Cafe Carlyle
“I saw Woody Allen perform here and found the entire experience to be magical and perfect.”
“The evening was glorious and filled with yummy food, tasty cocktails, stellar service and the magic of Eartha Kitt.”
“Raise a Glass to Elaine Stritch on July 17th where ever you are.”
Cafe Carlyle
Takes Reservations: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Coat Check: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$$$ Price range Above $61
8 reviews
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I am a little surprised how few reviews this high end restaurant got on Yelp. I realized when I dined there. We were surrounded by rich and old folks! I suspect they even know what Yelp is?! But anyway, Cafe Carlyle deserved a great review because the service is superb and the food is excellent.
My husband and I came here for our Valentine's Day celebration and it is definitely a romantic and upscale restaurant to take your sweetheart to. The interior decor is expensive looking and the wait staff is all running around trying to please customers. I noticed a lot of older rich folks dining and talking business.
I started my meal with jumbo shrimp cocktail. There are about 6 on my plate and they are very fresh and tender. My husband got the steak tartar and it is unique and very tasty. I have never had a beef tartar done this way but it is amazing. For entree, I got the lamb chops and they come with this awesome sauce on the side. The chop is cooked to perfection; it is tender, juicy and fatty. My husband went for their lobster dinner and it is a full size big lobster cooked in butter sauce.
We were both really full after entree. Still, we went for our dessert to close the dinner on a high note. I really like my berries crumble; it is slightly buttery but fruity. Therefore, it is not overly sweet and heavy. My husband tried the creme brulee and it is a great choice too if you have enough room for it.
We ended our dinner happily and glad we discovered the restaurant thanks to TravelZoo coupon!
My mother and I had lunch here today. We both had a hankering for salads. I ordered the cobb, she got the nicoise. We both loved our salads, they had fresh, high quality ingredients and tasty dressing. The service was quick for us, although the women at the table next to us had arrived twenty minutes before us and still not received their salads when we did (but this was quickly remedied). The people watching here is amusing. For dessert, we had a sachartorte & strawberries which were both good. Note: The cell reception here is awful
When you think of the Carlye you think of high class, high brow jacket eating style and service that should be top notch.
We went for the Debbie Harry show which is classy already. The dinner show required you spend at least $75 dollars before exiting the curtain doors. I figured that shouldn't be too hard to do here. While excitingly waiting for Debbie to come out to enchant us with her voice the meal was like an expensive amuse bouche. I got the roasted chicken and my two friends got the steak. I also started with the shrimp cocktail and everyone else got a house salad with 3 cocktails.
The cocktails was not bad. The shrimp cocktail looked a bit sadly plated with 5 'jumbo' shrimps. While I know it is only the café, it could have been at least presented better than the diner on 10th Ave for $26. My roast chicken was super moist and tender at $39, I hope the chicken had a enjoyable life prior. Able to wander free range in the fresh air of Murrays Farm upstate NY before becoming dinner on my plate. The whole 8oz Beef Tenderloin coming in at a whopping $48 was like a Wendy's commercial of where's the beef and the 3oz $16 green salad plate looked like it came from the 9oz $3 dollar salad bag at Whole Foods. The $17 New York Cheesecake was well cheesecake. We could barely get water at our table which we asked for 4 times and finally just gave up. I know, this review is beginning to sound like the Visa/Mastercard commercial.
And yes, when the lights dimmed and Debbie took stage and spending time with friends was priceless. Dreamin' is free. Dreamin', dreaming is free until we got the bill.
Excellent breakfast spot – I guess technically a good "power breakfast" (is that a term?) spot. Gets many hotel guests as well as business people looking for a breakfast / brunch spot combined with a non-boisterous-meeting-area. The service is spot-on, and excellent menu selections, including a buffet. I would definitely vote for the omelet though – either egg-white option or the Carlyle Omelet with caviar would be the way to go!
The interior conveys and upscale classy vibe – so I would dress accordingly as opposed to a "just-rolled-out-of-bed" look – even if you are a hotel guest. I will definitely be back!
yes, the bill gave me a heart attack, but it was one I prepared for. My advice? arrive early and snag choice seats at the bar–a great view if you get the right one, and also a great value. More advice: eat beforehand and snack on lighter fare to get through your food and beverage minimum. otherwise, enjoy a true treat. this place is as decadent as it gets, its walls adorned with beautiful murals, the service wonderful and the performances great. I'll admit there was something a bit off with the sound during my show, but I'll just chalk it up to something that just occasionally happens. an intimate, beautiful experience that's very much worth the splurge
Afternoon tea..Old world ambiance..white glove service. Feel like the king for the world for under $20.
Walk past 2 door men and 2 NYPD security, enter to find 2 more doormen. No riff raft are getting in..Enter the dimly lit cafe to your left..or use the side entrance directly to the cafe.
