Left Bank

Bottom Line: Yummy & Delicious
I came here for my birthday during Restaurant Week 2016 and the food here is impeccable. The ambiance is cozy and candle-​lit. Our server was sweet and very attentive without being too pushy. Most of the crowd is young and attractive — probably spending daddy’s money.
Here’s what you got to try:
— Shaved Brussel Sprouts — Light, nutty and citrus-​y, this was a good appetizer before a steak
— Grass Fed Steak Tartare — Grade A Steak — Must enjoy with all the accompaniments
— Grass Fed Bavette Steak — They actually cook it correctly, medium rare!
— Iron Roast Split Chicken — The chicken is tender and moist, amazing sauce
— Hudson Valley Apple Crumble — You may think the maple syrup pie is a good decision but this is better

Came in with an 8:45 reservation on a Tuesday night during Restaurant Week. It was busy as one would expect during RW. We were seated after a few minutes waiting. Nice cozy atmosphere, good spot for a date.
The problem was the service. After being seated and asked about ordering drinks, we had to flag our waitress down to order. We also had to flag her town to take our appetizers, which we hadn’t touched in 20+ minutes and to bring the entrees. We had to flag her down again to take the entrees and to order dessert (off the RW menu), at which point we had been there for at least an hour and a half and my friend had to leave to finish up some work. In fact our waitress didn’t stop by our table once without being asked after ordering. We ended up taking dessert to go, and as you can imagine it’s not as good when being re-​heated in the microwave in a paper to-​go box. We expected slower than usual service but this was unacceptable. Will not be returning.

*warning — sentimental review ahoy*
I’m reviewing based on a goodly number of visits over the period of around a year and a half.
My wife had just moved to NY, I was still in the UK, she had a new job, I was worried /​concerned and thousands of miles away, it was a tough time.
She moved into an apartment a few blocks up from the Left Bank and on one of my early visits across, we walked down through a completely alien (to us, at the time) environment and sat in this bar /​restaurant… it was the first time I genuinely felt at ease and knew she would be ok when I hopped on the plane home.
It felt /​feels familiar to the Europe we’ve come from — liberal, friendly, warm and inviting… a real neighbourhood place, and I’ve always retained a massive amount of fondness for it since.
This visit found it packed (restaurant week), we hadn’t booked, but they were really friendly and eventually found us a table, the food, atmosphere and whole general ethos is this place is totally spot on, somewhere that’s proud of what it is and what it represents.
It really is a lovely little place.

Tried their restaurant week menu. I have to say this place is like a little gem in west village. Their servers are not as welcoming as expected, but their food is essentially very good. — Just go there early otherwise there will be a huge line waiting.

Came for dinner last night. We were so excited to finally try this place as it’s very close to our apartment and we were hoping it could become a regular neighborhood spot in our weeknight dinner rotation. The ambience is cozy and we were 2 people that got seated within 10 minutes of arriving around 8:30 on a Friday night, so that was great!
Unfortunately, the food did not impress. We started with the shaved brussel sprout salad, which was dressed in such an acidic vinaigrette that it tasted almost sour. We assumed this was just a misstep and moved on. Then we had the special of the night, a pork dumpling dish. It was so far from a good dumpling, just not flavorful and paled in comparison to so many cheap dumplings available throughout the city at authentic Chinese places. For an entrée, we shared the carbonara, which was cooked so al dente that it seemed like someone took the pasta out of the boiling water too early, by mistake. The sauce on the carbonara, however, was excellent.
In addition to these issues with food, the restaurant is located across from a parking garage, so the fluorescent light from the garage was shining in our eyes the entire dinner. Not really their fault, but some window dressings could alleviate this issue.
As much as I love food and love eating out and wanted to love this place, it was just not happening for us with this experience.

Are you looking to shed some pounds and look great in your new bikini?
Are you «cutting» and want to be hella ripped for summer?
Then come to Left Bank and get their signature calorie burning dessert: food poisoning!
Woof.
*We had the brussels sprouts, gnocchi, and ragu. Be careful people. Other reviews on here about this, no idea how they have 4 stars.*

We thought it was great! Nice ambiance. The food was very nice. The service was excellent. Some of the other reviews aren’t fair. I had the chicken liver excellent and the branzino also very good.

