We went here for lunch and were seated promptly. Food was good, nothing out of the ordinary. Wouldn’t recommend.
Debra B
Booked here in advance as was concerned that as a solo diner I would struggle to get a table. Needn't have worried! Arriving at 9pm on a Monday night I went downstairs into their beautiful, capcious dining room to find only 3 other tables occupied. Weirdly, we all seemed to be seated as far from each other as possible. Having so few diners in such a large space it would have made sense to me to seat us closer together, both for the diners' ambiance and the convenience of the waiting staff. Was offered a complimentary Amuse Bouche of Butternut Squash Soup within minutes of being seated but cannot comment as cannot stand Butternut Squash. Ordered from the Prix Fixe Menu ( 3 courses for $45) the Pate de Campagne ( properly chunky : not a mousse) and Petit Fillet Mignon ( perfectly medium rare as ordered) were delicious. Left the Prix Fix for dessert and agreed a $5 adjustment to the bill as a result. It was worth it. The Manjari Chocolate Mousse was fantastic: congratulations to the pastry chef! Wine options are ok but only come by the glass or 1/2 bottle which left me feeling self-conscious. Service was brilliant: but given that there were far more staff than customers there'd really be no excuse for it to be otherwise. It would have been beneficial to the servers if the occupied tables had been closer together! Instead they had to roam around this large space merely to keep an eye on their tables. Kept expecting Kyle MacLachlan or the Log Lady to show up. Very surreal experience.
daol2020
We went for the lunch special for NY Restaurant Week and ordered the shrimp and pork chop. The pork, thick as it was, was so juicy, tender and delicious that surpassed any other we had ever tasted. It left an impression on us that we would never forget.
248charlie
Beautiful decor great food and rarely crowded. Even if busy tables far apart. Never noisy Alsatian food at its best. Great bar area and bar menu
John J
This has always been a great place for lunch and/or dinner so last Sunday I went there with a friend only to find out that the Sunday brunch was ..a buffet! OK, so we start with Mimosas - not included as it turned out. An additional $16 per person! The buffet itself was plentiful but boring. There was the bacon but no scrambled eggs (turned out that you could get that at the carvery, but who new.) Well so I went to a table that was dedicated to shrimp and salmon. The shrimp were very good, the salmon not so much. Actually, the quality of the salmon was pretty bad. Next we headed to the carvery: The nicest staff imaginable but the lamb, oh how sad! Overcooked and miserable. The same was the case with the roast ! As carvery goes this was not the best I have ever seen. Dessert: Nice and a lot to choose from. Coffee with the dessert, not included. Overall: Lunch/Dinner here can always be recommend, but stay away for this overpriced, boring and expensive breakfast/lunch whatever. It's probably less expensive (or included) at your hotel.
xussia
Beautiful restaurant and bar. For the eagle eyed ‘Sex in the City’ fan, this place featured in the show (Season 4, Episode 2). The food and service were excellent here with unusually large portions for this kind of restaurant. The place feels classy and the food was excellent. I had the French Onion soup for starter and it was absolutely amazing. Easily one of the best I’ve ever had. In fact it was a large bowl and so delicious it was a tough act to follow, so my fillet steak for a main was a bit of a let down by comparison - a tad under seasoned, which seems to be a curse of NY steaks. Our server was attentive and brilliant though - and, though I think this is just a New York thing - the food tends to fly out of the kitchen and to your table. So we were in, sat, fed and out in about an hour in total! That’s not a complaint; no one rushed us, I think we just dived in after a day touring the city. I’d definitely recommend this place though it is expensive. Probably a tad higher than the usual NY city places, but that price does come with quality service, food and setting. Unlike some of the other places in NY. Definitely worth your time to try out.
Chris S
We went there for this year's Thanksgiving lunch and I was beyond reproach, both service, atmosphere and food. I went there before for dinner and it never disappointed me.
blhappypets
This restaurant was fine. But only fine is pretty underwhelming in New York. The staff was fine, the ambiance was boring, the facilities were in need of repair and dated, and the food was so average I didn't finish any of my courses. There was little attention to detail (cocktail garnishes were odd, silverware was unpolished). I couldn't recommend it based on all the amazing food in New York.
712kathyg
Nice place, good food, good location. The handmade omelettes were quite good without being overly greasy like some places.
HolgerG909
Went to the bar for pre-dinner happy hour drinks. Very friendly and attentive bartender. Nice selection of cocktails, wines and beers.
