Degustation

Came here with my boyfriend for a date after work. It has a really cool vibe and atmosphere. It’s a pretty tiny space so it can be a tight squeeze when you’re trying to get to your chairs. The staff were great in explaining the dishes and super friendly and helpful. We were covered very well by the waiters. We did six dishes between the two of us. We started with a half bottle of red wine which let us each have two glasses and was enough. We got the croquettas, octopus, paella, steak, artic char and the torrija dessert. Everything was super delicious and wasn’t overdone with sauces and spices. I would say the artic char was the only one that wasn’t amazing but still good. Just because I think it was a little underwhelming compared to the other dishes. That being said, the vegetables that accompanied the fish was spot on. Even my boyfriend who hates vegetables with a passion devoured the veggies. It was great watching the chefs cook it in front of you and the service was impeccable providing for a very romantic and fun culinary experience,

The open kitchen view is a treasure. Watching the cooks as they work is a great feature of this place. It’s a tad small with the seats surrounding the open kitchen but it makes for a more intimate ambiance. That being said, definitely make a reservation!
From the moment we walked in, we were greeted and our coats taken. We were seated immediately because we had a reservation. The service was impeccable. The menu was explained thoroughly as well as their wine menu. And the server also had enough knowledge of both to let us know which wines paired well with which dishes.
This is a tapas style restaurant and wine tasting bar. So, the plates will be small. With that in mind, you can choose the seven course tasting menu but you’re not obligated to. We chose four dishes between us and we were full, that may not be the case for everyone. We started with the Brussel sprouts which where perfectly charred and the cashews have a great crunch and the funions were a perfect topping. I chose the duck breast with butternut squash and mole. He had the skirt steak with celery root, baby leeks and sunchoke purée. We shared the torrija which was brûléed French toast with caramel. Everything was amazingly prepared and out of this world delicious.
Although you have to shell out a little extra for this spot, it’s definitely worth visiting more than once.

Degustation had been on my list to try for ever. So the restaurant space itself and the waitstaff were incredible. Here were some noticeable issues: no music, or at least it was so quiet I couldn’t hear it, and instead was subjected to the annoying business dinner going on next to us. Another issue — we didn’t order the tasting menu and it was evident that the two chefs in front of us were only cooking the tasting menu — if that is the case, then just offer the tasting menu. It left me thinking that our food was being microwaved. We were also served our food really quickly — no time between «courses». They could have brought each dish out and allowed us conversation time. Final note — there was no interaction with chef /​diners. If you sit up at a counter, and the chefs are in front of you — typically there is something — even Noodle Bar will make eye contact! As far as the food — we ordered the brussels sprouts which were excellent, the parsnip which was equally as good, the duck which was perfectly cooked but I didn’t like the mole sauce (too overwhelming) and the octopus which was slightly overcooked. I guess my overall thought is if you go here — get the tasting menu. I bet it would have been a different experience. Overall I think with a few tweaks this place could be a standout. Just not there yet.

It’s been forever since I’ve been here. Many people raved about it. I thought it was good. :)

A little pricey, but a unique, excellent experience that made it worthwhile.
I was excited to try this place… it’s kinda like a French/​Italian Izakaya-​style experience. All of the seats are around the bar, facing an open kitchen, which is neat. The ambiance is romantic, but also also a little bit open so you can interact with the chefs. We were there on a Wed night, but it wasn’t crowded at all.
We shared a bottle of a fantastic red wine (I think it was a Bourdeaux blend), and then a whole bunch of plates to share. Arctic Char, Paella, Crispy Duck, Skirt Steak, Octopus. Every dish was unique (we kept guessing at the ingredients and were surprised by the creativity), prepared perfectly (tender, not rubbery octopus, crispy skin char and duck, med rare steak, etc), and DELICIOUS.
It wasn’t a date for me, but this would be a fantastic date spot or place to celebrate with someone special.

