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All Reader Reviews of...
Allen & Delancey
115 Allen St., New York, NY, 10002
at Delancey St.
212-253-5400
| 5.2 | "Mixed Reviews" Average Reader Rating on a Scale of 10 |  |
Waited HOURS for dinner!
kgsaladino from 10128 | Posted on 11/10/09
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On Saturday Nov 7th I went out to dinner at Allen & Delancy with friends from out of town. The service was horrible! We waited 40 minutes for our appetizers and they just kept bringing us bread and rolls. Dinner didn't come for another 45 minutes and the food was cold. What gives? This is NOT a cheap restaurant. I would NOT go again.
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small menu brings down the score
glimmer19 from 10011 | Posted on 10/23/09
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Ryan Skeen does a far better job here than at Resto, which was about the most overrated restaurant of its time. Everything I had was excellent, and creative (in a good way), to boot: lamb belly starter, less unctuous than its pork brethren, a succulent rabbit sugo and pappardelli main course, and a fab reinvention of that old warhorse creme brulee: layered dark chocolate, the creme, topped with stewed black mission figs. The problem here isn't the food, but the menu, which is so small it makes a return visit all but impossible. Plus, the room is cramped, uncomfortable, and overloud, due to the high percentage of large tables. Rule of thumb: the larger the party, the louder it is. How do you spell unromantic?
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Good bones. Bad Management.
StewartPS from 10010 | Posted on 9/21/09
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AD was a disaster. Drinks took more than 11 minutes; the meal 3 hours for 2 courses. After the order was taken, the server came back and informed us they only had Rack of Lamb for 1 guest. 6 had ordered it. The aforementioned "Rack" of Lamb was just 2 medallions on bone, hardly a rack.
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Reputation versus reality
jwschmidlin from 10023 | Posted on 9/20/09
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What a disappointment. The food was inconsistent and in need of serious quality control. Where is the chef? The service was beyond belief. No communication, or presence (the disappearing server) as to why we had to wait over an hour for each course and just poor presentation. On top of a disappointing evening, they put a 20% service charge on the bill, including wine. After complaining to the manager, his explanation was this is our policy. I have seen this movie before and it doesn't end well.
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A Little Bit of Work
sle0022 from 10017 | Posted on 5/30/09
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The decor was lush, warm and inviting, especially on the cold, rainy night that I visited. We had two of the signature drinks at the bar. They were delicious... very unusual blends of flavors which came together nicely. These drinks take a bit of time to prepare, and the bartender was obviously flustered and unapologetic. The oyster app and rabbit entree were well done. I had the bass which was much too salty. For desert we split the french toast. The components of which were very tasty, but you had to compile the dish yourself and the caramel sauce was more in a solid then liquid state and impossible to drizzle over the other components. I brought out the girl scout in me and warmed my spoon over the candle flame which I used to warm up the caramel sauce. This brought out it's bacon infusion as well, and it was yummy. Also, management needs to figure out the heating/cooling system. The temperature oscillated between too hot and too cold, so much so that I had keep putting on and removing my coat. Allen & Delancey could be a gem of a place it just needs a few tweaks.
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Pricey but worth every penny
timmy4433 from 10003 | Posted on 5/23/09
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Bring your checkbook because the food isn't cheap but it is delicious. The foie with warm pepper brioche was amazing. The octopus and Bass were great as well. Our server helped us select our own tasting menu. They offered one but we wanted to try as much as possible. I had seen mixed reviews about service but our server was great. He was quirky and fun. Paid enough attention to keep the meal flowing but didn't overwhelm us with talking. very romantic with all the candles although if you aren't careful I think you will wind up covered in wax. The bar looked nice so maybe I would go back for a small bite and a drink. I can't afford to eat in this every night but for a special occasion I will be back.
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The Staff: Horrendous and inexcusable attitude
Sadie81 from 07047 | Posted on 3/30/09
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They should really be embarrassed. They are completely unprofessional and the manager especially has an unwarranted snotty attitude. He has a chip on his shoulder and there is absolutely no excuse for the way they treat their customers. The manager refused to seat my party until our everyone was there even though we were missing 2 people who were 5 minutes away. When they arrived he insisted we were late, it qualified the whole party as being late. Also, I literally was interrogated for ordering an appetizer when the rest of my party did not. They acted as if I was putting them out by ordering an app. Sorry to throw everything off, but the oysters sounded good. When they came out they were just ok, nothing special. It was incrediblely awkward when the waitress gave us a speech on this water charity they are in cahoots with. She asked that all of us donate. Fine, whatever, but it seemed awfully inappropriate for a place like this and we felt pressured. Not cool, let people donate on their own time. DonÂ’t bother with this place, thereÂ’s plenty of better places.
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disappointing......
slimsociety from 11420 | Posted on 3/30/09
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This place was such a disappointment. I had my birthday dinner here and thought it would be a great place to take my out of town friends to. The food tasted pretty good and was presented well, but it could have been better. The service was god awful and not in line with what this restaurant portrays themselves to be, sophisticated... The manager scolded me on my birthday for being 15 minutes late, even though I called to give them a heads up. My boyfriend was charged $6/person plating fee for the cake he bought from sugar sweet sunshine(which by the way makes excellent desserts) Even though he was told on the phone, to his surprise that a cutting fee would be $30, he ended up paying $72! to cut a cake. We brought this to the managers attention and he just shrugged his shoulders. It was just a really strange experience and I wish I hadn’t gone there. There are better places to spend your money.....here is not one of them.
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Overpriced
soesters from 10009 | Posted on 3/22/09
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Definitely a pleasant environment but the food (had the tasting menu in March 2009) was average at best and certainly not worth the steep price.
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What more could you ask for
buttercream1234 from 10012 | Posted on 3/6/09
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My husband took me here for a birthday dinner. I loved the atmosphere. What seemed to be a hundred candles lined the room. We had to wait about 20 minutes for our table but that is expected on a weekend. Plus the drinks at the bar were great. We made our own tasting menu and the Chef split the courses so we didn't need to share from one plate. The wine pairing was nice as well. It was pricey but worth it. I might not go back just for a bite with friends but for a special occasion yes!
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