Tocqueville Restaurant
“2 dishes:
SEA URCHIN AND ANGEL HAIR CABONARA
TRUFFLE PARMESAN GRITS WITH POACHED EGG
OMG – this was enough for me to go 5 stars!”
“From the crisp, slightly crunchy outer shell to the still-molten interior, the chocolate soufflé was a delight to eat from start to finish.”
“And finally, we had the seared diver sea scallops with foie gras, wild mushrooms, braised artichoke and cider vinegar gastrique.”
Tocqueville Restaurant
Takes Reservations: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Accepts Apple Pay: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$$$ Price range Above $61
8 reviews
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Great service, very very pricey for small amounts of food but the food is good overall. My parents said it was a little bland but my sister and I thought it was good. Desserts were on point- my favorite part!
I have been to my fair share of high end restaurants in NYC but I had never heard of this place. The place itself is beautiful, extremely push, romantic, and very intimate. Upon arrival, they took out coats, walked us past a small bar area and into the main dining room. There's about 10-12 tables in the dining room, and has a very private exclusive feel to it. Cream colored walls, comfortable plush seats, and beautiful paintings align the walls. They sat us down and brought over a cocktail menu and wine menu. I started off with a cocktail, then we moved onto the most spectacular French wine I have ever had. As far as the food, You can order a la carte, or from the chefs tasting ($135) or the seasonal tasting menu ($155). We went with the seasonal tasting menu (7 courses). Words don't do much justice, but we were given some cheese puffs to start accompanied by butternut squash soup and a mousse crostini, followed by a fabulous grilled calamari dish, then risotto with poached egg, potato encrusted cod, poached lobster, scallops, a cheese plate, chocolate cake with mint ice cream and some cookies and candies to complete the meal. Great food, beautiful restaurant. Overall the service could have been a bit better, and the sommelier (or the woman handling the wine) had no idea how to handle wine. She also had a limited breadth of knowledge on wine, my date knew 100 more than she did. A little disheartening to say the least. I have no idea how but we seemed to intimidate the staff. Strange. I'll still give them a perfect rating but I do feel they need to work on service, I've had much better service at high end restaurants in NYC. When we ordered a second bottle of wine it took forever for them to bring it out and the staff seemed to go m.i.a at the end of the night. However the food is spectacular and the ambiance is really nice.
Its a beautiful restaurant with great design sensibilities, a great bar and a beautiful chandelier in the middle of the dining room. There are nice accents everywhere, like the smoked mirrors, beautiful chairs, the lighting and wall art.
We came here for a friend's birthday party and a dinner for 5 costs us quite a bit, as expected. However, the table enjoyed the appetizers more than the main dishes.
We had 2 dishes to start and both were wonderful: WILD MUSHROOM RISOTTO was as risotto should be, rich and unctuous. GRILLED SPANISH OCTOPUS was soft and juicy and quite delectable.
I had the butter poached lobster, while the protein was nicely cooked, the sauce was so pungent, with coconut and kaffir lime, it really threw me off as it tasted (to me) exactly like the massaman curry in my local thai place.
2 people at the table had SEARED DIVER SEA SCALLOPS AND HUDSON VALLEY FOIE GRAS, which was overly rich, overly salty but the scallops were not very flavorful, surprising since I love scallops. whevever in doubt, I go for the seared scallops dish.
We also had SEARED PRIME AGED SIRLOIN OF BEEF AND BRAISED BEEF CHEEKS, which was a good dish but somehow didn't dazzle.
Another point I have to make is everything was accompanied by mushrooms. Starting with the amuse bouche, which had mushroom foam, every dish had mushrooms. I like mushrooms a lot but wanted more variety of side vegetables. My lobster was supposed to have cabbage and other greens, I couldn't find any…
Wine list is impressive but expensive.
We will most likely be back but for the value, not too soon 🙂
The Union Square area is sure lucky to have this gem. As my dining partner and I entered, we were warmly greeted, our coats were taken, and we were brought to the precious dining room. The neat, clean, classy interior made us feel fancy even during the lunch hour.
The menu appeared impressive with both a la carte items as well as prix fixe items. We were initially eyeing the $29 prix fixe lunch which was a 3 course meal (appetizer, main, and dessert) but we were attracted to the individual entrees more so. We started off with the house made bread that was offered graciously and not your typical offering. I chose the rosemary and olive bread and my dining partner chose another buttery and flaky bread. They were served with butter in a dish and we were offered more but we declined since we wanted to save room to savor our entrees. We were then brought a mushroom amuse bouche which was delicate and flavor packed, with a smoky flavor to accentuate the mushroom on a crispy toast like foundation. I had the duck breast with bok choy and pears and it was extremely juicy and tender. I was amazed with the crispness of the skin and how well the consomme complemented the duck. The foie gras and seared scallops were also delectable and well executed. The foie gras was the perfect amount one person would have as an entree without feeling too overwhelmed by the richness. The seared scallops were so fresh and balanced the creaminess of foie gras. Lastly, we shared the baked alaska for dessert. Not only did its presentation wow us, but so did the taste. The raspberry sorbet and meringue were so delicious that we wished we had ordered two.
