Octavia’s Porch

First of all, it’s not closed!!!
Octavia’s porch is a homey, cozy spot in the Lower East Side that serves Modern Jewy cuisine and serves as a perfect destination for a catch up amongst friends. With former Top Chef contestant Nikki Cascone behind it, this gem has it’s on spin on Jewish classics, pulling New York out of its «Jewish — Deli» mentality and into your Yiddish mother’s kitchen.

It’s closed. :(

My girlfriend and i went to octavias Portch on mothers day. We had actually got delivery a few days before and we were each completely blown away by the food. Thus… we just had to actually eat at the restaurant.
It was one of the most pleasant and tasty meals that I have experienced in a while. The hostess was cool enough to let us store a few things in their coat room and was very accommodating. The waiter was cool and gave us good tips on drinks and was easy to talk to.
I got the temperance drink and it had Ginger, Bourbon, and delerium (sp?). Fantastic. The girl got 3&b and it had rum with house made cream soda. Also fantastic.
All of the food was good too. We split the sweet potato latke and the mushroom knish. Both were perfect. Girl was not hungry and stuck to the salad. I ordered the full market fish and it was excellent. It was my first time eating a full fish in a restaurant. I’m always afraid to order it but the waiter gave me tips on the best way to filet it. Highly recommended and will be going back again very soon.
(Sorry for poor spelling and writing as I’m still in food coma and writing on phone)

I came here for lunch because of the Scout Mob deal and treated myself to a feast. The matzo ball soup was fantastic, although not really what I’m used to. There were whole brussel sprouts in that baby!
The white bean dip was good, but reminded me a little too much of the white bean hummus at Trader Joe’s. I kept thinking I could just go 10 blocks north and get a whole tub of this for $ 3. Wouldn’t order it again.
The sweet potato latkes were a little disappointing. Too soft for my taste — I’m used to latkes that are super crispy and very oniony. Matzo ball soup they can take liberties with, but I prefer latkes to stay standard.
The cream soda was a definite highlight of the meal, and would be the reason for me to go back if I did. I’d love to try the other flavors.
So to sum up, the food alone is three stars, but I really liked the service and ambiance so I’m bumping it up to four.

Oh man, I’d like to bump this to a 5, but it wasn’t quiiiite there for me this time around. Hey, something to work toward!
Came here the other night with a friend for dinner, and we were quickly treated to a nice seat by the open window (it was gorgeous outside).
We started with the white bean and lemon schmear, which was subtle, almost sweet. We also got pickled vegetables (the two of us are pickle fiends), which were definitely a must-​try-​again. The pickles themselves could’ve had just a touch more kick to them, but I’d still gobble a jar of them in no time. The pickled mushroom and beets were out of this world as well. The carrots, eh.
I had the brisket on rye for my meal. It was solid – flavorful, tender, and accompanied with beets and hot mustard. My friend got the tagliatelle, and the bite or two I tried were divine. The goat cheese sauce is very much that, and mos def a reason to go back!
We finished with the banana challah bread pudding. It was just the right level of moist without being soggy. The bananas were perfectly caramelized with a nice crunch.
The service, although quite friendly, was just a bit off. The restaurant wasn’t busy, but our main courses came out much too quickly. We’d ordered two apps and wine and were also having a nice, long conversation. With our apps hardly half finished, our main courses came out. Eek. It made our small table uncomfortably crowded with food. Wish they’d gauged our pace a bit.
That gripe aside, I’m absolutely planning to go back!

