Extra Place

I wrote this review when I visited New York in 2012 and drafted by this review but never posted it:
Great food, friendly staff, cool atmosphere. Who knew this place was all organic? Definitely would recommend. And definitely get the fries, they taste great on their own or with the house-​made cucumber yogurt sauce and they’re definitely big enough to share.

So came because of the Urban Daddy deal of $ 24 for the unlimited mimosa and brunch for 2.
The good: nice space and friendly staff
The negative: because many people were here for the deal the restaurant took the steak and egg off and told people they ran out when no one in the place had ordered it. The mimosas are incredibly weak purely orange juice with a splash of bubbly. Furthermore, ordered eggs Benedict and the two eggs were so runny that it was raw egg soup. The taste was not enough to compensate for the rawness of the egg as well as there is no salt and pepper shakers on the table to add help.
Finally — as it wasn’t that empty, I wished my waiter checked on us more so I could have taken advantage of the mimosa deal — where we only had two each in a span of 2 hours
Summary — I wouldn’t recommend the place

Very happy that I discovered this place by accident. Great brunch menu, some very unique dishes. I only wish the portions were a little bit bigger. I’m a hungry, hungry person. I have tried both the pork belly benedict and the salmon benedict, and I have to say I prefer the pork belly more.
Atmosphere is very clean and quiet, don’t know about dinner time but at least that was the weekend morning vibe. Lots of seat, spacious tables. I imagine this would be a great date spot.
I also love that the kitchen is open for anyone to see, it gives a homey feel.

Pork belly and octopus: both delicious!
Organic döner with bobo chicken n duck: good but nothing amazing.
Too bad the service is unwelcoming and kinda cold: the young guy with short pony tail looked like he was bothered to come to our table. Dude, if you’re stressed out, change job. Is it just because I asked you a question about my scoutmob coupon?
Too bad, because the managers looked so attentive and caring!

I’m surprised the most recent reviews are so negative. I went for dinner with two girlfriends last week, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. For a starter, I had the lamb carpaccio, which was not only very well-​seasoned and tasty, but unique. One rarely sees lamb carpaccio. I also sea-​gulled a piece of my friend’s lamb meatball, and it too was excellent. It wasn’t overcooked, and was nice and moist — perfect for lamb. I had the lobster tail with olive papparedelle for my main course and it was phenomenal. I have no idea what was in the sauce, but it complemented both the lobster and the pasta very well.
The wait staff was also very nice; our server’s name has escaped me, but she was very sweet and attentive.
Two things to note: First, you need to know how to find this place. It’s in an alley between 2^nd and Bowery off 1^st St. Second, although earlier reviews said you can order from either the Heidi or the Extra Place menu, that’s no longer the case. They still share a kitchen, but the chef told us he’s trying to ween people off of ordering from both menus, and only ordering from the restaurant they’re sitting in. I guess it has something to do with balance sheets and inventory.

I wanted to love this place but under-​seasoned, flavorless food is absolutely unforgivable. The concept of this tucked away restaurant is so cute for NYC but the execution of the food was just god-​awful. Just putting it out there right now, the desert (chocolate mousse) which is outsourced from a place called Heidi’s was the highlight of the dinner.
The dinner review– Food presentation was certainly quite beautiful. I am giving credit where it is due!!! We ordered some plates to share. First– the Bronzino should NEVER have as many pin bones as it did– absolutely unacceptable! Hubby said there was some lemon on the fish– yea, I didn’t taste anything on it. Was that squarish item on the fish dish a piece of gnocchi because I sure as heck could not tell ya. Moving on… We also shared a wood grilled Prawns and a Short rib. Call me whatever you wish, but $ 14 for A shortrib, sheesh, ya’ll just got robbed. There, I said what you would never say out loud about NYC. Would I pay $ 14 for a nicely wood grilled Prawns dish? Sure! Absolutely! Delighted to! But a dish that is AGAIN under-​seasoned, oh hecccccccccccck no.
I was underwhelmed by the quality of the food and will not return. Now, where’s my second dinner because that did not pass muster… hungry monster RAR!
Oh, the interior is romantic/​cool.

