This review is for the main dining room. My friend is a member of this club and she invited me to have dinner with her at the main dining room.
Two of us shared 3 appetizers, each of us had a main (so 2 main dishes), total of 3 glasses of champagne, and 2 desserts, total ~$390. Almost $200 per person.
Champagne, I did splurge and got the most expensive glass they had ($55). It's a blended champagne with different years of champagne and the staff member explained all the back stories about the champagne offered during the evening and this one intrigued me. If you do come in early, you will see a staff member doing a sabrage. I have been cutting alcohol consumption but I got persuaded to give this a try! It is a very very delicious champagne.
Now into the food.
Hamachi crudo - it is a very delightful and well-executed starter. The thickness of the hamachi is just right and the caviar and apples are definitely the perfect compliments highlight the flavor of hamachi and balance the richness in hamachi.
Steak tartare - it has a lighter fare to it. The meat was cut into a micro dices/cube rather than finely minced in a traditional way. The crostini is super thin as well. I personally prefer a more rich and decadent steak tartare but I also think this lighter version will have their supporters too. (Honestly, I think if you are in GLP-1 and need to increase your protein intake but not having a large appetite, this would be the perfect dish to have. lol!)
Octopus - I highly recommend this appetizer, especially during the June Gloom time when you want a warm, hearty, and flavorful starter. Not only the octopus was grilled to perfection, it has this delicious roasted potatoes, chorizo mash(?) , and one of the best chimichurri I've ever had. I can see myself coming back here just to get this dish.
My friend got the black cod - she had it over the weekend and enjoyed it so much that she had to have it again.
Risotto - this is the one that I just think it's just OK. I love the idea - using the spicy flavorful cioppino as a stock to cook the risotto. But I'm quite disappointed by the amount of seafood served in this $40 risotto. The portion, honestly, feels like a primo rather than the main course. If you have a small appetite, yea, you can get around with it as your main. But this is the same price as the black cod - I expect to get more rice and get way more seafood since mussels, clams, and shrimps that were placed on the risotto are on the tiny side... so I honestly don't think it's worth the price. It is delicious - don't get me wrong. But I just won't pay $40 next time again for it.
Dessert, my friend got a scope of ice-cream. I was recommended to have the strawberry cheesecake and it was definitely a very solid dessert. At first I thought it's just a slice of cheesecake topped with strawberry. But the staff explained the dessert to me and I gave this a try. It is a deconstructed strawberry cheesecake but I do think the pastry chef did a great job celebrating strawberry cheesecake! The cheesecake was formed into a chocolate bon bon with a shape like a strawberry. It's served with this roasted strawberries sauce and the graham cracker crumbs tie everything together. I am a little bit surprised to see this type of dessert as I wouldn't think they would hire a pastry chef... they might just keep it simple with ice-cream and sorbet, or source really well-made dessert elsewhere. But it seems like they do have a pastry chef in-house. So definitely save room to give the dessert offering a try as well!
Was the service great? Yes. Was the food good? Yes. But I just don't think it's enough to justify paying $2K of initiation fee + $3K of annual membership fee in order to have the delicious food here at the main dining room. There are other places in the city that offer attentive services with delicious food out there for the similar price range. I'm rounding up the rating to four because I see the staff here doing their best to make this dining room to provide this low-key luxurious dining experience for their members.
However, if you do need an access to a venue to host parties/gatherings within your social group, or to be part of a social club to build your professional and personal network, I can see the value to joining this club. But I just won't pay $5K just to come here for food/drink unless I see a bigger discount at the restaurant. For now, I think the price is fairly comparable to other expensive steakhouse/high-end restaurant in the city that doesn't have a Michelin star.
At this point, I just hope my friend who is a member will continue taking me out there for dinner in the future ;) read more