I’m removing two stars from my original review for the service on a return visit.
Due to a variety of circumstances, no seder this year for my family, so I was looking for a place where I could at least tip my hat to the holiday, and Octavia’s Porch had a special Passover-​inspired menu with gefilte fish, matzoh ball soup, brisket, chicken, and some other favorites. The Passover menu was a prix-​fixe, and I believe it was $ 35 per person for three courses. Seemed like a good option.
Was in the company of my brother and a date, and we all sat at the bar waiting for a table. Passover is one of those meals that people tend to linger over, so there wasn’t a ton of movement. There was a fair amount of hooting and hollering from the back room, where I guess some of the patrons were feeling the Passover love and expressing themselves… loudly. All in good Passover fun, right?
Took awhile for the table to become available, but the host was really friendly, kept updating us about the progress of the tables that were finishing up, and finally we were seated.
Food was good, actually, and everything was pleasant until dessert. Our waitress had asked us what we’d like to order for dessert while we ate, since it was getting late and they’d be closing the kitchen fairly soon, and she’d want to have them ready for us when the time came. No rush on the mains, just for her information. She also informed us that there was only one portion left of the Matzoh S’mores selection, and since I can’t stand Halvah (one of the other selections) and Key Lime Cheesecake was completely unappealing to me. Knowing this, my date graciously let me choose the one S’mores left.
When dessert time came, another waiter came out and delivered three Halvas, and when I objected, he told us that’s what our order said, and the one S’mores left had been designated for another table.
I was pretty annoyed. They handled the whole thing pretty clumsily. I was pretty insistent that I’d never have ordered Halvah because I can’t stand it, and the one S’mores had to be ours because we’d ordered it twenty minutes earlier. He seemed fairly intransigent about the whole thing, left the halvah, and disappeared into the kitchen, apparently to discuss the situation with our original waitress.
In the meantime, we’d had two friends join us at the table just before the desserts were delivered who witnessed the interchange. When the waiter left to discuss things with our waitress, one of our guests took it upon herself (I’m not sure why, to be honest, I was actually fairly surprised) to dig into my unwanted Halvah and start eating it.
One minute later, our waitress shows up, believe it or not, with the S’mores, and is about to set it down when she sees that our guest is digging into the Halvah, and says, «Oh well, you can’t have both,» and starts to walk away. My brother calls after her saying we’ll pay extra for it, I’m annoyed with our guest for digging into the unwanted dessert without even asking, and the entire experience was tainted by the unaccommodating service.
The waitress left and came back bearing the S’mores again, but by that time I didn’t even want it.
Waitstaff need to be super careful about how they handle these sorts of situations, because all it takes is one crappy interchange to make you think about never going back. Don’t act like you made the dessert and the customer is the enemy trying to get over on you. It’s not cool.

I will go back for the sweet potato latkes, crème fraîche and applesauce anytime.
Very subtle, laid back ambiance, quiet and the perfect dinner spot when I am trying to keep kosher for Passover. The menu items reminded me of home, gefilte fish, matzoh ball soup…
The chopped salad was fresh and delicious, with goat cheese, radishes, cukes, mangos, and a light vinaigrette. Unfortunately, the lamb stew was under-​seasoned and came to the table pipping hot… without forewarning, my tongue was singed.
Also, the service was a little sloppy… our waitress came by a couple of times, but the busboy was hovering… but it’s not the type of place where they rank themselves high on service, you’re going there for the authentic Jewish cuisine. Call a spade a spade.

Like so many others, I came here with a friend because of the scoutmob coupon. I was really excited since many of the reviews claimed incredible food, but we were a little disappointed.
We booked a reservation on opentable for 3:30. They didn’t have anything later, but it turned out they had a few tables available. The décor is very cute with lots of wood and a fun bar. The place was lively and the staff very helpful.
We ordered the sweet potato latkas which were actually rather tasty. They were large enough to share with 4 people, but we were only two — so we were prepared to be very full.
I had to try the matzoh ball soup, since everyone was talking about it. It was a little pricey at $ 7. The soup was tasty with chicken and interesting veggies like Brussels sprouts, yellow squash and who knows what else. The broth was flavorful and the matzoh ball large and fluffy. It was a very tasty soup and a meal in itself. I can’t imagine anyone finishing the large since my friend and I could barely finish half of the small. I guess if you have this as your meal, $ 7 isn’t so bad. But I sure as hell don’t plan on coming back for this expensive soup, it wasn’t THAT good. I’d pay $ 5.
We decided to share two sandwiches to get a real feel for this place. We ordered the brisket (of course) which is now served warm since they received feedback from customers complaining that it was cold. Its great to see a place take feedback and make adjustments to their menu. We also opted for the turkey salad sandwich. Both came out and were well presented.
The turkey salad was by far the better of the two, sadly. It was really fresh and tasty. The bread was perfectly toasted and the turkey salad cool and creamy. It was really a tasty meal with a perfect little side salad with a nice light dressing.
The brisket was really underwhelming. Even though it was served warm, it wasn’t succulent. I want my brisket to melt in my mouth, this did not. It was actually rather tough, I had to use a fork and knife to cut through and eat the damn thing. It was tasty with some of their homemade honey mustard, but I would not come here for this sandwich. If you want a kick ass sandwich, you walk over a few blocks and go to Katz’s Deli for their pastrami on rye. Now THAT is a melt in your mouth amazing sandwich.
Sorry Octavia’s Porch, but you didn’t win us over. You were okay, but nothing to really write home about. Perhaps if you expanded the menu a bit or focused on making your «big sellers» top notch, then there is hope for you.