I don’t get this one.
The idea of a small, intimate setting (in this case a 20 seater) where you can actually have a decent conversation without blasting anybody’s eardrums greatly appeals to me. Aside from that, the prework I conducted on their website indicated to me that the folks over at Degustation are not afraid to experiment. So one lovely evening, a few girlfriends and I wandered over to Degustation to do the seven course chef tasting, thinking that a chef menu would provide us with a spectrum of tastes and textures. Alas, I was not impressed.
While the dishes were all presented beautifully, they didn’t taste nearly as interesting. I remember the duck being good, with everything being generally unmemorable.
Also, a PSA:
Stop it with the foam! There is wayyy too much foaming action going on these days. It is a highly alarming trend to me. Foam does nothing to tickle my taste buds, and really just kinda pisses me off. I hate biting into something and finding it to be a mass of, well, nothingness. It puts me in a real existential crisis and I like to avoid those.
That is all.

My date and I popped in here last night after a failed attempt at Takashi. After a 20-​minute wait we were seated in the dining room, which consists of a dining bar enclosing the open kitchen – very intimate and romantic. It’s buzzing but you can still hear the person next to you well.
We ordered the tasting menu – an amuse bouche followed by an earthy-​flavored selection of dishes:
Sesame toast over sweet and slightly acidic beet tartare
Charred octopus with Thai inspired sauce and scallions
Tiny morsels of battered and fried cod with an herbaceous play on tartar sauce
Short rib with pickled pear, potato, and piquillo paste
The most amazingly textured burnt caramel French toast, which had the consistency of a cross between Japanese cheesecake and pudding.
The plates were vibrantly colored and the flavor boldness increased with each on. For the price, they delivered a fairly memorable experience. Our absolute favorite being the desert.
The only thing we didn’t quite love was the decorating taste; with the tacky glassware/​cutlery and cheap-​looking Pier One-​style candle holders, it seemed like some finishing details were overlooked.

Pro
Great concept, affordable, generous portion, and superb service!
Cons
No beer or cocktail. I get the fact that it’s a food and wine tasting place, but when you don’t feel like drinking wine, there is no other option.
Food
Bread and Goat Butter, If you like the flavor profile of goat cheese then you probably going to like this. It’s mildly pungent and for some people will find this somewhat too strong. Bread was a miniature baguette.
My favorites were Octopus, Parsnip, Paella with Blue Shrimp.
Least favorites, foie gras wasn’t clean properly also paired very oddly with cauliflower ice cream. I love the cauliflower ice cream, I just think that the foie is rich as it is, when you add ice cream it will probably too much.
Overall it’s a good find!

We went there 2 years ago and it amazed us with its incredible tasting menu. Every dish that came out was perfect and delightful. Therefore, we decided to go back for my Babe’s birthday (yes, it was her birthday) and the first 3 dishes were up to their standard. But then, everything was just growing cloyingly sweet. To the point, we almost found no difference between our main courses and dessert.
Don’t get me wrong, I really love this place and I would definitely come back. I just hope this was just a fluke and hopefully they will revisit their «sweet accent».
By the way, the Korean male waiter was helpful and friendly.

Why I love it: The flavors are uniquely and deeply developed and contemporary. I get 5 dishes to share with another person and that’s plenty to become satisfied.
I don’t eat this kind of food to get full; that’d be like drinking great beer to get drunk — that’s what bud light is for. I love this restaurant for the art in appreciating it’s great flavors in a upscale/​casual/​relaxed and fun way that’s not found elsewhere.
There’s a mood about the food and atmosphere that feels right.
Being from Seattle and having lived in LA for 4 years I felt that servers/​people in NY in general aren’t about that friendliness that’d you’d find in a little-​big city or sunny and warm climates so don’t hate if they don’t smile.
I sit in front of the chef which is cool if you feel like complimenting the food and watching some of the action.
Anyway…
This is my favorite restaurant in the US.

