RESTAURANT REVIEW:
Perry Street: Tasteless food in a lovely setting.

Posted by Josh Friedlander | 4 Comments

Let me say upfront that I think the location is very nice, the decor is beautiful and the staff is extremely pleasant. But the entrees I had there (September 25) were completely tasteless, and I don’t say that to be hyperbolic. I really mean that they had no taste.

A world-traveling businessman friend of mine was in town and wanted to have some exceptional New American cuisine. Perry St. was recommended by another friend (not much of a friend, apparently!), and I was exceptionally embarrassed when the restaurant failed to live up to ANY reasonable standard of excellence with regard to its food.

The presentation was fine, but each entree had no taste. NO TASTE. It was like eating unseasoned tofu that had been made up by some genius to have the exact texture of the Rabbit and Bass we thought we had ordered. The sauces on these dishes were overpowering and did not rescue the blandness of the flesh.

TO BE FAIR, it was pretty clear from our waitor that the restaurant was known for its meat, but neither my guest nor I wanted to eat beef, so we chose unwisely. Our appetizers were: a Sashimi seviche doused with so much gross citrus dressing that the snapper had no taste; Tuna (sushi grade, but not especially fresh) covered in something crunchy (this was the most tasty item on the menu, only diminished by the sauce around it, which was basically the kind of thick Russian dressing I like a lot better with a kosher turkey sandwich).

DESSERT: The coffee was weak, but good. The chocolate mousse was OK.

For $170+, we could have done better. MUCH better. This place needs to bring the cusine up to snuff with the decor. I can not believe Jean Georges is behind this place.

UPDATE!
Someone has responded to my review on Citysearch.

“I gotta tell ya, I am very confused by the friedlander review,” writes mobetta123.

I gotta tell you, Mobetta123 (Mo Betta’ 123 ?!), you don’t fool me with your attempt at a casual rebuttal! The review, to me, sounds apologist and too-knowing.

“…we had the tuna, the sashimi and the mozzarella–all totally delicious. Then we had the rabbit, the bass and the arctic char. Everything was cooked and seasoned perfectly. I mean totally perfectly.”

Really? I suppose the sauce was perfect. It was a perfect Russian dressing on the tuna! But, really, who writes this way? And how many people did you have with you? If you were worried about my review, but went anyway, why would you have ordered the exact dishes I panned? Especially when the staff, in my experience, had recommended the meat dishes in particular?

The review continues:

“And the sauces really made the food jump off the plate. They are not timid french style sauces, in fact, they kinda had the kick of a thai or vietnamese sauce, but there wasnt too much on the plate and they were complex and captivating.”

Please. I’ve gone back and read Bruni’s review from the NYTimes and I know he and the restaurant have some sort of Thai sauce in mind, but between the idea and the execution stretches a chasm of taste. And for the kicker, you say the sauces were “complex and captivating.” Jean-Georges, is that you? I think I’ll leave it to the reader to figure out how authentic “complex and captivating” is coming from a New York diner.

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