Sunday, March 25, 2007

Spotted Pig - Review - Aramis

Intro
The Spotted Pig-
Highly Not Recommended

314 W 11th St, New York 10014
At Greenwich St
Phone: 212-620-0393


1 star Michelin, 1 star NY Times, 2 star NY Magazine, the raves go on and on - except none will be coming from me. I have no idea what these reviewers tasted, since this is one of the worst restaurant experiences I've ever had. From the long waits, to the terrible service, to the awful food, this place is all about NY hype and no substance. The burger, fries, and chowder were completely inedible due to the salt content. One of the first things that a chef should be taught is to taste before you season. It seems April Bloomfield was not taught this lesson (and yes, she was there last night).

Example, the burger already has salty roquefort cheese on it, so to add a lot more salt to the burger is insane. It's rare that I can't finish a dish, but the burger, fries, and chowder were so ridiculously salty, I only had 1/2 the burger, 1/2 the fries, and 1/2 the chowder. The appetizers and sides were OK. Roll mops (sardines) were pretty tasty and the champ was very nice too - hard to over salt mashed potatoes I guess. Devils on horseback (bacon wrapped prunes) were to sweet for my taste - felt like the bacon should have been crispier and a smoky, rich bacon flavor should have more of a role. This place is like a lot of NYC restaurants out there, lots of hype with no substance. Overall, I give the restaurant 20/100.

My Menu
Roll Mops - recommended
Devils on horseback - not recommended
Smoked Haddock Chowder
- highly not recommended
Chargrilled Burger - highly not recommended
Champ - recommended

Overall Restaurant Experience (20/100)
  • Food 2/10 - April Bloomfield must own a whole bunch of salt commodities
  • Service 1/10 - Hostess and waiters had attitudes. Waiter took for ever to take our order. Bus boy spilled water on our friend.
  • Atmosphere 7/10 - Bar atmosphere. Packed with a hip crowd.
  • Price 7/10 - Generally the food prices were average to a bit pricey (burger was $15, sea bsss $28).

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