The Cafe Carlyle is old school upper-crust New York, alright— this is a place with history and provence… The walls are literally teeming with it, as Ludwig Bemelman's legacy lives on, surrounding the clientele every evening with his whimsical illustrations. The A-list patrons of the bar and hotel is a mile long…so it's no surprise why the place is always teeming with patrons every evening.
Important to note that the Cafe has live jazz every night, but the cover charge is nominal; the "named" acts play at Bemelman's, which is on the other side of the hotel.
You pay for what you get – to immerse yourself in classic UES New York history, prepare to spend over $20 per drink. However, you do get impeccable service in return for that privilege, as well as a unique and memorable experience.
We always go here with couples – 4 people or 2 is ideal. The music serves as a fantastic backdrop to your conversation, though the crowd here (which is a show in itself) can get really into it towards the end of the night– frequently breaking out into song or dance. The crowd itself is composed of all ages and walks of life, though a LOT of folks 50 and above stake their ground here and you can tell they are "regulars" of the establishment. I personally love that element to the experience — these are people with stories, energy, charisma and life. The things you can learn by hanging out with these folks is priceless!
Take your parents, take your guests, take your significant other for a special evening out…or just go by yourself. You don't need a good excuse to come here. Just do it at least once while you're in New York!
3.5 Stars.
I want to give this place more stars. But between the prices and the cramped quarters, I can't.
I bought my husband tickets to see Woody Allen and The Eddy Davis New Orleans Jazz Band as a gift. When I purchased the tickets through Cafe Carlyle, I was informed we had to dine there as well. That wasn't really my original plan (I thought some jazz and drinks!), but okay, we love food what could go wrong?
We walked in right on time for our reservation and were seated at a tiny cafe table in a corner. We shared the booth. It was close quarters, which at first was romantic and sweet. But three hours later feels a little cramped. All the tables were this way. I actually think we were some of the lucky ones. Things could have been much, much worse.
The venue is very intimate, I would say there probably isn't a bad seat in the house, unless you are one of the unlucky patrons who is seated with your back to the stage. There isn't really room to turn your chair around, so you are sort of just stuck.
Anyway, that wasn't the case for us, so I was happy. We had a pretty good view of the stage, from the side. Not too bad, not great. Like I said, it's small so every seat for the most part is a decent view.
We started with the Artisanal "Roof Top" Garden Greens salad. At $18 it wasn't worth it whatsoever. It was tasty I guess, but a complete rip off. We actually split it, thank goodness.
I ordered the Bobby Short's Chicken Hash which was advertised as a Carlyle Classic. It was okay, not incredible by any means, but they get credit for it being an unusual dish. Basically pieces of chicken (there was a lot of chicken, it was hearty) and quite a bit of foie gras in a light sherry cream sauce with truffles. When it arrived, I thought it was on a bed of potatoes, but it was not. There were whipped potatoes all around the edge almost as a garnish, which was a bummer. The sauce was good, I would have liked to finish it up with extra whipped potatoes.
We shared the creamed spinach side, which, while tasty wasn't the right consistency. It was very watery and seemed as though the spinach had been pureed. More credit is given for the large portions, my husband's beef tenderloin was enormous, and the creamed spinach side was too much for us to finish.
The waiters were very professional and kind, they were excellent at squeezing through the almost nonexistent spaces to get to your table. We never had to wait long for another drink, which are worth mentioning: They made a killer martini. Probably one of the best I have had in the city. Right ratio of vodka to olive juice, large enough to keep me happy for a while, a tiny bit of ice on top…perfection.
We also got coffee, not the best cappuccino I've ever had, but alright I suppose. We happily watched Woody Allen and his band as he played for about an hour and a half, which was really why we were there. They were very good, especially the piano player. Woody is a complete loon and it shows, we found the show entertaining. I liked that you could continue to get dessert or coffee/more drinks as the night progressed. We took advantage of this by ordering the New York Cheesecake (very well done, I couldn't even eat half the piece, however) and the Vanilla Valhrona Crunch, I didn't try any of it, but my husband smiled while he ate.
When we got the bill I was absolutely shocked. With a tip, everything was about $375, which is insane regularly, but sometimes worth it for the best meal of your life. I just couldn't see the justification for it on this meal. It wasn't mind blowing, it wasn't something I would crave to come back to. AND: this was ON TOP OF the Woody Allen tickets at $150 a pop!
Not an evening I would hate to repeat, we did have an excellent time, and the food was not bad at all, but not worth the price tag. I would love to go back on someone else's dime, or as a gift to someone special (a mother in law, perhaps?)
All in all you definitely get that upper crust old New York feel in there, the service is excellent, the food was okay, the music was a blast.
If you have the means or want to save up for it, it's an experience for sure. Once in a lifetime, I'd say.