Oleanders
“These are actually crispy potato skins, and so are like a thinner, crispier version of those cottage fries.”
“The throwback theme of a fern bar is pretty cool & makes for an interesting atmosphere.”
“The burger on the English muffin was really tasty.”
Oleanders
Takes Reservations: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Has TV: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
1 review
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Excellent replacement for the short-lived The Elm as part of the McCarren Hotel.
It's a beautiful space on the lower floor, with really high ceilings and a nice atmosphere. The coolest part is how they converted one of the portions of the dining room that was off to the side into a little room with a TV and a foosball and bumper pool table. Super random, but fun, especially when the restaurant was empty like it was tonight and you have time to have some fun while waiting for your food.
The vibe here is of a "fern bar", which is apparently a place for "older" singles to come and mingle, so my wife, baby and I were in the wrong place but at the right time, since it was only 7 PM and it just opened and was literally empty. The young woman serving us told us that by "older" singles she meant "like 30 and older or so" which made us want to kill ourselves.
There is lots of shellfish on the menu which I couldn't try due to my allergy, but there is also plenty of other great stuff to make for a very satisfying meal:
– Pasta Primavera ($24)
This was ok. The pasta was cooked well and had a decent amount of flavor and was a good lighter option.
– Dry Aged Burger ($16)
This is a really awesome burger. The one thing that might improve it is a normal bun over the English muffin. The dry aged meat gives it that delicious, funky taste, and the aged swiss and onion rings add even more great flavor. It also comes with some of the delicious Cottage Fries.
– Cottage Fries ($7)
A good server would have told me that the burger came with Cottage Fries when I asked for these, since it doesn't indicate that on the menu. Unfortunately, we were not informed. I wasn't too mad though, since these happened to be great.
– Peas and Baby Carrots with Whipped Ricotta ($11)
Another issue with service, as we received these instead of the potatoes mentioned below. They were nice enough to just leave them (I hate when they take the food back, they should always just leave it when they mess up), but I didn't really like this side, so I'm glad I didn't actually order it. The mushy carrots mixed with the ricotta didn't really provide much flavor.
– Baby Red Bliss Potatoes with Creme Fraiche and Caviar ($9)
This side was really awesome. Yes, we got even more potatoes, after the cottage fries that came with the burger and the additional side of cottage fries, but it was worth it. These are actually crispy potato skins, and so are like a thinner, crispier version of those cottage fries. They are also topped with creme fraiche and some salmon roe, which makes for a really unexpectedly delicious combo.
– Apple Brown Betty ($8)
This was a delicious little dessert, with a piping hot apple betty topped off with an excellent but tiny scoop of vanilla ice cream.
– Baked Alaska ($10)
Like the apple betty, this dessert was also pretty tiny. It was delicious though as well, with an even better bananas foster ice cream at the center.
I would imagine this place was empty as it literally just opened, and will have no problem filling up soon, as the vibe is fun and the food is great. Service needs work, which was surprising since we were literally the only customers, so hopefully that's something they work out by the time they need to serve multiple parties at once.