I was in the states for about 12 days, and as a complete foodie, I was totally *on it*. For me to say this was the best meal I had while travelling is really a significant compliment. The service was great and the food was stunning. Home made sauces were the icing (!) on this breakfast cake. I don’t even like omelettes that much but this was by far the best egg dish I have EVER eaten!

We enjoyed eating here and at Café Heidi, which shares the space (and owners).
From Extra, we had:
Dayboat scallops, which were perfectly cooked and interestingly presented with a piece of lasagna pasta and some interesting sauces.
Beef spare rib, which was very flavorful and tender, and was served with artichoke, pickled pearl onions and a green sauce.
Both were delicious, and the service was friendly and attentive.
The one star demerit is because their new wood grill makes the place uncomfortably smokey. They need to improve the exhaust system for it or stop using it.

Extra Place was pretty good, but I feel there are better options in the city.
Nantucket bay scallops with beets, Brussels sprouts, trumpet mushrooms — The scallop was okay, but not one of the better scallops I’ve had. I did enjoy the mushrooms, though, which were very flavorful.
Beet salad — The beets were hearty and delicious.
Steak — The steak was especially tender and flavorful. It was the standout dish of the night.
Lamb doner kebab — A messy dish that is pretty good, but not excellent.

This place is hard to find! However, once you get there, the service was very good. The brunch menu was legit. Lots of savory and sweet choices.
I was extremely satisfied with the pork belly benedict. Yum! My friend had the Salmon crepes, the lamb meatball and a Cinnamon bun for dessert. I loved that this place wasn’t super crowded and they take reservations :) I also really enjoyed the music — I know it’s random but they were playing gypsy kings and Brazilian tunes!
I will definitely be back with friends.
P. S. — Also, free wifi was a plus — trying to research some web related business and our waitress quickly gave us the password to the network.

The portion matches the price matches the ingredients matches the décor. A friend and I decided to come check this out with a Scoutmob deal, and both service and good were wonderful. The restaurant itself has a rustic feel, with wood accents and an exposed kitchen, which is pretty cool. We loved everything.
They were out of the butternut squash soup, but the waitress said they had an almond soup– so we got that. So. Good. It had tender asparagus stalks and shrimp.
We also got:
–Nantucket Scallop appetizer which also had… sprouts, chopped beets, and sliced… radishes?
–Sheep meadow farm Lamb and Mutton doner: it’s like a pita sandwich. This ones has pickled onions, hummus, cucumber tzatziki. We were really impressed with how tender and flavorful the lamb was, and it was great that they give you extra tzatziki and hot sauce on the side.
What really added to each dish was presentation and color. I’ll be back. I want to be back. It’ll be a little hard to come without a Scoutmob coupon, but I def. want to try other things on the menu, as well as their wine.
Note: They also have a sister restaurant Heidi next door, which focuses more on Swedish cuisine. (Fondue, anyone?)

Last night I became an instant fan of Extra Place! Their pitas are flippin GOOD! We came here because of the 50% scoutmob deal and other trusty Unilocalers’ guidance. Our meal was phenomenal! Highly recommend the «doners» (I wasn’t sure what that word was at first) but basically they are pitas stuffed with goodness. I got the Bo Bo Chicken and Mike B. got the Pork & Belly. You eat them with your hands and it can get messy so wouldn’t recommend for a first date if you’re trying to be ladylike… but they have other dinner options involving utensils as well. Their beer and wine list is extensive too — lots of local and organic options! Narrangansett, Lager from Rhode Island is only $ 3!
PS — they don’t take reservations on opentable, but there isn’t a lot a street traffic so we were able to walk right in and get a table. There was a pretty large table celebrating a birthday so it’s good for groups as well. It is in an artsy little alley off 1^st street — with lots of outdoor seating so will likely come back in the summer!
PPS — there is an adjoining restaurant Heidi that has a completely separate Swiss menu but looked cool as well. The owner also owns the new french restaurant Le Philosophe around the corner on Bond St!

Duuude.
What a great brunch spot. You’d probably never stumble here if not for Unilocal.That «hidden» feel makes it that much better. The wonderful open kitchen and airy interior gives you the feeling that you’re not in Manhattan but instead just any other small-​town American city. Relaxing and refreshing.
Great service. You can tell the highly visible manager takes great pride in his work and wants to deliver on a great meal. Staff are on the same wavelength.
Brunch menu appears to be a fusion between the mediterreanean food of Extra Place and the swiss food of Heidi’s. I had a rosti for the first time and loved it. My mom had the mussels. Fries were shoestring and delicious! Everything is reasonably priced; again, you don’t feel like you’re in New York, much less the East Village.
Great place to take a load off.

