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All Reader Reviews of...

Allen & Delancey

115 Allen St., New York, NY, 10002
at Delancey St.
212-253-5400

Avg. Rating

6
Food: 6
Service: 5
Décor: 7
"Mixed Reviews"

Average Reader Rating on a Scale of 10.

32% would go back.

 Write your own review

not so HAWT

By blunder on 1/4/2010

  • Overall Rating: 3
  • Food: 3
  • Service: 2
  • Décor: 7
  • No, I would not go back!

Take careful note of the fact that the former, rising-star chef is no more. The menu defies all organizational sense. What at first seems like a wide range of choice becomes quickly delimited by the unappetizing thought of leaving the place hungry after a course in the diminutive. The food makes an adolescent effort, but it tried: mostly bravado over heat. My "warm" lobster salad was decidedly tepid and ostentatious in presentation. My squash soup had a dollop of curry ice cream-- a dialectic in hot and cold that only a precocious teenager would find passable on one of the year's coldest nights. If you want the satisfaction of fine NY cuisine with the aftertaste of money well spent, dine elsewhere.

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98 out of 200 people found this review helpful.

small plates concepts works well

By junobird on 12/17/2009

  • Overall Rating: 9
  • Food: 10
  • Service: 8
  • Décor: 9
  • Yes, I would go back!

I like the new small plates concepts at Allen & Delancey. Our recent visit allowed us to sample quite a few of the new chef's tasty creations, as well as the 2 "entree sized" selections, giving the table a long, relaxing evening which can be a real foodie's delight. Everything is well seasoned, and with the beautiful candlelit atmosphere, it made the holiday season dinner perfect. For dessert lovers, the menu could have been broader, and the pear upside-down cake was dry. Lamb entree very inventive.

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108 out of 197 people found this review helpful.

Very disappointing

By EricWerner on 12/7/2009

  • Overall Rating: 3
  • Food: 4
  • Service: 2
  • Décor: 1
  • No, I would not go back!

I wandered into A&D and found the whole experience very disappointing. We had two wonderful drinks at the bar and found the bartender to be friendly. Unfortunately, the hostess was extremely rude and snobby. The room was loud, considering it was half empty. The appetizers were cold and the entrees were both oversalted. Yuck!

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114 out of 211 people found this review helpful.

Waited HOURS for dinner!

By kgsaladino on 11/10/2009

  • Overall Rating: 3
  • Food: 4
  • Service: 1
  • Décor: 7
  • No, I would not go back!

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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100 out of 207 people found this review helpful.

small menu brings down the score

By glimmer19 on 10/23/2009

  • Overall Rating: 8
  • Food: 9
  • Service: 8
  • Décor: 4
  • No, I would not go back!

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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93 out of 184 people found this review helpful.

Good bones. Bad Management.

By StewartPS on 9/21/2009

  • Overall Rating: 5
  • Food: 7
  • Service: 2
  • Décor: 7
  • No, I would not go back!

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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88 out of 181 people found this review helpful.

Reputation versus reality

By jwschmidlin on 9/20/2009

  • Overall Rating: 3
  • Food: 4
  • Service: 1
  • Décor: 7
  • No, I would not go back!

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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95 out of 191 people found this review helpful.

A Little Bit of Work

By sle0022 on 5/30/2009

  • Overall Rating: 6
  • Food: 5
  • Service: 8
  • Décor: 9
  • Yes, I would go back!

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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93 out of 191 people found this review helpful.

Pricey but worth every penny

By timmy4433 on 5/23/2009

  • Overall Rating: 9
  • Food: 9
  • Service: 8
  • Décor: 9
  • Yes, I would go back!

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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92 out of 182 people found this review helpful.

The Staff: Horrendous and inexcusable attitude

By Sadie81 on 3/30/2009

  • Overall Rating: 3
  • Food: 4
  • Service: 1
  • Décor: 4
  • No, I would not go back!

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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109 out of 208 people found this review helpful.

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