I had an AMAZING meal here, thanks to excellent service and superb food!!! Although I had some doubts due to some reviews on Unilocal,they were all squashed after the meal — the portions are pretty decently sized considering they’re supposed to be tapas style, and the food is bursting with different textures and flavors. Extremely limited seating, aka everyone’s seat is a chef’s counter seat (from what I saw, the restaurant probably fits around 20 at most), which means you have fantastic view of the warm open kitchen!
We were able to try the following:
— Croquetas
*Nice flavor, very creamy; came out piping hot too! :D
— Brussels Sprouts (Clothbound Cheddar, Funyuns, Cashews)
*This dish was superb, brussels sprouts were nicely grilled with a cute playful dusting of crushed funyuns on top. There was also a nice hint of acidity throughout.
— Parsnip (Salsa Verde, Bee Pollen)
*Very similar to a sweet potato; nothing super special, but it was good.
— Salad of Market Vegetables (that day, it was thinly sliced kohlrabi, apples, cheese)
*This was a simple yet elegantly presented dish — it was literally just slices of kohlrabi, apples, and cheese with a sauce. Very refreshing!
— Paella (Blue Prawn, Chorizo, Soffrito)
*I really liked the portion size, pretty small but satisfying. Came with 3 large prawns. The paella rice was so rich in flavor from the chorizo.
— Crisp Octopus (Red Curry, Charred Cucumber, Shiso)
*Definitely my favorite dish of the night! It was just one large tentacle, but it was cooked so well — super tender with a really unique red curry sauce which I was not expecting. The shiso also added something interesting in every bite :)
— Arctic Char (Savoy Cabbage, Fennel, Riesling Froth)
*Thought this was salmon when they were cooking it lol, deliciously tender — seasoned perfectly!
— Skirt Steak (Celery Root, Young Leeks, Sunchokes)
*One of my least favorite dishes, pretty much just regular sliced skirt steak, though the sunchokes were amazing!
— Duck (Butternut Squash, Mole, Seeds)
*Kind of in the same boat as the skirt steak, but this was cooked REALLY well. Duck was soooo tender.
— Foie Gras (Cauliflower Ice Cream, Marcona Almond, Nasturtium)
*AH another outstanding and creative dish. The cauliflower ice cream sounds disgusting at first, but once you taste it, you’ll LOVE it. It tasted kind of like corn ice cream and was a great compliment to the heavy foie gras.
For the desserts, we got:

— Torrija (Cajeta and Sea Salt)
*OMGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG someone please sell this somewhere so I can get it whenever I want on the go! This is kind of like a spanish version of a french toast (bread is soaked, then fried in a pan after being soaked in eggs), but so much better… Seriously don’t know how they achieved this kind of texture, but it’s kind of like a marshmallow and a mochi had a baby + a sweet caramel-​y crust on top. TO DIE FOR!!! A+++++
— Chocolate Sorbet (Coffee Soil, Cocoa Nib, Freeze Dried Raspberries)
*This was just a regular dark chocolate ice cream I thought, but I liked how it helped cut the sweetness of the torrija.
— Matcha Ice Cream Sandwich (Chocolate Cookies)
*Eek — did not expect this at this restaurant, but anything matcha is good for me! The chocolate cookies that made the sandwich were also outstanding, great balance between crunchy and chewy.
The wines we managed to try were also pretty great — they were explained in depth and were all on the sweet/​slightly acidic side, which I love :).
AHHH I can’t wait to go back + try their sister restaurant, Jewel Bako!

A reserved looking restaurant from the outside but once you enter, it will welcome you into a culinary experience. It is an intimate restaurant where like some Japanese restaurants, you can sit by the table where the chefs will cook upon placing your order. You can see them make it in front of you and if you weren’t hungry, you will be soon with all those aromas. All the tapas I had were amazing. Joe the manager was great with helping us choose the food and recommended delicious wines. I especially enjoyed the paella, octopus, and the French toast crème brulee.

