective use of acid that made this really stand out.**
5. Steelhead trout with oregano beurre blanc and habanero emulsion – **The trout was cooked perfectly and the pleasant heat from the emulsion came on the back end. It’s between this and the mushroom tea for my favorite dish of the night.**
6. “Thai Surf & Turf” of peanut-crusted shrimp, chicken/shrimp sausage, passion fruit, red curry, and kafir lime – **Another extremely complex dish combining complex flavors and contrasting textures. While delicious, it was probably my least favorite course of the evening. I found the shrimp slightly dry and the sausage a little lacking. It was still *good*, just compared to what had come previously, was less *wow*.**
7. Lacquered duck with pastrami beets and jeow som – **This was my first time tasting jeow som and all I can say is YUM! The duck was rendered wonderfully and I *loved* the beets.**
8. Nitrogen-frozen sake with lemongrass, wasabi, and koshihikari rice cream – **So light, so refreshing. The wasabi was essential and made this a perfect bite.**
9. Brown butter panna cotta with citrus snow and cappuccino – **I love panna cotta and this was so unique. Much deeper flavor than the prior transition course and a great end to the meal.**
The story:
My wife and I had plans to meet with some friends for dinner in NYC. We presented them with several options to choose from, including The Musket Room, Jua, 63 Clinton, Kochi, and Luthun. They chose Luthun, so I went ahead and made the reservation. This was to be the second visit for wife and I; the first for our friends.
Leading up to our reservation I did some anticipatory searching for other reviews. Our prior experience (Jan. ’24) had been wonderful, so I expected to see mostly glowing reviews. And, granted, most of the ones I saw spoke highly of the food, the sommelier, the creativity, and the staff. But I also saw more than a handful of comments – here on Reddit and elsewhere – about Chef Nahid yelling at the staff and/or “being toxic”. I was surprised, and at least a little apprehensive that we might experience the same. Glad to say that we didn’t – not at all.
In all, this was a stellar menu. The staff were focused, professional, but also exceptionally friendly. They looked like they were having fun all evening, but never got distracted from the task at hand (or got frustrated with all the questions I was asking!). They even invited our group into the kitchen with them for a group photo after the meal. I noticed absolutely no yelling or any other form of mistreatment. We are already planning for a return trip. Hope this review was helpful!
It was very much ok
Chef was visibly disinterested and rude to staff . Took a face time call during presentation but the shushed staff multiple times
We heard staff expressing anxiety over him multiple times
Staff was great, food mid, chef was a dick. Will not be going back