Traif

Im shocked by all stellar reviews. While i will say that i had an enjoyable solid experience nothing blew me out of the water. It’s good people. .just not THAT good. Yes the scallops were so delicious and had that wonderful delicious brown sear. But they were a tad small for the price and honestly, ive had better… and the risotto they were served on were hard. Yes the strawberry ribs were yummy but they were not chunky– fall of the meat tender like how i expect bbq ribs should be. The sliders were delicious as they should be but pretty standard and the broccoli rabe, toast with Asiago cheese is not something i care to get again. The foie gras again was great but nothing to gush over. The bacon donuts was one of my favorite parts of our meal but again the dough was a bit tough.
I got the rude little pig to drink which i enjoyed very much and thought the bacon bits on the rim were a neat way to stand out but again, (i licked them off clean!) it was great but no fireworks lit up my world.
Would i go back? Sure if someone else was really set on going. But there are better places

I’ll admit it, I like Traif! There I said it. The food is adventurous and a little quirky. So, my review is not about Traif per se, but rather another review of Traif… The following reader must specialize in ripping $ 50 dollar meals in W’Burg, Bklyn to shreds.
(Reader comments as follows): This 2-​star review feels so out of place among the masses of glowing reviews, (self-​serving!) but I just didn’t have the same experience. I came here for dinner with two friends and we all opted for the $ 50 per person, chef’s tasting experience. ($ 50 in New york is not a high-​end dining experience, a pizza pie, with drinks and a few sides will topple this number. This price structure entitles the reader to rip the menu and dining experience apart.) We were given the option of either doing the «Standard» or «Adventurous» tasting, and we chose to try the latter. (Wonderful.) I wish our server had given us a better explanation of what each entailed, (was the restaurant busy?) because now I wonder if I would have had a better experience with the normal fare. (Did you have a few drinks before you walked in the door?, where your faculties impaired?) However, I didn’t bother asking, so not his fault. (One could jump to that conclusion.)
The good: (Here we go!) 1. Portions: 11 courses for $ 50 is quite the steal (you are getting a bargain, that’s $ 4.50 per plate! — a slice of Pizza and a Coke will easily come in at $ 5 or $ 6.50 a meal, and you are getting 11 unique meals! You could do better with a Mc Donalds value menu…) — I don’t think I have ever gotten so much food at this caliber of the restaurant for this price. (So, why not stop here with this BS review and call it a day?) I was uncomfortably full by the end of the meal. (You did not have to keep eating.)
The bad: (Ah, ye. The real point of the poison pen.) 1. The food was… not bad. (Wow, generally, most folks stop eating at this point, unless someone is waterboarding them, and forcing food down their throat, Traif does not approve of these policies.)
But rather confusing and not very cohesive. (Clearly, this diner is an Iron Chef on the Food Network Channel or at best one of the three judges on Chopped!) It was overwhelmingly heavy (At his point, one would stop eating!) (sliders, foie gras, short ribs, cheese…) and interspersed randomly with lighter fares (seafood). (So, you were seduced by the copious selection of food, this isn’t like shopping for a handbag or shoes, you don’t have to engage, there is free will involved in this, unless of course you are compelled by a force greater than yourself to continue on this gluttonous journey.) Some seemed higher end (Food Network expertise.) (foie gras with sunny side up egg) and others were disappointingly random (sliders with fries) — (It appears that the diner is looking for a presentation level of say a: Wolfgang Puck, Tom Colicchio, or José Andrés, where price points quadruple). I guess that for an establishment with such glowing reviews, (The reviews are primarily from Unilocal folks like yourself, who want a great meal at a great price!, $ 50 bucks is a steal in New York, in Kansas it may be called luxury pricing –no offense to Kansas.) I was expecting more thought to be put into the plates, (There was thought put into the plates, you, however, we’re too busy with your pen instead of your spoon to notice!) and that the «adventurous» menu would be, well, more adventurous! (Its Traif in W’Burg, not in Las Vegas! Again, context! Go spend real dollars on a pricey meal and give us another review!)
Yes, the proverbial spacing of food. (Was the restaurant busy, it may not excuse pacing, but all in context.)
2. The spacing of food: Sometimes we would get one plate and have to wait quite a bit for the next course. (Were you enjoying your gluttonous evening, we’re you not drinking or were you too busy hunched over your IPhone to engage with your company?), Other times, we would get 2 – 3 courses in the span of 10 minutes, which was overwhelming. (Folks engaged in an evening, 1. Pace the meal. 2, Talk, chat –not on their phones!, go to the bathroom, flirt with a waiter, play footsies with their partner underneath the table, etc., You, however, could not wait to nail this meal review!)
Plates I enjoyed: (Finally, positives of a $ 50 evening!)
— Atlantic Salmon with Seaweed Risotto: I usually am not a fan of salmon, but it was cooked very well, and I was impressed with the seaweed risotto — flavorful and rich but not overwhelmingly creamy.
Plates I didn’t enjoy: (Couldn’t help yourself…)
— Hampshire pork belly with celery root: I know pork belly is supposed to be fatty, but this was overly so — I’ve had pork belly served where the leaner meat: fat ratio was perfect, and this was overwhelmingly fat. The celery root slaw was bland and didn’t do a good job counteracting the heaviness of the meat.
(I can go on, however, my stomach hurts from reading this!)