My mom wanted French food for dinner but didn’t want to go far from the hotel. She had the escargot tartlet and the steak tartare. The tartare was probably the best plate of the evening - traditionally prepared. I ordered the grilled octopus - which needed salt and was not as tender as I’d hoped - too chewy. Scallops were good. For dessert we ordered both the beignets and the molten chocolate cake. The beignets were ok. There was no molten to the molten chocolate cake - overcooked. Disappointing.
Escape214238
Having dinner here is an elegant experience! The atmosphere is fantastic, quite and romantic and the food is fabulous! The service is also good! We have Scallops, Duck and SeaBass and they were all extremely good :)
DPDNY
Spacious, good service and great meal. I had a delicious burger and the mussels were super good. Recommended.
NancyA1958
We had had a long day walking all over the city, which I grew up in and enjoyed. Decided not to go downtown and stay in the neighborhood. What a delight! Our server was wonderful! We started with the French Onion soup which was truly the absolute best I have ever had, ever! The Tuna Tartar was out of this world. My crab cakes with the celery remoulade and lemon Aioli was outstanding and my husbands filet was better than the night before at Smith and Wollensky's!! We enjoyed a Crepe Suzette to finish out our exceptional experience! We will be back!!
AlanwManchester_UK
We have been using Brasserie 8 1/2 for some time now and we’ve always been very satisfied with both the food and the service. Our visit last week was such a disappointment. Perhaps the tell-tale signs were there when we walked in.The fact that they had already laid out bread rolls for a very large group they were expecting should’ve warned us that perhaps the kitchen will be under pressure. A restaurant this quality shouldn’t have been but this did not prove to be the case. Our main courses were delivered on plates that I can only assume came straight from the refrigerator! It’s quite obvious that nobody had checked them. My food also was cold. So the kitchen didn’t recognise it and the waiting staff didn’t recognise. We think a little more training is required. Of course we did complain and we are graced with the presence of Mr Ken Gordon VP operations who unfortunately we found to be the most patronising person we have ever met. The four of us have spent our lives in the Hospitality Industry so we knew exactly what we were talking about and what had gone wrong. The Brasserie 8 1/2 is now a restaurant that has now been taken off our "return to" list.
We went here for lunch and were seated promptly. Food was good, nothing out of the ordinary. Wouldn’t recommend.
Booked here in advance as was concerned that as a solo diner I would struggle to get a table. Needn't have worried! Arriving at 9pm on a Monday night I went downstairs into their beautiful, capcious dining room to find only 3 other tables occupied. Weirdly, we all seemed to be seated as far from each other as possible. Having so few diners in such a large space it would have made sense to me to seat us closer together, both for the diners' ambiance and the convenience of the waiting staff. Was offered a complimentary Amuse Bouche of Butternut Squash Soup within minutes of being seated but cannot comment as cannot stand Butternut Squash. Ordered from the Prix Fixe Menu ( 3 courses for $45) the Pate de Campagne ( properly chunky : not a mousse) and Petit Fillet Mignon ( perfectly medium rare as ordered) were delicious. Left the Prix Fix for dessert and agreed a $5 adjustment to the bill as a result. It was worth it. The Manjari Chocolate Mousse was fantastic: congratulations to the pastry chef! Wine options are ok but only come by the glass or 1/2 bottle which left me feeling self-conscious. Service was brilliant: but given that there were far more staff than customers there'd really be no excuse for it to be otherwise. It would have been beneficial to the servers if the occupied tables had been closer together! Instead they had to roam around this large space merely to keep an eye on their tables. Kept expecting Kyle MacLachlan or the Log Lady to show up. Very surreal experience.
We went for the lunch special for NY Restaurant Week and ordered the shrimp and pork chop. The pork, thick as it was, was so juicy, tender and delicious that surpassed any other we had ever tasted. It left an impression on us that we would never forget.