I really wanted this place to be better. Service was nothing special– average at best. A bit slow to get our drinks– the drinks were not great so we stopped ordering them. The big issue is the salt in the food was over the top. I had the Bolognese and it was the least salty of the dishes. The pasta with goat was over the top in salt– we could not finish it. The duck was also salty but not as bad. The apps were okay but all three of us were not impressed at all. We skipped dessert. Not likely to return because of the food. You could tell the seasonings and flavor was very very good but overpowered.

After searching Unilocal and Zagat for the perfect place to take a date, I stumbled upon Left Bank and liked what I saw. Euro-​influenced new American, local farm ingredients, and «unpretentious style». The «About Us» section and a glance at the menu was all I needed to confirm my interest and make a reservation. We went on a Sunday and the restaurant was completely empty, which for the purposes of the date was actually fortuitous; we were able to sit and talk and feel like we rented the place out to ourselves.
Got the oysters (from a provider in Long Island) the iron roast split chicken, and tagliatelle… all were excellent. The staff was knowledgeable, the drink selection (bar cocktails and wine for dinner superb) and the atmosphere/​vibe confirmed my choice was well-​made. I’d like to go back and see what else has been added to the menu, which I noticed was economically decided — no filler, just great ingredients and preparation.

After dining here, my friends and I were all diagnosed with salmonella. We are not certain which dish was the culprit, because we all shared everything that we ordered.
We had the chicken liver pâté, the roasted chicken, branzino and a pasta dish. All good, but not nearly worth getting so incredibly sick.
The restaurant itself is very charming, but overall we all thought it was a little stifling and wished the AC had been turned up.

This is a consistently amazing place that my friends and I can reliably go to for an amazing meal. Tonight we had a delicious octopus over a polenta. Trout is always delicious, with right amount of skin and meat melting in my mouth, with a quinoa covered frissé. The steak was to die for.
More importantly the menu is always changing and always keeps us excited to come back.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this place!
The food, the service, the matching plaid (lol) everything is amazing!

Ok so I’m used to a wonderful welcome when I walk in a restaurant. (We got one at 11 Madison Park just moments back — but we had no reservation and you can’t be impromptu with Divinity…)
We headed on downtown and as we drove down I mindlessly (won’t happen again) booked it on Open Table … mainly because it was pouring and we would be able to run in off the street (after visiting the beautiful Trace Foundation a half block away) Note it was really pouring rain. I mean pouring.
So essentially we ran in from the storm at 4:30 –they open at 5pm. We came in like two stray cats seeking dry shelter (I had a box with a painting inside so I was very insistent on staying) and were almost turned away had I not insisted.
Finally after telling us «No» and then me insisting on him asking permission, we were told we were allowed to stay… So we sit at the high stools at the entrance. Ask if maybe we could get a drink?
No drinks available until 5pm…
So here we are waiting 30 minutes with money to burn and thirsty and totally ignored by the staff… Go figure.
There are two rooms and we were finally (after asking at 5:05 if maybe we could be seated) led into the second room where a loud old table fan placed on the floor was barely making a cool breeze in a hot sticky room without air conditioning. Why they sat us here and not in the cooler room? Go figure.
Bare stark tables — no bread offered. Ok the Nosh was good –because we were both starving (having not had time to eat all day) but two huge pieces of bread and one little nick of cheese do not balance out. Tasty as it was it was greasy with butter melted in the bread for who knows why.
There was a sense that this place really doesn’t give a hoot if you eat there or not. Or maybe they were annoyed because we asked to come in from the rain? Did I mention the flood alert?
My kale salad was too salty– way too salty and had mostly kale and pecorino y basta.
So it was meh. Mio ñoqui anche, swimming in oil and soggy onions. I relied on the sweet peas to save me.
If we were not starving I don’t think I would have eaten my dish.
My partners steak was ok he said and the fries were I think from frozen not fa to table for sure.
The staff was not unpleasant but really –to be honest — seemed blasé about us being there. It is a neighborhood corner restaurant with an attitude… Go figure…
Sorry not my taste. And we wasted like $ 170.00 on this joint.