So, I know I’m probably gonna get a lot of crap for giving this place only 3-​stars as it has over 1,500 glowing reviews, but it just didn’t impress me to be honest.
I’ve been to a number of awesome high end (Michelin Star) as well as low end (hole-​in-​the-​wall) restaurants, so I think I know something good when I find it. And I didn’t find it in Traif, in my opinion.
We chose the «Adventurous» Tasting Menu, which includes things like pork belly, foie gras, sweetbreads, etc, which was $ 50 per person for 11 courses, but, after including drinks, champagne, wine, tax, tip, the meal came out to $ 250. Normally I don’t factor cost into any of my reviews and don’t mind paying up for a great meal, in fact, I paid $ 450 at Gramercy Tavern for a meal that I thought was worth every penny. But I thought Traif was way too pricey for the quality of the meal, dishes, presentation and service.
The location was a little off the beaten path, even for Brooklyn, which is fine, and cool to be honest, and the actual ambiance of the restaurant is nice as well. I liked that you could sit at the food bar and watch the chefs prepare your meal. Dark lighting, cozy vibe, overall, really nice.
The problem with Traif is with the:
1. Inconsistent Quality of the Dishes– some were great, some were ok, and some were downright terrible, with some having flavors/​seasoning that was overbearing to the point where that’s all you could taste (like using way too much goat cheese on our dish that was a beet-​based dish, to the point we couldn’t even taste the beets, all we could taste was the goat cheese).
2. Timing of the Dishes– it seemed like we had only eaten half of our current dish, when they would bring out the next one. So, then we would hurry to finish the dish, and start the next one, when they would do it again. They did this for ALL 11 DISHES. I asked them to slow down with them after the 3^rd one, but they didn’t listen and kept bringing them, haha. I laugh now, but it was a BIG Disappointment as it was happening.
3. Poor Service from the Waiter (not busboys though) — seemed like we always had to call him over or waive him over when we wanted more water, or when we wanted to order more wine, etc. And then he almost seemed a little annoyed by it.
4. Poor Communication on the Dishes– the waiter or busboy would deliver the dish, but then he wouldn’t explain what it is that we were eating. The waiter even mistakenly called our lamb chop dish the «duck breast» dish, until I corrected him, cause obviously a lamb chop doesn’t look like a duck breast, lol.
List of Dishes:
1. Taro Root Soup– pretty good actually
2. Wild King Salmon Sashimi with Tangelo– was good, but the citrus was too overbearing
3. Yellow Beets with Goat Cheese– way too much cheese and mint, couldn’t taste the beets
4. Berkshire Pork Belly with hearts of palm– one of the better dishes, but I’ve had better belly
5. Seared Dayboat Scallops with risotto– probably the best dish of the bunch
6. Whole Tiger Prawns– not sure what sauce they used on it, but it was terrible
7. Lamb Chops with hummus and mint yogurt– was good, but not the best again
8. Foie gras with sunny side egg– loved the foie, but the egg threw it all off, trying to hard
9. Short rib slider with fries– tasted like a Sloppy Joe I used to get in middle school
10. Green tea & chocolate pudding– green tea was too overbearing and strong
11. Bacon donuts with coffee ice cream– probably the 3^rd best dish, but got old after a while
Looking back, I sort of wished we had ordered dishes a la carte as some of the ones on the menu looked better than what we got from the Chef’s Tasting. So, if you come here, I’d recommend that.
Overall though, I’d pass on this place if I were you, as there are MUCH Better options in Brooklyn than this place… St. Anselm being one of them and only a few blocks away…

