Gotham Bar & Grill

Lunch during Restaurant Week, second year. Hostess doesn't greet us. Arrive 5 minutes early for reservation, empty room, made to wait the 5 minutes. Returning then to the hostess, a male host tells her "we have another minute, (make them wait)".
Seated, our server tries to push drinks on us, condescending to our tap water order. I was in the mood for wine. Server brings a wine list, I asked him about wines by the glass but he cut me off and walked away mid sentence dismissing me with: "we have so many (read it yourself, don't waste my precious time)" . I finally got his attention to ask "how many wines by the glass do you have that are red and Italian?" Oh he says, we have two, a Chianti and a Rioja. I opened the wine menu and confirmed that a Rioja is Spanish, not Italian. For this kind of superior attitude, he should at least know the difference between continents, and further, the Italian wine is probably not a Chianti. In any case, I was put off the wines.

The Restaurant Week menu is not only diminutive but also I am fairly sure it is identical to last year's.

I get it that Restaurant Week is discounted, and many people tip only the percentage of the cheap prix fixe price, I am sure they would much rather have people paying full price and buying liquor and leaving big tips, but they sure as heck are not going to get there with snotty abbreviated service. I would have ordered wine and full entrees from their main menu but insulted, I ordered the minimum.

The food was nice- I choose that word intentionally. We ordered melon salad, gazpacho, steak (2, as the other choices were boring cod and cheap gnocci), panna cotta and chocolate cake. We asked to share and they looked at us like we were from Mars. The cake was especially lovely and light consistency with dark chocolate- but overall:

The Food is not good enough to compensate for the miserable condescending attitude and LOUD dining room. Try Union Square Cafe.

Pros: nice food
Cons: horrible condescending attitude, LOUD room

This is the most reliable place on earth. Need I say more? Service is wonderful. The bar is one of the best in the city. And the food is superb. Thank you, Alfred.

Pros: always great
Cons: no more tuna on the menu

I was in New York on a trip and we ate here for lunch, I had the black cod it was amazing the presentation the taste the textures just truly great. It was really busy for lunch and the service was still top notch. Everything was timed perfectly, the server was able to answer every question we had. If your ever in the area stop and eat you wont be disapointed.

Pros: food and service
Cons: not in minnesota

My boyfriend and I are huge fans of the TV show Top Chef on Bravo, which is where we learned of the chef of Gotham: Portale. We try to spend one romantic night at a top restaurant in New York every time I am able to visit. On my most recent visit to the city for our anniversary, he took me to Gotham. We were seated immediately and greeted promptly by our server. Our first impression of the restaurant was disappointing: the wine list was unimpressive - especially considering those at other top restaurants in the city - so we ordered an entire bottle of something familiar and reasonably priced. However, when it came to ordering an appetizer, entrees, and dessert, our waiters recommendations were right on: the octopus appetizer was delicious even for those unadventurous with their tastes. For dinner my boyfriend ordered a steak which seemed to melt in your mouth, while I ordered the grilled halibut which was not even on the menu. *It is the single most delicious dish I have ever tasted.* And for dessert we ordered the Smore, which staid true to its name. We even recommended it to the pair sitting at a nearby table who noticed it when it arrived. Despite the wine list, this was the single most romantic and delicious meal I have ever shared, and I look forward to returning to Gotham for future celebrations.

Pros: Interesting but delicious food, very romantic, famous chef
Cons: Wine list is lacking

Food

I had the mushroom pasta and the black miso cod. The Pasta was delicious, very rich and earthy like i expected (and the bread we were served was very handy in mopping up the sauce) and the pasta was well cooked. The Miso Black cod was extremely tasty, the fish was perfectly cooked as was the veggies and rice. My only regret was that i didn't order something more 'unique' to the restaurant as this seemes to be a common dish.

My wife ordered a warm mushroom salad and the free range chicken, She enjoyed the mushrooms and other stuff in the salad but was overwhelmed by the greenery on it (which was almost comical in how over the top it was stacked). As for the chicken it was perfectly cooked and she enjoyed it. personally I'm not a fan of chicken, esp chicken breast so i found the sample i had disappointing (but it's not something i would have ordered in the first place). The root veggies that came with the chicken were really well done.

About the only disappointment with the food was the lack of options at lunch, the menu was really heavy on seafood, it would have been nice to have more non seafood options as an appetizer or an entree. Also the soup selection was disappointing, Both of us really wanted soup but the one they had (celery and pear) just sounded blah.

We had the chocolate cake for desert and it was very good, it came with gingerbread ice cream which i didn't care for (but then I'm not a ginger fan) but she loved.

Service.

Service was friendly, we were early for our reservation but were seated immediately coat and bag check was very nice and the hostess was as friendly as you'll find in a place like this in NYC. Service was a bit stuffy but again that is to be expected in a place like this and it wasn't as bad as you'll find in other places. The lack of a dress code was also very nice

Overall

It was great for a 'special lunch' not sure if I'd come back for a dinner as I'm not sure if the same value would be there.

Pros: Good food, lack of dress code, not as stuffy as it may seem
Cons: Limited lunch menu, some dishes are rather generic