I had dinner here yesterday with my boyfriend and a couple of friends, and we all loved it!
Two of my friends had duck and they both loved it, my boyfriend had steak and I had matzah ball soup and a side of sweet potatoes and everything was extraordinary. I wanna give 5 stars to the spicy apples that came with every dish, so delicious!
The cocktails were awesome (specially an spicy manhattan with pickles) and the home made ginger soda was very good too.
It is a little bit expensive but totally worth it for a special night.
Oh! 5 stars for the service too. One of my friends had a $ 25 discount on her phone and they applied it even though her phone ran out of battery and we couldnt show it.
The only reasons why i am not giving them 5 stars are:
— The music. Not awful but just not appropriate.
— The menu is a little short, specially in vegetarian options.

Any restaurant that can make a matzoh ball soup as good as Octavia’s automatically deserves 4 stars.
That said, everything else was just ok. The place was cute but the service lacked. I saw on the board out front that they were hosting a cooking class in March… when I asked our server about it, he says, «I don’t really know… gotta check the website.» One thing that drives me nuts is when companies/​restaurants have staff that don’t know what’s happening.
Other than that, the food was just ok. I don’t think I’m a huge fan of Jewish cuisine.

Great affordable food and fun staff make for an enjoyable evening.
After spending the better part of a day at Poco’s unlimited drink brunch, we came over to Octavia’s Porch for a 6pm dinner before the Robyn concert later that night at Radio City Music Hall. Luckily my friends are all foodies and we were able to order a lot of stuff and just share, which really is my favorite way to eat. We started off with three schmears — the eggplant caponata, cucumber-​dill-​salmon, and white bean. All were good, though the white bean was my favorite. I’m not a big fan of cucumber, and the eggplant caponata was a bit sweet for me. The breads served with it were great though.
We also wanted matzah ball soup as an appetizer, but we were told the chef was still making it in the back. No big deal, we’ll have it whenever it’s ready. How can you pass up homemade matzah ball soup?
Meanwhile, the fresh baked challah came out and it was delicious. Being Jewish myself I have tried many times to make challah and have miserably failed. This was so light and airy, just like a good challah should be. Other reviews have said the challah is a bit sweet. Perhaps it was, but that’s how it should be!
Along with dinner we ordered a $ 35 bottle of Malbec, one of my favorite varietals. There seemed to be a good selection of wine and other alcohol drinks, but my eyes went straight to the Malbec. They had a martini on the menu with homemade brine and pickles, which sounded amazing to me although my dining companions said they would never drink that. For dinner we shared the brisket on rye, quinoa salad, and the buckwheat tagliatelle. The brisket was great, perhaps even better than the brisket I make. As far as I remember the brisket was served warm on the rye toast, but either way I enjoyed it. It came with some sort of mustard on the side which I slathered all over the sandwich even though I’m not a big fan of mustard. The pasta dish had a lot of goat cheese in it, which I certainly don’t mind, but perhaps could be a bit overpowering for some. The quinoa salad was the surprise of the night though. I knew the brisket and pasta would be great, but the quinoa was just so flavorful I couldn’t believe it. And for only $ 10 it’s a great deal.
Sidenote: When we arrived we had asked if Nikki was in the back and if she could come out to meet us if she had time. After our entrees came out Nikki came to our table and we had a great 5 minute conversation talking about the food and Top Chef. After being fans of hers for so long it was nice to be able to meet her!
2^nd Sidenote: After coming back home and reading all of the previous Unilocal reviews I have to say I didn’t notice some of the issues that were mentioned, e.g. cold brisket, not enough bread with the schmears, so I’d guess they are listening to feedback and making some tweaks here and there to make the overall experience better.
Back to the food: for dessert, we had the matzah ball soup that was finally ready. We weren’t going to leave without having it even though we were all nearly full! Our waitress Maya kept apologizing that the soup was taking so long to finish up but we honestly didn’t have a problem with it and were happy to be updated throughout the night. The matzah ball soup was heavenly, again better than the one I make at home. The matzah balls were light and fluffy, the broth was seasoned perfectly, and the vegetables added a nice texture to the soup.
After that we were unfortunately too full for real dessert but I will definitely be back to try some. I also still need to have the LES martini with pickles! This place really took me back to my childhood but at the same time elevated all of the flavors to a higher level.

An affordable option in the neighborhood. The positive: Kreplach, Schmears, Mushroom Knish, Brisket Sandwich, Hot Dog. The not-​as-​positive: The steak (cold), the challah (strangely sweet), the salmon (non-​descript).
Word to the wise: It is EXTREMELY warm in the back, so dress appropriately.

