I was excited to try Augustine since it's located in one of my new favorite hotels in NYC, The Beekman. If you haven't been to The Beekman yet, I'd highly recommend it for a drink as it has a gorgeous lobby and especially during the holiday time, they decorate it beautifully.
There are 2 high profile restaurants in the hotel from 2 famous chefs, one is Temple Court by Tom Colicchio and the other being Augustine by Keith McNally. Anuja and I decided to check out Augustine to help Van celebrate her recent wedding. I got there a bit early and as the host was pulling out my chair, he accidentally knocked over a glass that shattered on to the table next to us and broken glass fell into this couple's steak and fries. To the restaurant's credit, they were mortified and apologized profusely and tried to bring out all new food to the couple. But they were almost done with their meal and asked instead to get more wine (smart couple). I could tell from this interaction that this would be an experience with a very attentive staff.
The menu leans towards a French Brasserie, so you'll see items like steak frites, duck a l'orange, and tuna nicoise salad. We started with the steak tartare ($19) and split the sea urchin spaghetti ($33) to start. Yes, as you can see from the prices, you are definitely eating at a hotel restaurant. For my main, Van and I split the leg of lamb ($29) and all 3 of us split the special of the day which was bouillabaisse ($31). The steak tartare was lovely and hand cut with nori and a quail egg. The sea urchin pasta was also tasty with a creamy heaping of crab and pickled jalapeño. It was delicious but I'm also glad we split it as it could be a bit too heavy for 1 person. At this point I was excited for the rest of the meal but this is where it peaked.
For some reason in my mind, I envisioned the leg of lamb to be on the bone but this was served sliced and on a bed of uninspiring beans and escarole. It didn't really have the juiciness or tastiness that I was looking for in lamb. As for the bouillabaisse, that dish was an even more let down. The presentation was also lacking and kind of a brown blobby mess. Again, I had a really different vision of what this dish would be. When I hear bouillabaisse, I think of a hearty stew like dish with lots of shell fish and and fish. While this had a good amount of seafood, the dish didn't feel hearty and was very thin and soupy not stewy. In good news is that the fries for the table were on point and extremely addictive and a good dipping vehicle for the sauce of the bouillabaisse.
Overall, it was a nice experience but as with any hotel restaurant, definitely overpriced. The staff was very nice and while the appetizers were winners, the entrees left a bit to the imagination. I would come back for the fries though :) Total bill: $216 for 3 people including tax, tip and drinks
Photo Credit: Yelp
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