Brasserie 8 1/2

The Sunday brunch is absolutely wonderful. The food was delish. There is plenty to choose from. The endless mimosas were great. We never felt rushed. The space is light and airy. I will definitely return. This is a winner.

I was delighted to be greeted by a smiling staff at the end of my retail Sunday. The ever so professional and charming Kareem, the lovely hostess whose name begins with a V and Adam, the handsome bartender were all just what I could possibly wish for after a mundane Sunday. I just sat at the bar and had two vodka martinis, (to perfection) and an order of exquisite goat cheese and aioli croquettes. Yum. Everyone was adorable and attentive. I always enjoy coming to this refuge. Thank you so much

So I use to work here a long time ago, my first serving job ever. but its been so long I went back to get a steak and a nice red wine.
Some familiar faces which was nice to see, the place is still really really nice décor wise, its just underground which is why its not the most popular place in the area.
The filet was amazing and wine was amazing, apparently they have a new talented chef. Well it def showed, I was beyond happy with my filet mignon. Rare, was so perfect.
Im happy things changed because this place has charm, its a great restaurant and its super personal because the space is so large, huge in fact.
Thumbs up.

Went on a Sunday evening with my wife and eight year old daughter and we very much enjoyed the soft-​shell crab menu. The Tempura of Soft-​shell Crab and the Soft-​shell Surf & Turf were both excellent entrees (among the best soft-​shell crab we have ever had). The beignets for dessert were also wonderful and perfect for sharing.
The managers, hostess and servers were all friendly and attentive and love the large, striking dining room. Will be back!

One of my favorite restaurant! Awesome food, nice customer service, all waiters were smiling all the time and tried to make us comfortable. Also no loud background music!

Beautiful space and the buffet was terrific. Salad, breakfast, carving station, desserts oh my.

Excellent brunch experience
Attentive service all around
$ 12 unlimited mimosas and eggs benedict
What more do you need?
Highlights were the mac n cheese which was out of this world.
Jumbo shrimp cocktail which were peeled thankfully
The dessert bar was a bounty of choices and included a wonderful crème brûlée
If I had to make one negative comment and you know I will… the hostess at the entrance was not in the greatest of moods… maybe it was too early for her… I had made reservations for 1130 am and thankfully I took down the name of the gentleman who took my reservation. The grouch playing the part of a hostess was giving me the third degree about the reservation mind you there were 2 tables taken in the whole place when we got there. Thankfully the bad attitude didnt ruin what was a wonderful brunch. The brunch is $ 32 per adult, they will bill you for coffee, juice, soda etc.
If you sign up for their mailing list they do send vouchers for discounts.
For $ 32 the quality of the meal was outstanding
My waiter Steven was top notch.
I will be back

Only had a happy hour drink with my friends as I was told that the happy hour oyster is a pretty good deal (M-​F 4 – 7, 1 dollar each). While smaller in size, the oysters were very fresh, fatty and juicy. The complementary bread was a bit bland though and you might want to just skip that.
No need to make reservation on Friday night. Both the lounge area and dining area were only half-​taken. Our waitress was attentive and brought us everything quickly. Everything was good but less than perfect.
My suggestion is to only visit during happy hours and grab a drink.

Beautifully Elegant Buffet
I went here for brunch and it did not disappoint. When you walk through the revolving door and walk down the stairs you immerse yourself in a beautiful dinning room. Every table is well dressed and has a lot of separation from the next table which keeps the dinning experience secluded to just your group and not anyone else’s huge plus here.
After we took our seats it was off to the races to the Buffett which offered many unique kinds of salad, made to order omelettes, crispy croissants, lox, bagels, Mac and cheese (love), deserts, and much much more.
Everything was delicious but for me I always love good lox and Mac and cheese and they had it!
This is a great place to take someone from out of town or a place to impress.
I am sure I will be back
In short:
–Great for Brunch
–Great big groups and for kids and families as there is a lot of space
–Bottomless mimosas $ 12
–Friendly wait staff
–Beautiful staircase but could be tough for getting up and down for an elderly person… (update) but there is an elevator that I did not notice which Ken brings up below in his comment.

Beautiful restaurant, relaxed ambience, great food for Sunday brunch.
This is definitely a place that you would bring someone to if you truly wanted to impress them with the restaurant environment. Aside from the aesthetics, what’s most important is the food.
I give 8 ½ a generous 4 stars because of the variety of foods that is offered in brunch. The crêpe station is my favorite, but you can also choose to have eggs your way — sunnyside, overeasy, omelette, etc. They even have egg whites as an alternative option.
Other favorite food choices offered include fresh yogurt with granola and berries, croissants (DEFINITELY TRY THEM), and the seafood paella.
There is also a dessert bar that includes chocolate, cakes, and puddings which will satisfy any kid’s sweet tooth. ;)
Come here for the experience. Although pricey, it’s unforgettable.