From start to finish, it was a joyful experience and if I were around the area more often I'd become a regular! There were many regulars that were dining at the time and the servers seemed to know their guests well. I'm planning a next time as I'm not opposed to trying their prix fixe options.
I wasn't sure what to expect as this place is relatively hidden, and it's not as popular as other high-end restaurants like Daniel, Eleven Madison Park, etc. I made a reservation for 4 on a Friday night at 8pm. It's a very intimate environment, great for pleasure or business. The staff was perfect: attentive but not hovering. The portions here are pretty small, but I think it's standard for restaurants like these. I thought the duck was delicious. My dad had both the foie gras and the scallops, which were cooked perfectly with just the right amount of flavor. My brother ordered the steak and he was quite pleased with it. For dessert, our server recommended their signature chocolate souffle, which was a great choice. We also received an additional complimentary plate of mini assorted sweets, which were good as well. This is a definite splurge, but worth it. I probably won't be back for a while, but we all had an excellent experience.
KenScale: 9.0/10
It's been a while since my last visit to Tocqueville, one of the most underrated restaurants in the city in my view. I really loved the understated elegance at this restaurant behind the husband-wife duo of Marco Moreira and Jo-Ann Makovizky showcasing the beauty of New American cuisine with emphasis on fresh ingredients and exquisite technique. I've had the opportunity to revisit recently on a business lunch, and the food here is still as good as I remembered.
We went with the five course tasting menu at $68 per person (a great bargain). The menu at Tocqueville has not changed much since my visit, with most of the signature menus still in the menu. I haven't tried the house cured terrine of Hudson Valley foie gras that came with rhubarb and strawberry last time, but the balance of flavor and texture was wonderful, with the combination of foie gras and the fruits working wonders. California sea urchin carbonara was still amazing, with delicate and rich flavor that shows how carbonara can be done right without being overly heavy. My client at the lunch was raving about the truffled creamy Parmesan grits and sunny side up country egg that came with house cured veal bacon, and I wholeheartedly agree. A complexity of flavor and the silky smooth texture of the dish means an absolute winner. The fish course of day boat cod and brandade (think emulsion of salt cod) was quite nice as well, with aromatic broth that really enhanced the texture of the cod. The duck breast that came with baby bok choy was as good as I remembered last time I had it, with juicy meat that wasn't overdressed so I could really savor its texture. The signature chocolate soufflé that came with raspberry sorbet was pure decadence as well.
Getting a reservation isn't particularly challenging at this restaurant, and I still don't understand why this place is not getting the hype it deserves. It was relatively quiet at lunch time even though it would make for an ideal business lunch destination. Perhaps its location in Union Square is the limiting factor? In any event, from top to bottom, the tasting menu experience at Tocqueville was one of the best I've had in a while, and really shows how New American cuisine can shine with attention to execution and ingredients.
A few friends and I had planned a fancy dinner night at this restaurant near Union Square for a special Prix Fixe selection. They started off with the Lobster Bisque while I opened up with the Truffle Parmesan Grits and Egg over easy minus the veal bacon. Both were delicious! It immediately had me filling up. After this, we both enjoyed the Turkey dinner with sweet potato-maple Mousseline and chestnut sage stuffing, baby Brussels sprouts, glazed carrots and Cranberry Compote.
For dessert, I finished off with a Pumpkin Panna Cotta and Pumpkin Ice Cream while they shared a Crustless Pie trio of Pumpkin Mousse, Cranberry Crumble and Pecan Pie. We dined on this while enjoying a Pear Bellini, A Tocqueville Toddy of mulled warm apple cider with Calvados Château du Breuil.
It doesn't get any better than that!
When the L train went out of service as i was on my way to happy hour, my feet led me to Tocqueville upon the recommendation of my drinking buddy for the evening. She said something about carbonara and i was like ok whatever lets grab a bite.
We werent really dressed up or anything so we got cozy at the bar while Walter took great care of us. I started the evening with a dirty vodka martini. It was just the right amount of dirty! and Extra olives!
My friend and I decided to make our own tasting by sharing a few plates. The complimentary bread was delicious and I helped myself to several. We also enjoyed an amuse bouche of sorts- something with a foie gras mousse. Delicious. (I'm pretty fancy, eh?)
For our entrees we split the angel hair Pasta carbonara with uni as well as the diver scallops and foie gras. GOOD LORD. The scallops were perfectly seared and the foie gras melted in my mouth! But the real winner of the night was the carbonara. My biggest regret was not ordering my own! Extremly flavorful and creamy without that heavy feeling of cream and butter. it was so… LIGHT! how they manage to make carbonara light is a mystery to me.
I am not ashamed to admit that I used a spoon to drink every but of the sauce that remained. I could go for a bowl right now.
After our entrees we werent really in the mood for something sweet so we ordered the cheese plate. My favorite element was the raw honey comb! just so very good!
Our bartender made some drinks with huckleberry sorbet, st. germain, tequila, and triple sec- it was like a frosty sangria.Quite delicious.
Overall, it was a fantastic dinner with great company and great service. I am very glad the L train went out of service… otherwise i would have missed out on that delicious Carbonara!
Cant wait to come back for the tasting menu.