On Saturday night of my girls weekend in New York, we kicked off the evening with an amazing meal at Degustation in the East Village. We almost missed it as we walked by as it’s tucked away with a generally nondescript door. The restaurant is small and popular so Jaclyn made reservations weeks in advance!
The restaurant has a small waiting area (as most diners have reservations and don’t need to wait long). We were able to peruse the menu and see the goings on of the restaurant as it consists of essentially a bar around the kitchen – you get to watch everything being made in front of you! There’s room for maybe 20 dining guests!
Once seated, since it was so quaint I felt slightly uncomfortable taking too many photos but felt better when I realized the couple next to us was also taking photos of their food!
The main waitress runs everything from the “kitchen” area. We looked over the menu and decided to go with the $50 5 course tasting menu which the chef chooses. We knew we wanted a bottle of wine and asked for a recommendation. Unfortunately, I was unfamiliar with most of the wine, but the waitress did a wonderful job selecting one for us!
Our first course was assembled right in front of us It was a salad with quail eggs, tomatoes, bacon, a blue goat cheese, a sweet nut, and a vinaigrette. The nuts were quite sticky and eaten individually stuck to the teeth, but eaten with the rest of the salad was wonderful. A great start to the tasting menu!
The second course I believe was a fried oyster squid ink risotto (possibly incorrect about the seafood). I heart risotto and the squid ink was a great touch! It made our mouth black which was funny
The third course was quail. I wish I had taken notes on what we ate As you can see in the picture, there were a lot of touches with this one but I don’t remember besides the quail…
Our fourth course was an ox tail. Delish!
And last but not least, the dessert course! These were fun to watch being made all night We had a carmelized bread pudding with berries. SO. GOOD.
As expected (especially if you read all of the reviews on line), this meal was amazing! So very worth the price! They had a 10 course option for $75 which we might have selected if we had had more time. We had drink reservations at Milk & Honey and unfortunately couldn’t stay longer.
Degustation is a great option for a romantic dinner or a small group of friends (small group as you sit next to each other). Definitely a big recommendation!
Degustation Wine and Tasting Bar 239 E. 5th Street, New York, NY 212-979-1012
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