Gramercy Tavern, New York – butter that melts in your mouth, pork belly & cheddar rice ice cream

Been in New York for a few days and the food here has been lit! We decided to give Gramercy Tavern a try as it came highly recommended by the good folks at Restaurant Story and it did not disappoint! These are some of the perks that come with striking conversation with restaurant staff, they gats the hook-ups!

We didn’t have a reservation. Neal, being Neal, decided we were going to turn up there and hope that lady luck was on our side. I wasn’t keen on turning up unannounced. whilst I am aware of the American hospitality being pretty good, I still was not convinced. Did he listen? No. Did we just turn up and get a table? Yes! Ha! ha! must be his ginger hair & northern (funny) accent that lets him get away with it. We were offered a table in the Tavern area of the restaurant (there is also a dining room where the dinner is served).

We asked for a variety of dishes and the wonderful waitress came up with a fantastic lunch time taster menu. Starting with bread that looked like scones, fresh and hot from the oven and the butter? Excuse me? It was the softest, fluffiest, melt in your mouth delight of butter I have ever had, and it was garnished too! The rocket leaves peppered on pasta with creamy sauce, had an intense flavour and surprisingly, for a pasta dish, it was not heavy, and I really liked that.

When there is pork belly on any menu, Neal gets very excited as do I, but Neal’s excitement is more palpable to say the least. This pork belly was not busy, it didn’t come with like fries, mashed potatoes or some randomness. It literally was a pork belly cut, cooked perfectly according to Neal (trust me he would know, he has a personal relationship with pork belly). It was a juicy too, don’t nobody want a dry cut of pork, beef, chicken or anything! That is just wrong! The two sauces and fruit pieces only enhanced the sweetness of the pork belly, I mean you could tell that that piece had been marinated / coated / dipped in flavours that just burst through with each bite! The wines selections were equally amazing, big shout out to the lovely Amelie, she did her thing! Who has 8 glasses of wine during lunch whilst eating scrumptious food? Errr, we do that’s why we on holiday right?

Let me reiterate, desserts are a NECESSITY! When it comes to desserts, I will take ice cream over sorbet, cheese cake over tiramisu, a chocolate brownie must be gooey and warm and served with a scoop of ice cream. I acknowledge that I am, or shall I say I am no longer a chocolate person, sacrilege, right? Ok. Fine! I do like chocolate but only in small doses unlike my Neal who would gladly eat the largest Lindt chocolate bunny on his own! I think my love for chocolate has waned either because I may have had too much as a child (I don’t recall this). Now ice cream? *does a happy dance* I love. Praise the ice cream gods for the plethora of flavours and combinations out there because, I am here for it! Gramercy Tavern served cheddar ice cream with warm juicy caramelised pears and walnuts. Can I get an amen? Lawwddd, it tasted phenomenal! And no! the ice cream did not taste cheesy!

The cheese selection was not a let-down per se, but it didn’t wow me. I guess with cheese selection, it can be quite hard to come up with something spectacular, it is after all just cheese right? Well the flip side to this, is not just the kind of cheese but what accompanies the cheese. I mean my favourite cheese selection till date was from Lenclume, the presentation, and the wines –’55 red, whatttttt?! yeah, it will be hard for anyone to beat the genius that is Simon Rogan!

Gramercy Tavern, you do food right!

Cheers

Ndidi & Neal