Anytime I have the opportunity to dine in a restaurant with fewer than 20 seats I feel like I am partaking in something special. Degustation’s dining room layout is a unique find in its genre of restaurants. Only a few more than a dozen seats are situated around an open grill kitchen. The combination of the layout, the creative menu, and the attentive staff make this place worth checking out.
The wine list is varied and doesn’t give undue attention to one region. Bottles range from very moderate to very high end. I was able to find several selections I wanted from the by-​the-​glass menu, as well as a half bottle that was just what I was looking for, although the half bottle list is quite short. Wine service was very professional. The Pinot was served in a Pinot glass, the waitress pre-​swirled the first glass for us, and the glassware was Riedel.
Everything served for dinner was very well done. Each of the dishes had interesting flavors and a beautiful presentation. Some of the evening’s favorites were the skirt steak and the char. It was served with sunchokes, which was a new experience. They tasted something like an artichoke and potato hybrid, quite unusual. The char ended up being a uniquely playful dish in its own right. The fish was accompanied with a number of vegetables, some grilled to a crisp and some not, which made a very interesting textural combination. Its topping of a Riesling foam made it visually striking as well.
Deserts didn’t disappoint either. The torrija was a brûléed piece of french toast, another unusual dish that is worth trying just for the experience. They also had a chocolate sorbet topped with chocolate bits and dried raspberries, another dish with great texture.
The interior is dimly lit and modernly apportioned, but I wouldn’t call it an intimate restaurant. All of the seats are adjacent to one another, so you won’t be sitting across from your date. It is also easy to be distracted from your conversation by watching the cooks and wondering if they are making your dish. It is also difficult to resist eaves dropped on your neighbor’s conversation.

By request from my older daughter, this is where she wanted to eat. Judging by the pictures here on Unilocal,it was slightly intimidating. Sunday night after Thanksgiving, surprisingly not much traffic into downtown via the Holland Tun. Found street parking, too.
They won’t let you in before 6pm, so we had to wait a bit, but they seated our party of 5 towards the corner so the 3 kids are 90 degree angle to us. Smart.
Servers are efficient and knowledgeable, if a bit serious.
My wife and I shared the Crispy Octopus, Paella with Prawns, Breast of Duck, and the Skirt Steak. Everything was as good as it can be. The ingredients are top-​notch, fresh and execution was perfect.
The only reason it’s 4 stars is that the last dish we had, in which we ordered individually — Foie Gras with Cauliflower Ice Cream was really small. There was maybe 3 bites. It should have been at least twice the size.
Washing it down with an excellent Malbec, another perfect meal!

Food does not get much better than this. Small, intimate setting. Great service. Superb menu. Thoughtful wine selection. We started with the paella with blue prawns. it was delicious and rich with sweet perfectly cooked prawns and al dente rice. The ocropus was expertly grilled and served with a red curry sauce that was a perfect balance of thai flavors! Next came the Arctic char with perfectly crunchy skin and well paired with cabage and riesling foam. The skirt steak was even better that the previous plates with the best sunchokes I have had. But the foie that came next with a cauliflower ice cream was nothing short of sublime heaven. Last was the duck with mole sauce which was delicious too.
Well priced for what is offered especially when compared to similar options in the city.
All in all, one of my favorite meals. It was our wedding anniversary and this really topped off the day!

One of my favorite places in New York. Came here with two other girls and ordered a few dishes to share. Next time I’ll come back for the tasting menu! Everything is very good and unique which I loved.
Burrata was very fresh and delicious
Charred Octopus is a must!
Paella was okay but still good… however probably least favorite of the night
Foie gras cauliflower was so good! Definitely order this. very interesting
Might be forgetting some other dishes… but can’t go wrong everything looked amazing. Really liked how it’s bar seating and you can see the chefs making your food.