If there was a place to stay cozy,
Octavia lends her porch forth warmly.
With fanciful sweet potato latkes
And a garden-​filled matzo ball soup.
You’ll not forget those poppy seeded braids
Of the toasty Challah loaf, on the table where it laid. @_^

I read reviews and was told that it was very much like your grandmas house. I was looking forward to that. I walked down the block and had no idea where this restaurant could be. I arrived and saw my friend waiting in the window. She was the only person in the restaurant at 6:30 on a Wednesday. We were waiting for another friend and the waitress came over to us not once, not twice, but three times to see if we wanted to order drinks while we were waiting. I made it quite clear, we were waiting for our friend. Once she arrived, the waitress immediately jumped on us to order drinks, again.
We ordered drinks. We ordered matzoh ball soups. We ordered some other things. I had the quinoa salad that I really enjoyed. Very flavorful. I then had the matzoh ball soup. I was a big frustrated that it didn’t say it had chicken in it but I was really calm about it and just pushed the pieces to the side. Maybe I was just too overwhelmed by the BRUSSEL SPROUTS in the soup. AMAZING. Life changing. I was freaking out.
We then shared a whole wheat pasta dish which was a bit too mushy for me. I wasn’t such a fan.
I liked the food especially the soup. Reasonably priced. Nice looking room (very not grandma-​ish, I’m not sure where that came from) but the waitress really bugged me.

The good:
— Friendly, personable staff. We were seated at the bar and the bartender gave us his full attention.
— Good coffee.
— Nice side salad.
— Good ambiance… Very warm and inviting.
The bad:
— The food was below average. I had the challah egg sandwich. The challah tasted a bit like cardboard and the dish in general lacked flavor. I had to request ketchup on the side to make up for the blandness of the dish. A little salt and pepper would have gone a long way. The duck hash was better, but my roommate found a few bones.
Bottom line: This place needs work. I was really looking forward to eating here but I think they need work before it becomes somewhere I would come again.

I was taken here as a surprise by my mom after I finished work last night. She wouldn’t tell me where we were going, and the trip from midtown to Avenue B and 4^th seemed to take forever, but when we finally got there, the reveal was fantastic. (My name is Octavia.)
We ate early, 6 pm — she had made reservations which turned out to be completely unncessary, probably due to the early hour and the relative newness of the place.
The staff was warm and friendly and I found the décor within charming and cozy, gold colors and dark wood and iron.
We were promptly served warm challah bread with honey butter which were utterly divine. We declined drinks, although they had some tasty-​looking drink specials. We decided to start with a trio of the 4 «shmears» available. We went for the salmon, white bean and eggplant. All were tasty, although the salmon would’ve perhaps benefitted from a bit more seasoning. The white bean was quite reminiscent of a good, lemon-​y hummus, and we ended up eating the eggplant caponata straight out of the cup like a salad, for it was a bit chunky to serve as a «spread» — but it tasted absolutely delicious. The helpings of the «shmears» are generous and we found ourselves filling up quickly.
For our meals, I had the duck breast with sweet potato latkes and warm vanilla-​apple sauce; Mom had the brisket sandwich. The servings were generous and my duck was perfectly cookied. The vanilla-​apple sauce was more of a compote, slightly spicy and complimented the duck well. The latke was a little softer than I’d have liked but the flavor was perfect.
The red cabbage served with Mom’s sandwich was obviously homemade and scrumptious. Her sandwich was pretty good, flavor-​wise, but be warned, the brisket in the sandwich is served cold, and we both thought it might’ve been a little better if it had been served warm. That was the major flaw of the evening and the reason I’m giving it 4 instead of 5 stars.
For dessert, we shared the PB&J sinkers, a perfect serving to share with coffee (2 donuts per order, so we each had one.) These were divine and highly recommended. When I return, I’ll have trouble not ordering these again, even though the other desserts also sound really delicious.
I didn’t try the homemade sodas, as there was no actual space on the wine list OR the menu listing these, just a little box on the menu saying, «Our sodas are all homemade».
All in all, this was a very satisfying meal and I’ll definitely return and recommend to friends. The novelty of the upscale-​Jewish cuisine and the flavors balance out the slightly-​off-​the-​beaten-​path location.

After 24 Prince closed, I was very upset… but then got excited to learn that Nikki was opening another restaurant in the EV. I was happy to see the matzoh ball soup made its way over from Prince St. One of my favorite entrees was the salmon that was originally accompanied by cucumber, cherry tomatoes and avocado in a balsamic glaze; the salmon here comes with julienned cucumber and red onion with a cauliflower purée.
I started with the sweet potato latke which was accompanied by apples spiced with pepper and sour cream.
The food was very good but the portions are smaller than what we were used to at 24 Prince.