Beautiful décor that provides an excellent location for post-​work happy hours. $ 8 select wines (which has a pretty big selection if you ask me!), comfy couches, not a loud crowd. Our waiter was an absolute sweetheart as well.

Decided to try out this establishment during restaurant week. We were not disappointed. The Grilled Spanish Octopus, Cannellini Beans Mousseline, and Sauce Verte appetizer was tender and flavorful. The Long Island Duck Breast, Braised Red Cabbage, Pumpkin Flan, and Quince Gastrique was absolutely delicious. Topped off with chocolate mousse cake. Great food for a great deal ($ 39 + tax).

I went here for restaurant weekend with my friend and had just an okay experience. The place itself is nice. You enter at the top of a swirly staircase and at the bottom is the bar area. Then a few steps below that is the dinning area. The winter 2016 restaurant week menu had a variety of dishes.
I started off with a yellow beet salad which had beautifully slides beets wrapped in goat cheese. It was very refreshing and the goat cheese wasn’t too potent in flavor either. There were some greens on the side that had a little salt, pepper, and olive oil but I wish it had more flavoring.
For my main dish I orders a filet minion with haricots verts. The cut was cooked a perfect medium and the knife went through it like butter! The greens has a nice crunch but could have used a little less salt. My friend had the branzino and it had a nice crispy skin, however, she said it tasted very bland.
Dessert, my favorite course, is where it went a little down hill. We both ordered the citrus tart but the crust of the tart was so hard that our knives couldn’t break through! I had to do a little whacking with my fork when some of the crust finally fell through.
The drinks were decent but were NYC prices of course ($ 12 – 15). My friend ordered the berry gin and tonic which looked very berry-​like but it just tastes like a regular gin and tonic.

We stopped by during the week came in no reservations but had no problem being seated.
Once seated we stared with some cocktails I tried the drink du jour don’t recall the name but it was good, nice tasting w plenty of alcohol u can taste not bad.
My friend had a Grey goose martini good as well.
They start u off with a piece of bread of your choosing a gentlemen walks around with a variety of breads u pick one, not bad.
Appetizers are limited hard to choose we decide to go with some Shrimp, good size shrimp very tasty & good cocktail sauce.
Main dish I went with the Crab cake dinner good crab cakes but pretty small dinner glad I also decide to get the Bacon Mac & Cheese this was very good.
My friend decide to go with the Steak frites great piece of meat steak was cooked just right nice & tender fries were good as well.
The menu here can be challenging to pick from since the choices are pretty limited my previous visit I tried the Rotisserie Chicken, I remember this being pretty decent nice tasting chicken & potatoes.
Nice classy & interesting set up to the restaurant, walking down the stairs there is a bar & comfy seating area.
Service was very good I lost track of how many people asked us if everything was good.
Price wise it’s defiantly pricey u can go with the price fix menu to save a few bucks.
I was going to go with 3 stars for the limited menu but settled on the 4^th because everything we had was very good & the service was great.

When I visit NYC, I hope every bite will be wonderful. Brasserie 8 ½ achieves that goal. Here is our lunch restaurant week experience. We both got Gravlax appetizers. Interestingly, they reversed the bread to fish ratio. Little ½ inch square pumpernickel pieces sat on each salmon slice. You get a nice crunch with the bite, but you are taking in 99% protein. Little sprigs of lamb’s lettuce added green color, and thin slivers of pickled beets added acidity. The fish was delicate, and hand carved. A beautifully conceived start to the meal. For the entrée course, Carole got the cod and I got the duck. Her cod was cooked perfectly. Moist, flaky and tender. The accompanying cocoa bean and escarole greens added textures and mild flavors that complemented the fish. Then there was my duck leg. The skin was nicely rendered to provide crisp bites without a lot of fat. The meat was perfectly cooked. A parsnip flan added some nice contrast, with a root taste, along with poached quince and huckleberry gastrique since fruit complements duck so well. A word of caution. Do not mix the huckleberries with the duck in the same bite. The tartness of the berries overwhelmed the more subtle duck flavor. Carole got the citron tart for dessert. Not all Unilocal reviews have been kind to this dish. Let me reassure you that if you are a lemon tart person, you will be delighted with this one. The crust was crisp, the lemon custard had just the right consistency. There is the right amount of puckering power. And you can call on thyme scented honey and crème fraîche to enhance the dish further. Finally, I had chocolate cake. It was made with valhrona chocolate, and grand mariner crème anglaise. The grand mariner is subtle, letting you to focus on the exquisite chocolate. Chocolate is where I want my focus to be so I was very content. Setting and service were without fault. What’s not to like?

