In about 5 minutes, they come and say "your table is ready". They tell us to sit at the banquet by the bar and have a drink and they'd see what they could do. I explain that I called earlier, etc, and grovel a little. We say "No", and move forward to the host/hostess stand. So, we get there, and when we walk in, some woman in a suit, but who doesn't look like she works for the restaurant, inquires "Are you with (inaudible)?". Well, I sort of fibbed to my dining partner and got him to go with me there at around 8PM (I didn't lie, I just didn't tell him that I had already called and they told me.). Shortly after the Biltmore Room openned, I called for a same day reservation at around 8PM, and they told me nothing till 10:30PM. But if you've read the reviews, you're probably gonna be a bit disappointed. What I mean is, it's not like nobody's ever gone to eat around there.Īnyway, I recommend this place. It's also a block away from where downtown Smokey's used to be (in happier days). I mean, it's a block away from the Chelsea Grand Sichuan International. I'll bet that people on the Rhine will be surprised to learn that they live in the "Mediterranean" district.Ī lot of reviews harp on how nowhere the neighborhood the Biltmore Room (located on Eight Avenue between 24th and 25th) is. The wine list did feature some unique geographical fancies, though. The wine list was frankly disappointing: food that interesting deserves a more interesting wine selection. I thought (get ready to laugh) a mixture of basil-infused gin, elderberry nectar, and tonic (OK you can stop laughing now) would be delicious, but it was just OK. The highly touted cocktails were a little disappointing, or at least mine was. I was surprised at how few people there looked like me. I don't view that as good or bad, necessarily: just surprising. And the place is casual (which I like), drawing a much younger crowd than the quality of the food would make you expect. These fancy restaurants get all the attention, but for bang for buck, there are any number of very good cheap places that, just for the food, in their way are just as good.Īs is well known, the Biltmore Room's interior features a lot of marble and design elements taken from the demolished Biltmore Hotel, which used to be near Grand Central. It goes back to an exchange Slinkybender and I had in this thread a couple of days ago. But she also mentioned - apropos of nothing, really - how much she likes those extremely cheap Pakistani cab-driver take-out places a block away from the Biltmore Room, on Ninth Avenue in the 20s. She said she loved her meal (and she certainly wolfed it down). But it just wasn't thrilling like (you guessed it) Sumile. For an entree, dal-encrusted halibut, with a the kind of buttery mock-Indian sauce you'd expect with that (and - I have to say this because you don't get them that often - some really excellently-prepared green peas) (I swear to God). Not that I'm such a big lover of crab cakes, but I doubt there's better in New York right now. For an appetizer, what the menu calls squash blossom but what is really a crab cake (stuffed inside a deep-fried squash blossom). Everything I had worked, although nothing sent me out the door screaming in extacy. The concept is, well, what I call "restaurant food" (sorta basic continental) with a bunch of Asian influences. The executive chef is Gary Robins, who developed an excellent reputation without staying anywhere long enough to become really well known. I thought the food was very good, and very well executed, but big deal, ya know? Everybody seems to put the Biltmore Room at the top of the heap. But, as Sumile (have to mention that place at least once in every review) shows, it can result in delicious, interesting food. OTOH, I don't think it lived up to its exalted reputation. The Biltmore Room is more like a real Asian Fusion restaurant. It was interesting to eat at the Biltmore Room on the heels of my visit to Spice Market.
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