Jean-Georges (Nougatine Room) - 2 Reviews

Jean-Georges Nougatine Room

I had lunch in the Nougatine Room at Jean-Georges the last two days (Wednesday, March 14 and Thursday, March 15, 2007)...here's a report.

Wednesday
Ate with three colleagues and ordered from the a la carte menu.

Appetizer
Tuna tartare with radish "tower" in a spicy radish/ginger broth. This was excellent. The tuna was blue fin and was rich and creamy, if you will. There was a layer of guacamole underneath it and was topped with a crown or tower of perfectly assymetrical (you read that right) radish slices. All of this sat in a spicy, acidic and slightly oily broth. Very good.

Entree
Braised Short Ribs. Also very, very good. Seared perfectly and easily falling apart because of perfectly executed braising. This sat in a meaty broth on top of a whipped potato and was topped with perfectly julienned granny smith apples and jalepenos. A great combo that I look to recreate some other way at home.

Dessert
Molten Chocolate Cake with vanilla ice cream. This is the original. Anything you've ever had called this is a spin off of this signature dish. I just had to try it to compare to the copy cats. I assure you it was excellent. The vanilla ice cream and sugared vanilla pod sealed the deal.

Service
Service was excellent. Water and bread service, ice tea refills and plate removal was all spot on.
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Thursday
Sat by myself at the bar and ordered from the Prix Fixe menu.

Appetizer
Kabocha Squash Soup with shrimp and cippolinis. This was a disappointment. The soup itself was cooked properly but it lacked any oomph. The shrimp/squash combo didn't work for me at all. I might have finished half of it.

Entree
Braised Chicken with onions and haricot verts (?). I may be wrong but I think they were haricot verts. The chicken was served with cut breast meat layered on top of a cripy thigh and leg portion. Chicken was cooked perfectly and tasted great. It went well with the vegetables and broth, but the amount of broth in the bowl was absurd. It was like a soup and made eating a slightly sloppy situation. But it was good and worth getting.

Dessert
Apple Crumble-type dish. This was very good but nothing to be wowed over. The apple chip it was served with was really good though.

Drink
I went for the Gewurztraminer juice and loved. Nonalcoholic juice from the very aromatic grape was the right call. It went well with the sliced red hot peppers that were in the chicken dish.

Service
The final cost before tip was $34 and change. Not bad at all. The bartender was very nice but I saw something that utterly shocked me for a 4-star restaurant. The bartender was stirring the fizzy drinks with a straw - which was left in the drink and served to customers! How can a 4-star restaurant not use proper cocktail stirrers? I didn't see one in sight, but I did see the bartender stir the drinks with the straw on at least 2 occasions...and there was no white paper at the end of the straw either.

But aside from that and a less than stellar soup, lunch at Jean-Georges is a lovely, sophisticated experience.