Beautiful decor great food and rarely crowded. Even if busy tables far apart. Never noisy Alsatian food at its best. Great bar area and bar menu
This has always been a great place for lunch and/or dinner so last Sunday I went there with a friend only to find out that the Sunday brunch was ..a buffet! OK, so we start with Mimosas - not included as it turned out. An additional $16 per person! The buffet itself was plentiful but boring. There was the bacon but no scrambled eggs (turned out that you could get that at the carvery, but who new.) Well so I went to a table that was dedicated to shrimp and salmon. The shrimp were very good, the salmon not so much. Actually, the quality of the salmon was pretty bad. Next we headed to the carvery: The nicest staff imaginable but the lamb, oh how sad! Overcooked and miserable. The same was the case with the roast ! As carvery goes this was not the best I have ever seen. Dessert: Nice and a lot to choose from. Coffee with the dessert, not included. Overall: Lunch/Dinner here can always be recommend, but stay away for this overpriced, boring and expensive breakfast/lunch whatever. It's probably less expensive (or included) at your hotel.
Beautiful restaurant and bar. For the eagle eyed ‘Sex in the City’ fan, this place featured in the show (Season 4, Episode 2). The food and service were excellent here with unusually large portions for this kind of restaurant. The place feels classy and the food was excellent. I had the French Onion soup for starter and it was absolutely amazing. Easily one of the best I’ve ever had. In fact it was a large bowl and so delicious it was a tough act to follow, so my fillet steak for a main was a bit of a let down by comparison - a tad under seasoned, which seems to be a curse of NY steaks. Our server was attentive and brilliant though - and, though I think this is just a New York thing - the food tends to fly out of the kitchen and to your table. So we were in, sat, fed and out in about an hour in total! That’s not a complaint; no one rushed us, I think we just dived in after a day touring the city. I’d definitely recommend this place though it is expensive. Probably a tad higher than the usual NY city places, but that price does come with quality service, food and setting. Unlike some of the other places in NY. Definitely worth your time to try out.
We went there for this year's Thanksgiving lunch and I was beyond reproach, both service, atmosphere and food. I went there before for dinner and it never disappointed me.
This restaurant was fine. But only fine is pretty underwhelming in New York. The staff was fine, the ambiance was boring, the facilities were in need of repair and dated, and the food was so average I didn't finish any of my courses. There was little attention to detail (cocktail garnishes were odd, silverware was unpolished). I couldn't recommend it based on all the amazing food in New York.
Nice place, good food, good location. The handmade omelettes were quite good without being overly greasy like some places.
Went to the bar for pre-dinner happy hour drinks. Very friendly and attentive bartender. Nice selection of cocktails, wines and beers.
Restaurantji Recommends
My mom wanted French food for dinner but didn’t want to go far from the hotel. She had the escargot tartlet and the steak tartare. The tartare was probably the best plate of the evening - traditionally prepared. I ordered the grilled octopus - which needed salt and was not as tender as I’d hoped - too chewy. Scallops were good. For dessert we ordered both the beignets and the molten chocolate cake. The beignets were ok. There was no molten to the molten chocolate cake - overcooked. Disappointing.
Having dinner here is an elegant experience! The atmosphere is fantastic, quite and romantic and the food is fabulous! The service is also good! We have Scallops, Duck and SeaBass and they were all extremely good :)
Spacious, good service and great meal. I had a delicious burger and the mussels were super good. Recommended.
We had had a long day walking all over the city, which I grew up in and enjoyed. Decided not to go downtown and stay in the neighborhood. What a delight! Our server was wonderful! We started with the French Onion soup which was truly the absolute best I have ever had, ever! The Tuna Tartar was out of this world. My crab cakes with the celery remoulade and lemon Aioli was outstanding and my husbands filet was better than the night before at Smith and Wollensky's!! We enjoyed a Crepe Suzette to finish out our exceptional experience! We will be back!!
We have been using Brasserie 8 1/2 for some time now and we’ve always been very satisfied with both the food and the service. Our visit last week was such a disappointment. Perhaps the tell-tale signs were there when we walked in.The fact that they had already laid out bread rolls for a very large group they were expecting should’ve warned us that perhaps the kitchen will be under pressure. A restaurant this quality shouldn’t have been but this did not prove to be the case. Our main courses were delivered on plates that I can only assume came straight from the refrigerator! It’s quite obvious that nobody had checked them. My food also was cold. So the kitchen didn’t recognise it and the waiting staff didn’t recognise. We think a little more training is required. Of course we did complain and we are graced with the presence of Mr Ken Gordon VP operations who unfortunately we found to be the most patronising person we have ever met. The four of us have spent our lives in the Hospitality Industry so we knew exactly what we were talking about and what had gone wrong. The Brasserie 8 1/2 is now a restaurant that has now been taken off our "return to" list.