Cute, cozy spot that needs some work.
I wanted to like it more than I did, but there was a lot to be happy about. The homey décor was welcoming on a frigid winter night, and the hostess and bar staff were friendly while my friend and I waited for our third.
After we were seated, service got a little spotty, and the restaurant too cold (as in temp). The warm challah to start was lovely, but then our soup appetizers took forever. Our server never acknowledged this, but the host did and brought us more bread (an even comped the soups on the bill). When the soups finally arrived, they hit the spot. I got the lentil, pureed and vegetarian but hardy. The challah croûton floating on top was not as tasty as the fresh loaf. The (non-​vegetarian) matzoh ball soup my friends ordered fit the bill; though both were disappointed with the shredded chicken in the bowl, finding it an afterthought.
Portions are large — I split the veg club (served with a side of overdressed greens) with my friend, and it was more than filling. The roasted veggies were tender and flavorful, and it was nice that the kitchen split it for us. Our third got the cold brisket sandwich with a side of cabbage and apples, which she enjoyed.
Overall, everything was a good value, but something about the vibe is off. The bar and décor make it feel like a more upscale restaurant, but then the food takes it down a notch. Prices are okay for what it is, but I’d recommend this place more for lunch or for just a cocktail up front rather than a nice dinner.

Lucky me, getting accompanied to Octavia’s Porch by three Jewish friends who expertly grabbed the menu and ordered almost everything on the left (appetizer) side that they said they’ve only ever eaten at home. I even tried gefiltefish. The sweet potato latkes were delicious, I also liked the kreplach and the knish. The matzoh ball soup was interesting good – it looked like a bowl of ramen (ever have matzoh ball soup with veggies in it?) and the matzoh ball was soft and tasty. Also enjoyed the sinkers for dessert.
Try the LES Martini – a standout take on a dirty martini with homemade pickles & pickle brine in place of olives & olive brine.

Three stars, in my book, is a solid rating for opening night jitters. Octavia’s porch has the potential to be a fabulous take on homey Jewish classics, and pull New York out of its «Jewish = Deli» mentality. But that potential, so far, is not quite realized.
A trio of us ate at the Porch on opening night last week. Some claim the name is offensive, to which I say: get over it. While it unquestionably drums up imagery of Italian oppression, it’s also a way to look at the historical blending of cuisines that the Porch attempts to create.
But at first glance, this blending isn’t present. With Pasta-​Making-​Nikki of Top Chef fame at the helm, we anticipated a true merger of Jewish and Italian food. (Ignoring the old joke, of course, that the only difference between Jews and Italians is the accent). The menu was heavy on Jew and missing Italian entirely. One measely pasta dish, an apparent throw-​away, was the only thing that suggested we were dining at Octavia’s Porch in Rome, and not the Wailing Wall.
That being said, I’m all for some Jewy goodness, so bring on the food.
1) We split the appetizer of three shmeers: olive tapenade (we were told it had fennel. If it did, I couldn’t taste it); salmon-​cucumber-​dill; and white bean-​lemon-​chive. They were fantastic. Surprisingly, the white bean wasn’t palatte coating. The citrus added a much needed balance for what could’ve been a disaster, and instead turned it to a dip worthy of licking the bowl (one in our party did). The bread was sparse, and while we got more, there was a distinct hovering of service waiting to take our only half-​eaten shmeers away. But no. Leave these shmeers to us. We will handle them.
2) The Porch suffers from soggy-​skin syndrome in at least two dishes that demand nothing but crispy, blistery goodness. The duck, flavored exceptionally, covered in liquid fat, fell a bit short when there was no crunch. The same goes for the hunka-​hunka chicken. While always hesistant to order «the Chicken» at a restaurant, a member of my group couldn’t resist the challah and date stuffing (which was quite good). The chicken is about half a chicken, so go hungry. And again, while spiced beautifully, the skin is depressing.
3) The brisket is served cold. Acceptable, but it was exceptionally freezing outside, and we had dreams of a warm brisket to remember home.
I was beyond disappointed to learn there would be no halvah that night, so we opted instead for the Banana Challah Bread Pudding. Not overly sweet, and a great way to end the meal, but hardly exhilerating. Beyond a Jewish theme, there was no reason to use Challah — none of the characteristic texture and flavor came through or survived the custard/​banana.
For the price, I’ll certainly return to Octavia’s Porch. If they stepped up just a few tiny elements, little attentions to details (so that expected textures don’t disappoint) and balance (so that flavors promised on the menu disappear in execution), I’ll even recommend it ;)
–M.