Earlier this year Acme was the hottest place in New York, but it's hype has died down a bit and it seems like The NoMad is now the hot spot. But even when the hype has died down, it doesn't always mean that a restaurant isn't worth checking out. Not sure if Acme was better during the hype but it certainly didn't live up to it post-hype.
I had been to Acme long before when it was a honkey-tonk bar and grill that served Southern fried such as mac and cheese, fried chicken, and fried okra. The owners didn't change the outside but the inside got a total face lift with sleek furniture and a large wooden bar in the front. They also totally changed up the menu from fried food to high end Scandinavian/Danish food. I don't know much about Scandinavian food except they are really into fish. Their brunch menu is fairly limited but it did have some good sounding egg dishes so I wasn't too upset. I opted for the benedict which was served on rye bread, house cured salmon and 2 poached eggs ($16). The menu didn't mention if it came with any sides but I kind of suspected that a place like this didn't. So I was tempted to order a side of sausage, bacon or potatoes, but they were wildly overpriced (between $8-10) and it seemed more like sides for 2 people rather than one. Holly ordered the grilled Romaine Salad ($17) which was served with chicken and parmesan. It did take a while for the food to come out but at least the iced coffee I ordered was quite tasty and tied me over for a while. When my benedict came out I had 2 thoughts: (1) it indeed did not come with any sides and (2) it was very small. It was quite a beautiful dish but about the size of a small tea cup dish. Then I cut into the 1st egg and it was like cutting into a hard boiled egg. I mean I could have removed the yolk completely entact and it wasn't even close to being runny or poached. I was this close to sending it back but for me, unless the food is completely inedible I usually won't send it back. Luckily the 2nd egg was runny and poached well, so clearly they know how to poach an egg, they just couldn't execute on it consistently. It's unfortunate that the 1 bad egg (hahah) ruined what was otherwise a pretty lovely dish. I normally am not a huge fan of rye bread but for some reason it worked here with the salmon. The salmon was wonderfully cured and was the best part of the dish. It made me think that this dish could have been so good if only the other egg was poached correctly, the overall dish was slightly bigger in size and served with a side of something. As for Holly's salad, she mentioned that it was just a plain salad, the dressing looked like mayo and that the chicken (which there was a lot of) looked like it had been pulled off of a rotisserie chicken. So definitely not a $17 salad.
Acme is one of those places that has a lot of potential but what I've learned this year is that you can't judge things based on potential. You have to evaluate things based on the facts and what's in front of you at the time. I also thought that the staff and clientele was a bit too cool for school. They weren't really warm or inviting, which would have been a nice touch during the holiday season. Total bill: $25/pp with tax and tip.
Photo Credit: Yelp
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