Degustation
“He'll sit you down quickly and will immediately start to spoil your taste buds with his 10-course tasting menu.”
“The fact that Degustation and Jewel Bako are kin restaurants, only further heightened my fascination, and hunger.”
“We shared the torrija which was brûléed French toast with caramel.”
Degustation
Takes Reservations: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$$ Price range $31-60
8 reviews
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One of the best tasting menus in the city. Perfect rhythm and portion size. Big flavor in every dish, with Asian influence here and there. My favorite dish of the night was pork shoulder in green mole, although they seem to switch up the menu on a daily basis. Keep up with the good work. Seating is tight and thus bad in my opinion for anything formal. But there were still old couples celebrating anniversaries here.
Food was top notch from start to finish. Each course was absolutely delicious. There were so many standout dishes with my favorites including the croquetas, burrata, brussel sprouts, crisp octopus and skirt steak. Service was excellent. Enjoyed the open kitchen setting and nice wine list. Very impressive food quality.
Ever since I dined at its sister restaurant Jewel Bako, I started to envision the time I'm visiting the other half. Serving a completely different cuisine (tapas/small plates) in a completely different fashion (open kitchen), Degustation definitely left me enough room for anticipation.
I decided to go light this time instead. (However do note that they offer a seven-course tasting menu at 80 dollars, quite a bargain!) We shared the grilled octopus, seafood paella and the amazingly seared duck. While it was pretty hard to mess up with the octopus, chef Nicholas actually impressed me with the more chewy texture. Really liked the portion size of the paella – just about right for share and still left me some extra space for other dishes. Duck meat rocks for sure – if there's one dish you cannot skip, guess that will be it…served medium rare, the meat was able to maintain the tenderness and softness at the same time, amazing!
I actually recommend Degustation more than its Michelin-star sister – enjoyed every single course and wish I could have a bigger appetite!
2015
The space is very intimate – about 20 seats at the chef's table. When I made my rez, I noted that it was my birthday (2015). The host said Happy Birthday as he seated me.
The food was delicious. I ended up chatting with my dining neighbors, who were complete strangers to me, when we started discussing whether to try the tasting menu. I never do tasting menus because lots of time there is seafood on the menu, and I don't eat seafood. Ironically enough, the chef sent me a raw oyster, as compliments for my birthday. After laughing out loud with my neighbors and getting directions from others on how I eat this thing (as I could not possibly refuse it, as it would have been impolite), I was mostly instructed to gulp it down – and gulp it down I did! And I survived – erm, mostly.
I went out to get a drink with my now friendly dining neighbors, and arrived home a few hours later. Went to bed, and in the middle of the night, I woke up extremely ill. I imagine it was food poisoning, or possibly my body's protestation to being fed raw seafood (how dare I!).
Anyway, I won't color my review of my experience and all the other food on my awful illness, as it was all great. I'd return, but no seafood for me!
Love the intimate atmosphere of Degustation! The food was incredibly unique with interesting combinations of flavor (ice cream and foie gras?!). The wine that the sommelier suggested was also on point. My only issue with Degustation is that because it is so intimate, caused by the only available seating to be chef's side, they were rushing us to order and wrap up, constantly reminding us that there was another reservation coming in. I understand that 2 hours is typically ample enough time for dinner, but having the constant reminder made me uncomfortable.
Awesome meal here! Only 18 seats at the restaurant and You sit right at the kitchen bar facing the 3 chefs. Seating was a bit tight and it was a bit warm due to being right by the stoves but well worth it. We were 4 people and had the best meal:
– Bread with goat milk butter
– croquettas
– burrata
– octopus
– duck confit
– steak
– fois gras with cauliflower ice cream
– dessert their specialty bread pudding
Every single dish was unique and amazing, this restaurant exceeded our expectations and would love to come back again! It is so rare for me to enjoy every single dish I try at a restaurant!
From top to bottom we enjoyed our experience. The hostesses were so accomodating (we called to make sure we could still come since our show ran 30 mins late and they said yes)
The food was so yummy and I liked that we didn't have to wait forever between courses. . But we sidnt feel rushed. I'm not sure if this is because we got there at 10 or if that's how they normally pace the dishes, but having experienced other tasting menus where you want to gnaw your arm off from the wait between dishes, we were very happy.
I loved that our dessert was a real hearty, rich dessert. The lamb was delicious and it was so cool to watch the chefs skillfully do their thing. It felt like we were guests in their kitchen, rather than guests in their dining room.
Finally came back here after trying some very big hitters : Le Bernardin , Semilla, Momofoku Ko, and Eleven Madison Park.
Yes I'm directly comparing it to the places that cost an average of $250 a person,have up to 3 Michelin Stars, and are ranked as the best restaurants in both NYC and the world by "food critics".
Food wise this beats them all on the best bang for the buck front.
It's extremely disappointing that this place gets ZERO recognition.
Layout wise, this is almost identical to Momofoku Ko and Semilla. Open kitchen where you sit around it at a "bar" and watch the chef and cooks do their thing right in front of you.
The menu has completely changed for the better since I came a year ago, and they now have added fish, seafood, or some kind of meat for almost every course.
For $85 for 8 courses, not only is this an amazing deal but the food is fantastic and one of the only places I can say I loved EVERY dish.
They are small, yes, but after trying a LOT of NYC tasting menus, I can confidently say "They are all like that." The nice thing is even so, the dishes here seemed a lot more substantial than other restaurants that offer similar menus, and were neither boring or TOO eccentric.
The Japanese inspired beer menu is also pretty amazing and they have a few massive 22oz bottles for $9. I believe they do business directly with the bar next door so they can offer pretty good prices on them.
Would I come back? Yes, in a heart beat.
If you want to experience the same quality of food as the "highest rated" tasting menu restaurants in the city without emptying out your wallet, try this.