Dining at Degustation is an intimate and personalized experience due to its small size (the entire restaurant seats ~20 people) and seating around the kitchen, where diners get to watch the chefs’ every move. The menu highlights Iberian, French, and American influenced cuisine in a bar-​like setting with an open kitchen. While I enjoyed the overall tasting menu experience, there were some dishes that were a bit off and the portion — like what most Unilocalers have commented — was really small.
I came to Degustation for an $ 85, 7-​course tasting menu. The head chef Nicholas wasn’t there that night (I was a bit disappointed… wish they had told me when I made a reservation!), but Oscar — the chef of the night — provided some delicious dishes for my party of 5 people.
The tasting menu began with a complimentary amuse bouche of grilled oyster in shishito butter and sprinkled with thin, julienne potato crisps. I have always been on the boat that oysters should exclusively be eaten raw, but this dish made me rethink the statement. The oyster was juicy, plump, and full of flavors, and the crispy potato on top added nice crunchiness to the bite.
The first course was grilled rye toast with parsnip that was shaped like rice noodles. I only took a bite and didn’t finish — wasn’t a fan of the extremely crispy toast that was slightly burnt, and the parsnip lacked flavors and was a bit oily.
The second course continued with vegetables — roasted (or grilled?) beet soaked in vegetable glaze. The beet packed so much flavors, and I wanted to lick the plate to get all the glaze. I only wished the portion was bigger.
The third course was beef tartare. This was probably my favorite. I loved the baked potato chips on top and the pine nuts that added nice nuttiness to the dish. The beef was of course extremely fresh.
While the other people in my party got scallop in red curry for their fourth course, I had crispy octopus in a different broth because I am lactose-​intolerant. People said the scallop was their favorite dish was the night, so I’m a bit bummed I didn’t get to try. The octopus tasted too overcooked… I wasn’t a fan of the pickles in the dish either.
The fifth course was cod with wine foam and some sort of creamy sauce at the bottom… it included dairy because I got neither the foam nor the sauce. Consequently, the fish tasted bland, but can’t blame the dish because of my intolerance!
The sixth and the main entrée was a lamb loin with mole and pickled artichoke. I loved the medium-​rare (more on the rare side though, which I love) lamb that didn’t have the usual «lamb smell,» and the chocolately mole sauce and the pickled artichoke were both nice touches to the dish.
Finally, the seventh dessert course, I got the chocolate sorbet with freeze-​dried raspberries and chocolate nibs. It was a great way to cap off the meal — refreshing! Other people got the signature Torrija, which is French toast soaked in milk/​cream.
Even though the restaurant accommodated my lactose intolerance, I feel like I didn’t get the full tasting menu experience because of the modification. I’d love to try the regular a la carte menu if I ever come back.

Eh, I hadn’t been back in a few years. The food quality and service have definitely gone downhill. We opted for the tasting menu + wine pairings and while the price point was good, it felt like dressed up ordinary tapas. I love that they’re trying to be inventive, but nothing was subtle, sophisticated enough. A lot of the dishes were overdressed/​seasoned.
Atmosphere is lovely (unsurprising coming from me since I love all open kitchen restaurants with cozy bar seating). But there are way too many better options in the EV…

Can’t get any better than this!
Excellent food and presentation from the beginning of the meal to the end!
We did the tasting menu. They serve dishes not on the menu.
I love watching how my food is prepared and plated.
Enjoyable place to eat!
Casual Fine dining!

So amazing! I had so much fun dining at this open kitchen restaurant and watching the chefs prepare the food. The portions were tiny but the dishes were all so yummy and beautifully prepared. I left full but my man was still hungry after dining here and wanted to go to pommes frites.
The servers were very friendly and attentive, even though i did notice there werent many servers (2??). The space is really cramped and we sat by the door and felt the draft every time the door opened. Still doesnt take away from this awesome dining experience though.