Eleven Madison Park (Retrospective Menu) ⭐️⭐️⭐️, January 2026

Eleven Madison Park has been an a restaurant I’ve been wanting to go to for a long time, for obvious reasons. I made a bar menu reservation and didn’t even realize it was for a special retrospective 20th year anniversary menu, and only found out at the beginning of my lunch.

Firstly, for starters, if you want to go, I’d highly implore you to make a bar menu reservation. I got every course on the full menu besides the clam bake and passionfruit (literally just a mochi), got to sit in the main dining room, got a kitchen tour, and met and got a picture with Chef Humm!

Black and White Cookie (cheddar & apple): A fine start to the meal. The cookie perfectly balanced being very cheesy, Apple notes/flavors, and was wonderfully buttery and crunchy. However, with that being said, this is an extremely disappointing amuse-bouche for a 3\\\* restaurant that aims to be the world’s best.

Tonburi (Avocado & Cucumber): This dish was okay, though perhaps that’s saying a lot since I dislike avocado. The tonburi went well with the salad underneath it and the creamy avocado, and the mint sauce was wonderful. However, as you might imagine, there was too much avocado relative to its filling, this dish needed some different textures, and a pretty boring dish/concept IMO.

Bread and Butter: Many people aren’t impressed that much by EMP’s famous sunflower bread and butter, however I absolutely loved it, couldn’t believe they’re vegan, and it was the best bread course I’ve had all year (aka 2025)! Wonderfully buttery and flaky like a croissant, but still absolutely bread.

Carrot Tartare and Rye Bread: A famous EMP dish and it was, well… carrot (“confit”) tartare. 🤷‍♂️ The seasonings they gave, and there were many, besides the very good spicy sauce, didn’t add much flavor at all. At the end of the day, this is just shredded carrots on rye biscuits… Not a huge fan.

Poached Tilefish (Citrus & Radish): Humm apparently “discovered” the concept of cooking fish while in Japan (as if Le Bernardin hadn’t been doing it for a long time in his own city) and that was the inspiration behind this dish. The fish was poached perfectly, and the toppings and seasonings on top were good, though it certainly could have used a bit more citrus/lemon and definitely some white pepper. This dish absolutely wasn’t one that should be served solely on its own though, and definitely needed some sides.

Celery Root en Vessie (Black Truffle): Besides the fact I think cooking celery root en vessie is very gimmicky, it was cooked very well, and the black truffle sauce was my favorite sauce of the night. Beside it was a rich, celery root purée with a black truffle purée of sorts underneath. Overall a fine tasting course, but very one dimensional, boring, and should be the side to another course, not served on its own.

Honey-Lavender Duck (Daikon & Apple): Unfortunately perhaps their most famous dish was a bit underwhelming. The duck’s flesh was perfectly cooked and the skin was wonderfully crisp, however the fat objectively wasn’t anywhere close to being fully rendered. The seasoning was mainly an interesting combination of spices, however, despite the dish’s name, it certainly could’ve used more honey/sweetness. The daikon and apple condiment on the side was okay.

Milk and Honey: A textural masterpiece that had wonderful flavors and tasted great, however, as you might imagine, this dish really needed some freshness/brightness/acidity. Some brûléed sour blackberries or fresh sour red berries would’ve made this dish perfect IMO.

Sesame-Chocolate Pretzel: This had okay flavor and texture, I guess, but regardless of what I think, just like the cookie, the “world’s best restaurant” can’t solely be serving this as the mignardises.

Overall, I’d say very poor value for money, and unless some things (I don’t know exactly what they’d have to be) drastically change, I almost certainly won’t be returning.