It’s the year 2015 and A/​C units are readily available everywhere. But maybe Left bank hasn’t gotten the memo yet.
On this hot summer night my guest and I decided to give Left banks restaurant week menu a shot. We were pleasantly greeted upon arrival with and sat few minutes after. It was in the middle of the rush. Our sever was prompt in greeting us once sat and explained the menu since it was our first time :) Always happy to start the evening with a knowledgeable server. I got the Hurricane and she got the Sangria. Both beverages were delicious as the hurricane was fruity and refreshing making dinning in tropical climate more tolerable.
First course, the kale salad was very straight forward, and it was well seasoned. It is tomato season and left banks heirloom tomatoes were ripe, sweet, delicious and the sea salt and basil really brought out the flavor of the tomato and added the great herbal note to it.
The gnocchi… House made which always makes me happy to know the chef is very skilled. With a beautiful summer vegetable medley of summer squash and snap peas, I never knew gnocchi could be so light. The trout. The trout. THE TROUT! Lol it was hands down some of the best trout I’ve had. The chef’s craft really shines here. Trout is so well represented at left bank since they expertly cooked something so simple so well!
Through out our dinner experience Christine our server checked in on us and always made sure we were enjoying ourselves. Thank you so much! We loved it!
My entire dining experience was a pleasurable one during restaurant week and i will definitely come back.
The reason for the three stars instead of 5 is because the only uncomfortable part of the entire dinning experience was that it was so too hot. Which is something that can easily be addressed by management.

Very cozy restaurant in the west village. My fiancé and I came here because they have oysters and they were delicious! We also had the steak tar tar which we really enjoyed also for an appetizer.
For dinner I had the gnocchi and it was very flavorful and came out piping hot. My fiancé had the steak and he said it was good except he prefers other cuts (this one was hanger). The steak was also very flavorful.
Overall, a great experience and I would go back. If you want air conditioning don’t eat here though.

If I had more stars to give, I would!
Friday July 3, my lady and I visited this little gem in the heart of the West Village. Walking in we were greeted by the head chef and the host and seated immediately. Being a holiday weekend, it was slower then normal, getting a table was much easier than expected.
The interior is simplistic yet inviting with the windows adding a vision of the NYC street. The dining room is laid out in a way that utilizes the space fully without feeling cramped.
The food… OH THE FOOD!
I’ll speak about our appetizer later.
We decided to do a chefs tasting and shared different courses as chosen by the chef and also added in the Wine Pairing as well.
Our first course was Fresh Squid Calamari with Chickpeas done Two-​Ways. I’ve not had a fresh squid before and I’ll never go back to any other way. Tender, flavorful and perfectly seasoned, this was a great way to start along with our other appetizer (which I will cover) With a chili seasoning and the chickpeas made deftly by our chef, this readied our palettes for a rich journey.
Our second dish was Handmade Pasta with Pork Bolognese (this may have also had beef in the sauce, but I cannot seem to recollect that) A great dish, buttery and rich, full of flavor and creamy mouth. Honestly, we could have stopped here and felt satiated, but the Chef apparently took a liking to us and decided our next course was even bolder.
A Braised Chicken with what might be the best corn I’ve ever had and a Whole Fish (trout) I enjoyed the chicken immensely. Perfectly cooked and tender. My date enjoyed the corn so much she ate all of that herself. I personally devoured the fish, eating the whole thing. The crispy skin was seasoned so well I could have eaten that every day. What was even more impressive was, after such a rich pasta and appetizer, the fish brightened up our palettes perfectly.
Finally we reached our dessert; a fresh market Blueberry Cobbler with Gelato. Tart, not too sweet, flavorful and a great finish to such an incredible meal and experience.
There are two critiques I specifically have. One, the wine pairing was expensive (which is fine) but not really well thought out and felt a bit uninspired. The first wine was a chilled red, which wasn’t chilled but very very cold, which destroyed any real flavor. Also, the pairings were minuscule in their glass so one sip was all you actually received and not even a full sip. The white pairings were good but again nothing of note. Secondly, as a coffee professional, I’m always interested in the restaurants ability to make a decent cappuccino. Unfortunately, that was not good. I’m sure it can be fixed and I do hope that it is.
Finally, as promised, if you’ve read this far, I want to talk about the Chicken Liver Patté!
One, I’ve never had chicken liver, nor have I eaten patté either, so I was a bit nervous in this. But being the brave eater I am, I spread this on a slice of bread and was rewarded ten-​fold for it. This is literally, and I do mean literally, the best thing I’ve ever eaten. It’s creamy, rich texture is mouthwateringly good. It’s buttery flavor mixes so well with the iron and the proteins from the liver you would swear it’s like heaven on your palette. I’m not exaggerating here, go by and try it, and you will see.
Overall our experience was perfect. The ambience and the service were great, but the food… EXCEPTIONAL!