Extra Place is not one of those joints you just «stumble upon» while passing by. First, it’s located on an alley you have no reason to walk along; two, the place doesn’t look like much from the outside. No, if you’re lucky enough to find Extra Place, you eat there — and return repeatedly — with a single purpose in mind: to enjoy some of the best food the Village has to offer. Despite the ridiculous concentration of quality food joints here, this is not an understatement. Here’s why:
Since you have access to the menus of two restaurants — Extra Place and Heidi — you have plenty to choose from. You can’t go wrong with any of the dishes on either menu, but after several meals here we can declare a few winners.
Appetizers:
Get the hummus with pine nuts to share. You may also opt for the octopus, and if you’re craving something lighter — the beets salad was delicious.
Now, if you don’t care about the caloric content of your meal, just get the gnocchi alla carbonara with crab meat and bacon, and savor every bite of gooey deliciousness you can never tell your nutritionist about.
Main Dishes:
The lamb. Get it. This is easily one of the top-​3 lamb dishes we’ve had in NYC (and I’m comparing it to the likes of Boulud Sud and Jean-​Georges). Anyone can make a good lamb chop, but the leg confit was pure perfection. Paired with cauliflower purée, risotto, and sautéed salsify, the dish is a must even if you don’t usually order lamb.
Bobo Chicken: crispy on the outside, juicy and tender on the inside, pairs beautifully with the carrot purée and winter squash that balance out the savory crust.
If they have a filet mignon special — it’s a no-​brainer. We lucked out getting the last one that night. And while the Doner Kebabs are perfectly fine, ordering that is like getting balcony seats at a piano concerto: it’s something you need to enjoy up-​close. Stick with the apps and the mains.
Dessert:
The crème caramel is an easy choice to make (assuming you’re already feeling quite full): it has that delicious, slightly nutty flavor of burnt sugar whose bitterness is toned down by the chantilly cream with raspberries and blackberries.
We are convinced that Amadeus, the guy behind this place, is either a genius or a wizard, because he happens to own our other favorite place in NoHo, Le Philosophe. We weren’t aware of this coincidence until a few weeks ago… go figure!

Extra Place is just ok. I wanted to love it based on reviews I had read on Unilocal and elsewhere. The location is billed as hidden and fun, but it sorta felt like a strip mall. The food was decent at best. But what really lost stars for me was the bugs. There were a million bugs flying around my table, my plate, my food. Icky.
Sorry, won’t be returning.

Extra Place is a little gem tucked away on its eponymous street, which you can only get to if you happen to walk along the short path between Bowery & 2^nd Av on 1^st street. What you’ll find here is Mediterranean dishes with simple ingredients, done really well.
I recommend you spend your whole day eating here. (No, I’m not kidding.) Here’s the plan: Start with fresh omelets (probably my favorite in the city) in the morning and good coffee, the best butternut squash soup of your life for lunch, plump, juicy mussels for dinner and a chocolate mousse cake that’s to die for.
Your wallet will thank you too: Many of these dishes are under $ 15. But the staff will thank you, too, no matter what you say or do – they’re always friendly and very attentive. And if the smell of cheese allures you as you eat, just hop on over to Heidi, the Swiss restaurant attached to Extra Place and brought to you by the same owner, for some fondue.
But I’ve said enough. Just trust me and go. This one’s definitely a keeper. ;)

4.5 stars
Extra Place and Heidi Swiss Restaurant. Two restaurants, different menus, same owner, same kitchen. You can choose to sit in either the group friendly setting of EP or the cozy, intimate setting of Heidi — either way you have access to both menus if you ask for them. The wine list and desserts are shared as well. The best part about the wine list is that they have $ 20 wine bottles and they don’t mark up their wines 3x the price.
As for the food, we got the pork belly doner and the bobo chicken & duck doner from EP’s menu and the mac n’ cheese from Heidi’s menu. The mac n’ cheese with two slices of pork belly and apples was ridiculously good. The doner sandwiches were pretty awesome too. They’re an Asian take on a middle eastern food and their formula works. The pork belly was a bit tough but didn’t bother me.
The service was extremely accommodating and friendly as well. The owner came by a couple of times to check up on us. Definitely returning.
* used a SM deal.
FOOD: ⁴⁄₅
SERVICE: ⁵⁄₅
AMBIENCE & DÉCOR: ⁴⁄₅
VALUE: 4.5÷5

