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Home > Restaurants > Upstairs at Bouley

Upstairs at Bouley

Critic's Pick Critics' Pick

130 West Broadway, New York, NY 10013
at Duane St.  See Map | Subway Directions Hopstop Popup
212-219-1011 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
  • Critics' Rating: *

    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:

    7.4 out of 10

      |  

    7 Reviews | Write a Review

  • Cuisine: American Traditional, French, Japanese/Sushi
View Slide Show
Photo by Andrew Karcie

Official Website

davidbouley.com

Hours

Mon-Fri, 5:30pm-11:30pm; Sat, 11am-4pm and 5:30pm-11:30pm; Sun, 11am-4pm

Prices

$18-$30

Payment Methods

American Express, Diners Club, Discover, MasterCard, Visa

Special Features

  • Brunch - Weekend
  • Celeb-Spotting
  • Hot Spot
  • Notable Chef
  • Open Kitchens / Watch the Chef

Alcohol

  • Full Bar

Reservations

Recommended

Profile

Upstairs at Bouley seems to be a jumble of all of David Bouley's grandiose notions, in miniature form. A tattered carpet leads to the small dining space upstairs, where a sushi bar is jammed into one corner of the room, the open kitchen in another. The menu is a schizophrenic mingling of sushi, salads, Japanese hors d’oeuvres, and various specialties, including a new “Bouley Burger.” There’s a decent selection of Continental salads—order the one made with wild mushrooms and a spritzing of truffle dressing, or the asparagus set over pieces of blue crab and a rich parsley sauce. The larger entrées at Upstairs are mostly small, restrained versions of the kind of dishes Bouley is famous for. End your meal the way many people seem to do at this haphazardly endearing little restaurant: with a taste of palate-cleansing sushi. — Rob Patronite and Robin Raisfeld

Extra

The sushi is professionally done, and includes Kobe beef "sushi" gently seared and topped with a crunchy nickel of garlic.

Brunch

Sat.–Sun., 11 a.m.–4 p.m.

Recommended Dishes

Japanese nanzenji tofu, $8.50; wild-mushroom salad, $7.95; Wellfleet line-caught halibut, $15

Related Stories

New York Magazine Reviews

Featured In

7.4 "Recommended"
Average Reader Rating
on a Scale of 10		 Write Your Own Review
85% Would you go back?
85% Would you take a date?
14% Would you take kids?
28% Would you go on business?
42% Would you go on a special occasion?
Food: 8.1
Service: 5.9
Décor: 7.7
Value: 6.9

Varied quality offerings at fair prices

chunkybeefstyle from 10065 | Posted on 10/25/09

Overall Rating: 8 (Recommended)
Food: 9
Service: 5
Décor: 8
Value: 8

Food was terrific - quality ingredients, robust flavors, appropriate portions. Broad selection suits just about any palate. Big plus is the ambience of the upstairs room - open kitchens infuse the room with wonderful smells. Don't settle for the bar area on the first floor! Upstairs is worth the wait. Only down side was service - slow slow slow. Would have been a problem if we were on a schedule. Nonetheless, would go back in a heartbeat.

Disappointing

VaninaG from 10025 | Posted on 7/10/09

Overall Rating: 5 (Mixed Reviews)
Food: 8
Service: 3
Décor: 7
Value: 3

Although the food is refined, with high quality ingredients, the much-boasted price value of the place is just as low as the portions are tiny. The biggest deterrent was the dreadful service, with a bartender in charge of the downstairs room who seemed more into wining and dining his friends than taking care of the other customers. The wines by the glass list, for a place that wants to achieve a brasserie vibe, was ridiculously short (again, a size issue). The stairs and bathroom were somewhat dirty (that would achieve the authentic brasserie vibe, though). Finally, the dessert was a real disappointment, a chestnut and vanilla terrine that was ruined by the addition of obtrusive maraschino cherries and the use of too much hazelnut in the biscuit, destroying the delicate, rare taste of the chestnut. The incompetent staff gave a hand in ruining it, too: the sorbet accompanying the dessert only made it in the state of a quasi-soup, as a result, I would assume, of having been left to melt after being prepared in the kitchen. I had thought a sweet bite would make me forget the shortcomings of the place. It just left a bitter aftertaste.

Read All 7 Reviews >>

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