One of my better dining experiences in west village! Came here late one Saturday night for date night and was thrilled overall with my experience from the moment I walked in the door.
Coming in sans reservations, my wait was only 30 minutes (for bar seating, otherwise it would have been 1 hour plus), where I was able to look at the cocktail menu and have my drink ready & waiting for me by the time I was seated. My choice the «corpse reviver» was spot on delicious and the drink I was craving! My entrée, a fresh tagliatelle, was also delivered in a timely manner & was nothing short being as yummy as the other pictures featured on Unilocal.
Unmistakably a spot to return to!

I came here last night with a group of girls for our monthly book club. The area is always great for restaurants, but this one is definitely a gem! Left Bank was not as rowdy and crowded as other restaurants in the area, and even though I had a resi — they were very accommodating others walking in. Service was great and friendly.
Because we were in a group, we ordered a few dishes and got to try everything as we shared our plates. We all left with our flavor buds and stomachs (in quantity) feeling satisfied
Shaved brussels sprout salad — This was delicious. Light, crisp, and the perfect amount of dressing. I wish there was more in the plate!
Seared potato gnocchi — By far one of my favorites we tried. I was craving this and thinking of it the next day. The gnocchi was cooked to perfection, not to heavy, light, and fluffy as I like it. The flavors in the sauce were a great compliment to the cauliflower and pistachio.
Fresh tagliatelle — This was a pork and beef bolognese, which was pretty good. I think the other ladies in our group did like it better. I would have loved for it to be a bit saucy. It was mainly the meat and the pasta. Good flavors
Brook Trout — Definitely a must get. The flavors of this fish and the softness was delicious. The salsa verde on top added a fresh flavor to the fish and the lentils served with the trout was not the typical lentil you would expect. it was citrusy, not soupy, and a perfect compliment to the fish.
Parmesan fries — you can’t go wrong with fries!
For dessert we had the ricotta cheesecake which was pretty good. The dessert you must get at this place is the maple syrup pie. Its kind of similar to the crack pie at momofuko but 100 times better. Devoured fast!

Came in for a few drinks on a Saturday afternoon, and loved this place. The «Early Bird» special menu was amazing, especially for the West Village. $ 5 glasses of wine (the rose and white were great) and $ 6 glasses of prosecco. They had two beers for $ 5 each I believe, and a select cocktail menu were priced between $ 5-​$ 7.
The bar area wasn’t huge, but me and 3 friends were able to get a seat at the bar and relax for a bit. The place was empty (it was an hour or two before the dinner crowds would arrive), so it was nice not to be cramped or overcrowded at the bar. Lots of natural light, and didn’t feel pressured to move out early even though we were just drinking.

Late review but I came for dinner during 2014 Winter Restaurant Week and you know how I love my West Village spots.
We started off with a little Cotes du Rhone to get the meal started.
For appetizers my party had:
–steak tartare (cornichons, mustard, toast supp $ 5) not my favorite but it was good
–Mongolian dumplings (soy, lime & scallion) these were interesting and had a strong flavor to them
For my main I had:
–strozzapreti (kid goat sugo, caramelized onions & pine nut) this is not a tomato sauce by the way… It’s a very rich, meaty sauce made with the jus of the goat meat and it was delicious!
For desserts my table shared the lemon tart with fresh whipped cream and the hot chocolate brownie a la mode. Both were scrumptious!
Overall it was a great Restaurant Week meal especially for the price! The flavors were so rich and I was absolutely stuffed by the end.
I will definitely come back as it’s a great little restaurant. I loved the front entrance with its beautiful lights display. It’s deep within the WV maze but worth it.