My parents treated me, some neighbors, and a bunch of my friends to dinner here for my 21^st birthday back in November. It was one of those memorable meals.
As we were a large group, we had the tasting menu and they made separate courses of equal deliciousness for my friend who’s a pescatarian.
A bit of a wait for our table in the beginning (even with our reservation) but understandable given the small size yet large popularity of the place.
Service was excellent, wine & spirits poured continuously, savory morsels came & went, and everyone left thoroughly satisfied.
The specifics of the dishes elude me as is the case when I’m enjoying my meal/​company… but I do recall a sweetbread course toward the end that I convinced my friends to eat. Even the picky ones enjoyed it without question because their trust had been procured by the chef (s) over the duration of the meal.
All –or at least most– of Traif’s standout dishes were served and one of the desert courses was the infamous foie gras donuts… which were much more subtle than I had expected and enjoyed by all.
Traif met and exceeded all of our expectations (which were high)… receiving positive reviews from my one neighbor who is a food critic… and left all with fond memories. Priceless.
Believe the hype. Yes, even in Williamsburg.

What can I say? Traif is to me what Heaven is to Catholics, the land of eternal happiness and enveloping warmth. All the dishes I tried were artfully prepared and like a blank canvas the plates were adorned with incredible artistic presentations of pork belly, braised pork, foie gras and other various ingredients with precision and thorough thoughtfulness. Seating quarters fill fast and service is quick. Sample the extensive wine list or throw back a bottle or two of artisanal beer. Come with an open mind, an empty stomach and an adventurous pallet. Traif is sure to please.
Reservations are highly recommended. Even for two people.

This 2 star review feels so out of place among the masses of glowing reviews, but I just didn’t have the same experience. I came here for dinner with two friends and we all opted for the $ 50 per person, chef’s tasting experience. We were given the option of either doing the «Standard» or «Adventurous» tasting, and we chose to try the latter. I wish our server had given us a better explanation of what each entailed, because now I wonder if I would have had a better experience with the normal fare. However, I didn’t bother asking, so not his fault.
The good:
1. Portions: 11 courses for $ 50 is quite the steal — I don’t think I have ever gotten so much food at this caliber of restaurant for this price. I was uncomfortably full by the end of the meal.
The bad:
1. The food was… not bad. But rather confusing and not very cohesive. It was overwhelmingly heavy (sliders, foie gras, short ribs, cheese…) and interspersed randomly with lighter fares (seafood). Some seemed higher end (foie gras with sunny side up egg) and others were disappointingly random (sliders with fries). I guess that for an establishment with such glowing reviews, I was expecting more thought to be put into the plates and that the «adventurous» menu would be, well, more adventurous!
2. Spacing of food: Sometimes we would get one plate and have to wait quite a bit for the next course. Other times, we would get 2 – 3 courses in the span of 10 minutes, which was overwhelming.
Plates I enjoyed:
— Atlantic Salmon with Seaweed Risotto: I usually am not a fan of salmon, but it was cooked very well, and I was impressed with the seaweed risotto — flavorful and rich but not overwhelmingly creamy.
Plates I didn’t enjoy:
— Hampshire pork belly with celery root: I know pork belly is supposed to be fatty, but this was overly so — I’ve had pork belly served where the leaner meat: fat ratio was perfect, and this was overwhelmingly fat. The celery root slaw was bland and didn’t do a good job counteracting the heaviness of the meat.
— Sliders with sweet potato fries: What. I’m not sure how this is adventurous in any way, or what it’s doing at a restaurant of this level. It tasted like elementary school dining hall food — not necessarily bad tasting, but sloppy and over-​sauced.
Other plates included:
— burrata cheese with beets
— scallops with lentils
— chopped chicken liver (spread) with balsamic toast
— ribs with strawberry and cinnamon
— pasta with mushroom (cheesy)
— foie gras with sunny side up egg and potato
— buttermilk panna cotta with passion fruit
— bacon donuts
Again, maybe had I not gone in with such high expectations, I would have had a better experience. I was expecting to be blown away by a restaurant with almost 1500 reviews and 4.5 stars (and in NYC too!), but it fell short. Maybe next time!