Metisse
We had been trying to plan a roommate dinner for quite some time, and it's amazing how difficult it is with 3 different schedules. It took a visit from LittlePinkBook to get us all together. LittlePinkBook is spending the month of October with us and it's been really fun having her around. In an (unnecessary) act of gratitude for her room and board she wanted to treat us to a fun dinner.
We decided we'd eat somewhere in our neighborhood, and when I got out of work at 8 the girls had decided. We were headed to the French restaurant Metisse.
I had walked by Metisse countless times when Swimster used to have classes at Columbia. It's right off of Broadway and the red awning always captured my eye.
The restaurant was dimly lit and went well with the dark wooden walls, creating a very warm comfortable feel, a space I would go back to for a romantic dinner.
The host was friendly but he sat us in the corner, which didn't go over too well. "Nobody puts Baby in the corner." We weren't thrilled but opted not to make a fuss...
We were impressed and a bit surprised when given the choice of either tap or bottled water, always the sign of a quality restaurant. Perhaps bottled water is par for the course these days.
Menu memorables: Metisse has a prix fixe menu, which the girls all decided on. I had eaten a ton all day and felt a little bloated (thanks to apple spice donuts) and couldn't go with a 3-course meal. The prix fixe menu had a soup/salad option, salmon/pork/or chicken for your entree, and a chocolate cake/cheesecake dessert option. I chose the steak frites a la carte. The steak cut was very generous and cooked just to a perfect medium rare. The fries were thick and crispy and reminded me of the Belgian frites my family used to eat in Brugges. The steak would have been unexciting had it not been for the bearnaise sauce they gave you in a ramekin. A fork of steak dipped in that was excellent. FoxyLady chose the summer pumpkin puree for her app and LittlePinkBook and JaneAusten chose the salad metisse: a bright mixture of arugula, heart of palms (JaneAusten's favorite), roasted peppers, carrots, and cherry tomatoes in a citrus vinaigrette. As soon as I tasted the salad I regretted not getting one. The dressing had a slight bitter kick to it but was smoothly tossed throughout the salad. Both girls licked their plates. FoxyLady was a little bit disappointed with the lack of punch in the pumpkin soup. It was on the watery side, not nearly as thick as pumpkin soups ought to be. Perhaps they should have stuck with what the French bistro knows best- a french onion soup. For the main course the girls all went with the cotelette de porc : sautéed medallions of pork loin, potato puree cranberry & red current chutney in a port wine veal reduction. I stole a piece of FoxyLady's and she made sure to put everything on the fork. The potatoes were smooth, the pork was soft and tender, and the chutney sweetened it up. A very good dish.
None of us really had room for dessert but they came with the prix fixe dinners. Since there were only two options we had to try both. We got two raspberry cheesecakes and one chocolate tort. The cheesecake was plain with a raspberry sauce and a very light graham crust, almost undetectable. The chocolate tort was sweet and thick and rich, could have almost passed for a fudgebar. Mmmmm!
Our server was very friendly and even offered me dessert/coffee, despite the fact I hadn't ordered from the prix fixe menu. The only complaint was our dinner plates sat in front of us for well over 10 minutes, which is extremely undesirable. Sitting at a table and staring at your dinner remains is sort of a buzzkill. Then once they cleared the plates it took forever to get the bill. On my way to the bathroom I had to ask a busboy for the bill...strange because they had been so attentive to us until that point. We were definitely enjoying ourselves but it was a school night and we were all a little exhausted.
If you live in the UWS and are looking for a new place to go, and have had more dinners at Le Monde and Henry's than you'd care to think about, give Metisse a try. Its intimate dining room, friendly staff, and solid dishes make for a memorable evening.
239 W 105th St, b/t Bway & Amsterdam Ave
212-666-8825
We decided we'd eat somewhere in our neighborhood, and when I got out of work at 8 the girls had decided. We were headed to the French restaurant Metisse.
I had walked by Metisse countless times when Swimster used to have classes at Columbia. It's right off of Broadway and the red awning always captured my eye.
The restaurant was dimly lit and went well with the dark wooden walls, creating a very warm comfortable feel, a space I would go back to for a romantic dinner.
The host was friendly but he sat us in the corner, which didn't go over too well. "Nobody puts Baby in the corner." We weren't thrilled but opted not to make a fuss...
We were impressed and a bit surprised when given the choice of either tap or bottled water, always the sign of a quality restaurant. Perhaps bottled water is par for the course these days.
Menu memorables: Metisse has a prix fixe menu, which the girls all decided on. I had eaten a ton all day and felt a little bloated (thanks to apple spice donuts) and couldn't go with a 3-course meal. The prix fixe menu had a soup/salad option, salmon/pork/or chicken for your entree, and a chocolate cake/cheesecake dessert option. I chose the steak frites a la carte. The steak cut was very generous and cooked just to a perfect medium rare. The fries were thick and crispy and reminded me of the Belgian frites my family used to eat in Brugges. The steak would have been unexciting had it not been for the bearnaise sauce they gave you in a ramekin. A fork of steak dipped in that was excellent. FoxyLady chose the summer pumpkin puree for her app and LittlePinkBook and JaneAusten chose the salad metisse: a bright mixture of arugula, heart of palms (JaneAusten's favorite), roasted peppers, carrots, and cherry tomatoes in a citrus vinaigrette. As soon as I tasted the salad I regretted not getting one. The dressing had a slight bitter kick to it but was smoothly tossed throughout the salad. Both girls licked their plates. FoxyLady was a little bit disappointed with the lack of punch in the pumpkin soup. It was on the watery side, not nearly as thick as pumpkin soups ought to be. Perhaps they should have stuck with what the French bistro knows best- a french onion soup. For the main course the girls all went with the cotelette de porc : sautéed medallions of pork loin, potato puree cranberry & red current chutney in a port wine veal reduction. I stole a piece of FoxyLady's and she made sure to put everything on the fork. The potatoes were smooth, the pork was soft and tender, and the chutney sweetened it up. A very good dish.
