4.5 stars. We had a great time at Bufón. Understated yet memorable cocktails and food, impressive wine list, bookended with great service. One of those restaurants that feels like it's a New York institution despite being relatively new. Initially I wasn't sure if Bufón was my type of place because I tend not to like French food or a white tablecloth vibe. But the tablecloths don't give tired and pretentious and the food menu is more eclectic European and steakhouse-esque than French. The moral of the story is that, in an attempt to capture a restaurant's essence, initial press might only capture one dimension of a more nuanced picture. Cozy and classy, Bufón gives classic with a Lower East Side twist.
We came here at 8:30pm on a Saturday night. We were running late so I messaged the restaurant through OpenTable and thankfully the host was super responsive and reassuring. Once we arrived, we were nicely given the options of a table in the back of the space and one towards the front and we opted for the latter (I know that sounds like we opted for an unlisted option since the latter is also directional but what I mean is the front).
These days I pretty much always start my nights out with a martini, and here I went with The Dirty Bufón (vodka, quinquina, brine) which, despite being vodka based (not really into vodka), was excellent. Somehow both dirty and clean, which makes sense to me so hopefully it makes sense to someone else out there. I then went with the Galero (dry vermouth, gin, aperitivo) which is a lighter take on a Negroni, since I wanted to pace myself for the rest of the night. More vermouth forward, really nice and light. I also tried one of my partner's wines, which was excellent -- the Joan Rubio 'joanots' which is a delicious skin contact white wine from Spain.
Food-wise, we ended up ordering a bunch of appetizers and one main to try more of the menu. A bunch of the appetizers also got rave reviews across all platforms so that influenced us as well. What we ordered was equally approachable and sophisticated. Some dishes more exciting than others, but all were solid and worth ordering. Eats, below:
Littleneck Clams w/ jeow sauce: A
The ideal plate to start with, super light, fresh, and delicious.
Tuna Carpaccio w/ red miso aioli, daikon, citrus kosho: A
Presentation left some to be desired but maybe that's the point?! More incredible fresh seafood here, this time tuna, draped delicately over the rest of the delicious elements of the dish hiding underneath, ready to make magic.
Little Gem Salad w/ tangelo, rhubarb, toasted sesame, walnut: A-
Like a grownup version of a Chinese chicken salad, with more refined elements but the same familiar flavors.
Sunchokes w/ charred lemon vinaigrette, sunflower seeds, herbs: A+
I never pass up the opportunity to get sunchokes when I see them on a menu. Definitely one of the stars of the night and I probably could've had a second order of them.
Duck w/ grilled dates, pickled cipollini onions, tardivo, duck tare: A+
Duck with dates? What could be bad!? Cooked to perfection, lots of wintry/cold weather elements that always pair beautifully with duck. No notes.
The service stood out at Bufón as well. The frequency at which we were checked in on and the pace at which we received our food was perfect. We've had a few meals recently where we also went with a lot of small plates and they were not spaced out at all, which was difficult because of limited table space and emotional bandwidth for such things. Not the case at Bufón, where everything was perfectly choreographed. read more