Came here for restaurant week 2016
App:
Grilled octopus: honestly I feel like the few pieces of octopus in here was masked by everything else that was in the plate. I mostly just tasted something like potatoes…
Crème mushroom soup: The soup was warm, not hot. Tasted like what I was expecting. mushroom soup
Entrée:
Duck: The waiter recommended medium rare for the duck. I think next time we would get medium. It was still very very red and tough to eat. The «pickled?» cabbage on the bottom was too sweet. didn’t really compliment well with the duck at all… and the pumpkin pie on the side was just idk. why is it there
Filet + Half Lobster: Apparently the filet is aged longer than usual? It was tasting very gamey, almost as tho I was eating lamb. It did not have any resemblance to what I am used to called a filet. The mashed potato underneath the steak is nicely constructed and tasted fine. The lobster was very well cooked.
Dessert:
Very tarty… we didn’t really enjoy either of them much
Overall I think this dining experience was okay. The service was great. The waiter was very attentive to us. However I think the food was not at the level I was expecting or maybe it was just not compatible with me…

I came here for a New Year’s Eve dinner and was pleasantly surprised by my experience. Everything from the service to the food was excellent.
My party of two decided on the prix fixe menu for $ 65, which was more than reasonable. For the appetizer, I had the seared foie gras, which was perfectly cooked and so rich and creamy. For main course, I had the rack of lamb, which was cooked to my liking of medium and nicely seasoned. The portion was also rather large. Their dishes seem to be very simple in flavors, which really allows you to truly taste the stars of each dish. Lastly, I had the soufflé for dessert, which was one of the best I had. The soufflé was fluffy and not too sweet. Our waiter was also very attentive and checked on our party after each course. We both enjoyed all the courses and were thoroughly satisfied.
I’m not sure why the restaurant is not fully packed with the great food. I will be back to try their weekend breakfast buffet!

My husband and I came here for my birthday last night. Here’s what the breakdown of what we ordered:
Appetizers:
— grilled octopus with baby kale and pancetta (the kale was a bit salty after the first bite, octopus was a bit on the mushy side and I was expecting more tender and bite– not great)
— escargots petits gris (this was OK, prefer my escargot to be baked in herbed butter)
Entrees:
— rotisserie chicken (this was seasoned well but the breast meat was a bit dry and I wished there was some sauce to eat it with)
— duck breast with red cabbage and gooseberries (the duck was not seasoned well at all– it screamed for some salt which my husband added as he ate)
Dessert:
— warm molten chocolate cake with espresso ice cream and toasted marshmallow (this was the highlight of the meal! It was quite delicious)
Overall, the food was mediocre, although the dessert was spectacular. The service wasn’t bad, but it was a quiet Tuesday night. We especially loved our waitress Sarah. She presented dessert to me with a lit candle and sang ‘happy birthday’ to me solo, which very sweet and unexpected. She’s the reason for 3 stars.

Like I said in my brief review from 2011, this is a sophisticated, elegant restaurant. The food happens to be stellar, as are the drinks. Brasserie 8 ½ has been a family favorite for years now, and I have had some wonderful dinners (including a few Thanksgiving) there. Some of the best things I have there include pumpkin risotto served in an actual pumpkin, an unbelievably good cocktail with the always delightful St. Germain that I shared with the rest of the table only because it felt wrong to keep something that good to myself, and various seafood entrees that have been consistently wonderful.
A large part of my job involves food – ordering food for office events, planning parties, making reservations, and sometimes bringing in my own concoctions for contests – as you can see if you follow my reviews. I have a lot of autonomy which allows me to get creative and have a bit of fun, but with that comes responsibility. Not too long ago, I sent one of the managing directors I support, who has discriminating taste, to Brasserie 8 ½, when asked to find a special place he had never been to before. The next morning, he came to my desk and said to me, «That was not only the best meal I have had in New York, but probably the best meal I have had in a long time.»

Attended an opening night party here, and this place is so delightfully mod. With its dramatic orange stairway you descend to the dining area, you feel like you’re stepping into a Kubrick movie or something.
Their party food was great — dumplings, Mac & cheese, and heavenly macarons!