None of us really had room for dessert but they came with the prix fixe dinners. Since there were only two options we had to try both. We got two raspberry cheesecakes and one chocolate tort. The cheesecake was plain with a raspberry sauce and a very light graham crust, almost undetectable. The chocolate tort was sweet and thick and rich, could have almost passed for a fudgebar. Mmmmm!
Our server was very friendly and even offered me dessert/coffee, despite the fact I hadn't ordered from the prix fixe menu. The only complaint was our dinner plates sat in front of us for well over 10 minutes, which is extremely undesirable. Sitting at a table and staring at your dinner remains is sort of a buzzkill. Then once they cleared the plates it took forever to get the bill. On my way to the bathroom I had to ask a busboy for the bill...strange because they had been so attentive to us until that point. We were definitely enjoying ourselves but it was a school night and we were all a little exhausted.
If you live in the UWS and are looking for a new place to go, and have had more dinners at Le Monde and Henry's than you'd care to think about, give Metisse a try. Its intimate dining room, friendly staff, and solid dishes make for a memorable evening.
239 W 105th St, b/t Bway & Amsterdam Ave
212-666-8825
posted by Mona at 12:04 PM
14 Comments:
Last night I went by myself to dinner and got there way early, at 5:30, so I figured they would be dead. Nope - they were kind of busy.
I guess the single woman doesn't get to sit anywhere near a prime location though - I got dragged past 6 empty tables waaaaaay to the back of the restaurant...like you I chose not to make a fuss because it was cozy back there and I had my book, but it told me something about the restaurant and their priorities.
Hearts of palm - my favourite too. I make such a fuss about the table my husband accuses me of being like a cat walking around the restaurant until I find the table I want.
Metisse sounds great. I'm definitely going to check it out. It's not that far from where I work.
sounds like a dinner well eaten!! i could do with some chocolate... anything but that tort would probably hit the spot :)
Hi Mona - nothing is better than a dinner with good friends. Even better when the meal is good. Have you been to www.shewhoeats.com? I would like to shoot some of what I cook and I absolutely love her camera work. Hard to believe she's shooting with a CoolPix?
*Sue, thanks for stopping by. I love hearing from new foodies and look forward to reading your blog. I can't believe they dragged you to the back. That's terrible?!
*Barbara, that's hilarious. A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do sometimes right? I understand the whole balancing out sections for servers and everything but not a fan when it's glaringly obvious you're getting a crappy table...
*Sarah, you definitely should. My Dad was reading and said you recommend it but the service was bad? The service wasn't THAT bad, just a little slow at the end, so don't go if you need to eat in a rush :)
*Catesa, thanks for your comments as always! Hope you satisfied that choco craving!
*Janice, no I haven't been to shewhoeats. I'll have to check out her and her pix and get back to you. Yah, I'm still having a problem with the photo situation and whipping it out at restaurants. Kinda ruins the feel for me sometimes..
Sounds quite pleasant. I think every neighborhood should have a french bistro like this.
If you ever get the chance, La Petite Auberge, which has been around since 1970 or so, is a great addition to the southern Murray Hill area.
The intimate atmosphere you described sounds similar...though LPA might be a bit more farmhouse-style.
I can't attest for their steak frites, but I will say that the Steak Onglet (basically the same thing) at Park Bistro (Park Ave and 28th) is also quite excellent. Yum. Great review.
hey mona!
Thanks for leaving a comment at my site. How funny is that when I visit your blog, I immediately read about your dinner at Metisse, where I just had dinner last week! I'm a sucker for Japanese and French cusine. And NY is of course, full of both!
I'm enjoying reading your blog. Great writing style. Keep up the good work!
Sounds like a great restaurant. I have some friends in NY so I come there once in a while. I don't eat beef a lot, but I love steak with bernaise sauce.
I am jealous that I never got invited to the girls night out dinner. That's why I had to move so far away. Sounds like you had a nice time anyway. Looking forward for more to read.
Edit Man
It's always nice to dine with friends, even if the service is slow sometimes. I'll have to put that restaurant on my list.
Paz
Hey Mona, I have a question regarding formatting...specifically how to "to keep reading". I'd like to put that in my blog.
My email is michaelmahle@gmail.com
Thanks.
MM aka BADGE
*Badge, Thanks for the tip. I will definitely write that down in my "to go list." Anything with an intimate atmosphere sounds great to me!
*AllthisNoise, hey! Thanks for visiting my site in return. That's really funny you just ate at Metisse recently. Good to hear and that you enjoyed it too! Thanks for your kind words regarding my blog and hope you'll come back and find new places to try!
*Avery, ha, love it. Sorry we never asked you out to dinner. But alas, that would ruin the 'girls' night out concept' now wouldn't it? Hope Houston is treating you well. Funny how some of our FNC chronies are startin' blogs now, eh?
*Paz, yes, definitely add this one to your list. Either on a date or with friends. Very cozy and perfect for fun conversation over wine and food.
*Badge, I will definitely get back to you. I'm off today and tomorrow and have limited access to email but will certainly help you with this as I just figured it out myself :)
Cheers all!
*Kalyn, sorry forgot about you. There were plenty of non-steaky options at Metisse so definitely hit it up next time you're in town :)
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