Advertising
You are not logged in

New York Magazine

Skip to content, or skip to search.

Skip to content, or skip to search.

Home > Restaurants > BLT Fish

BLT Fish

21 W. 17th St., New York, NY 10011
nr. Fifth Ave.  See Map | Subway Directions Hopstop Popup
212-691-8888 Send to Phone

  • Price Range: $$$$

    Key to Prices and ratings

    Upscale
    • Almost Perfect
    • Exceptional
    • Generally Excellent
    • Very Good
    • Good
    Cheap Eats
    • Best in Category
    • Excellent
    • Delicious
    • Very Good
    • Noteworthy
    • Very Expensive
    • Expensive
    • Moderate
    • Cheap
  • Reader Rating:

    4.7 out of 10

    11 Reviews | Write a Review

  • Cuisine: Seafood
Photo by Mark Peterson

Official Website

bltfish.com

Hours

Mon-Thu, 11:45am-2:30pm and 5:30pm-11pm; Fri, 11:45am-2:30pm and 5:30pm-11:30pm; Sat, 5:30pm-11:30pm; Sun, 5pm-10pm

Nearby Subway Stops

4, 5, 6, L, N, Q, R, W at 14th St.-Union Sq.; F, V at 14th St.

Prices

$28-$70

Payment Methods

American Express, Diners Club, Discover, MasterCard, Visa

Special Features

  • Dine at the Bar
  • Good for Groups
  • Lunch
  • Notable Wine List
  • Open Kitchens / Watch the Chef
  • Private Dining/Party Space
  • Take-Out

Alcohol

  • Full Bar

Reservations

Recommended

Profile

Fans of Laurent Tourondel (Cello and BLT Steak) will find this an oddly dispiriting place: despite its chef's talent, it's an ambiguous, strangely contrived restaurant, one that seems, ultimately, to be a slave to formula and profits instead of innovation and craft. Downstairs is a raucous seafood parlor called “The Fish Shack,” with a laminated blue marlin on the wall and a high-volume cocktail bar peddling drinks with names like Squid Ink and Shark Bite. You can purchase several decent sandwiches at the Fish Shack (notably, the $24 lobster roll), but most of the food is forgettable. The real culinary action is upstairs, at BLT Fish, which you reach via a glass elevator. This is where Tourondel holds court, in a grand room featuring luminous circular lampshades, a gleaming open kitchen, and an atmospheric glass roof left over from a failed Asian-fusion restaurant that once occupied the same space. The appetizers give Tourondel a chance to cook and a few carefully produced, often excellent intermezzi are shuffled in between all the food, but the main courses go horribly wrong. The salmon steak looks as though it had been thrown on the grill straight from Citarella, and the scallops are fresh, if a little sad, sitting more or less alone in their big white bowl. The Whole Fish category is filled with giant snappers and lobsters, which diners are encouraged to wolf down “family style” like so many haunches of beef. Unlike most haunches of beef, however, the fish is priced by the pound, so costs can accelerate in a hurry.

Note

Lunch is served only in the Fish Shack downstairs

Recommended Dishes

Spicy tuna tartare, $18; Cantonese-style red snapper, $35 per pound; caramelized meringue with banana passion-fruit sorbet, $10

4.7 "Not Recommended"
Average Reader Rating
on a Scale of 10
Write Your Own Review

BLT Fish...big disappointment!

333meg from 45701 | Posted on 4/22/09

Overall Reader Rating: 3 (Not Recommended)
Food: 3
Service: 7
Décor: 4
Value: 3

After hearing much about BLT fish and hungering for a fantastic seafood meal we ventured out to try Chef Tourondel's fish shack. All we left with was DISAPPOINTMENT. We started with his calamari. I make it at home and was...Read More

Fish Shack - Not so special

annk from 02114 | Posted on 4/1/09

Overall Reader Rating: 5 (Mixed Reviews)
Food: 4
Service: 5
Décor: 5
Value: 4

Had dinner on Saturday night in the Fish Shack. While we enjoyed the drinks, our dinners were unspectacular. I ordered the Shrimp and Chips and found it to be boring. My husband ordered the Surf and Turf. The beef was cooked...Read More

Read All 11 Reviews >>

Advertising

Latest News Near