I had no idea this place existed until we saw the Scout Mob for it!
The whole experience was great. The atmosphere was warm and seclusive. It was industrial yet somehow romantic. The customer service was excellent. A handful of workers and managers made sure to check in on us and genuinely cared about how their food tasted.
We ordered the Butternut Squash soup to start. It was excellent! It was sweet, smooth, fresh and had interesting bits of crunch and herbs inside.
We then each got our own Döner Kebab. We tried the Bo Bo Chicken and the Pork & Belly. Both were delicious, and made even better by the sweet and flavorful house made tzatziki sauce. We then ordered the Mont Blanc Trifle which was the perfect ending to a perfect meal. This place is such a hidden gem!

I was surprised and delighted by my meal at this restaurant during a holiday dinner. It’s really difficult to find a decent place to accomodate such a large group around the holidays but this place, either due to its location or how new it is, had plenty of space for almost 20 people and room to spare.
I tried the hummus platter, the lamb meatball on cous cous, the pork belly, lamb 2 ways and the duck. Lest you think me a pig, I sampled most of these dishes from other pals’ plates. I was quite impressed with the pork belly (the appetizer option), the duck and the lamb 2 ways. This place really knows its way around proteins. Each dish was perfectly cooked, juicy and flavorful. Typically, I’m very picky about my lamb (ie. has to be perfectly cooked or I’ll find it an unpleasant gamey experience) but this was really delicious. The lamb meatball was pretty good too but honestly I think it paled in comparison to the other dishes. This place is tucked away on the little side street for which it is named after which frankly I had no idea even existed before my meal here but I will surely return.
Sidebar note: The only thing that mystified me was the scent of fish sauce around the kitchen area. Why does a mediterranean restaurant have such a strong scent of fish sauce?

Wow, I’m really impressed with this place after a holiday party in which I played absolutely no planning role. Nice choice, friends! Tucked into a heretofore obscure-​to-​me alley, which it’s named; one I’d previously bookmarked in my mind but since forgotten to explore, this fairly new restaurant shows a lot of promise.
Extra Place is a casual-​chic eatery that has a farm-​to-​table thing going but has an Alpine twist to it. The drinks menu immediately hits you with a few Swiss and Austrian beer choices you won’t readily find in your neighborhood bistro. And the wine list is both extensive and versatile, offering some tasty affordable options. I went with a Two Brothers Ebel’s Weiss (great) and a Founders Centennial IPA (props for having one of the great IPAs on the planet on your menu).
Our waitress was a bit nervous as she’d just started but did a nice job managing a large group. In fact, when my entrée was pulled early (let’s say ¾ done) without notice, drawing ire from my tipsy face, she was quick to offer a comp dessert (more on which, below).
What really impresses here is the food. I don’t know if EP has worked out a consistency yet on which to mount a reputation, but everything I had on this evening was among the best renderings of its kind. Take the lamb meatball on a bed of couscous, for example. Several of us agreed this was the crown jewel of the meal. Perfectly tender yet bursting with fresh, meaty flavor. Too much of it might have been a bad thing, so the modest portion was just fine. The Berkshire pork belly was also outstanding. I’d return just to get a full portion. The octopus was tender and chewy, though I prefer oil over vinegar as a dress.
After the apps, I got one of their «organic doner kebab» choices – chicken and duck for me. Very tasty, if not a traditional doner, and went well with the homemade tzaziki and hot sauce. When this tasty pocket of poultry was plucked from my grubby hands, I was rewarded with a gratis order of beignets (filled with cooked apples) – sending me to high heaven.

This restaurant is really good. A beautiful day to have a sunday afternoon brunch. We had steak and eggs, birchermuesli and sweet bread. Everything was very fresh and of organic origin. Next door is a small swiss place. I checked out the menue and definately will try the original cheese fondue and compare it to what they cook home in Switzerland.