My wife and I had to be in Midtown Manhattan yesterday evening and decided to have an early dinner. When checking out our options, we found that many places don’t open until 5:00 or 6:00pm. Luckily for us, La Brochette – Kosher Steakhouse and Sushi Bar opened at 2pm.
Upon arrival, I could potentially see why places don’t open so early. There was only one other table occupied and it had a group of four already ordering dessert. We placed our orders fairly quickly with the waiter.
My wife ordered the Soup of the Day ($16), which in this case was a split pea soup. It was pleasantly thick and had a good flavor. The croustini that was served on top was also a nice touch that added a good crunch.I ordered an inside out Spicy Yellowtail Roll ($14). It wasn’t very spicy and was generally fine, but nothing special.
Here’s where we hit a snag. While we were eating these dishes, another couple came in and sat behind us. We finished our food and the plates were taken away at the same time that the other couple ordered the La Brochette Sampler ($49). Coincidentally, we had also ordered that… 15 minutes ago with the rest of our choices.We sat there with nothing on our table for 15 more minutes. The waiter apologized (though we know this wasn’t his fault) and our platter eventually came out at the same time as the other table’s. In other words, our’s took 30 minutes and their’s took 15 minutes.
At least the wait seemed to have been worth it. The Short Rib Spring Rolls (2) had really great texture both inside and out and came with a spicy mayo. The Petites Brochettes (one chicken, one beef) were really good skewer of meat with a chimichurri drizzled on top. The Brisket Tacos (2) came with some guacamole and had a good flavor profile and crunch, even though the filling was a little more drippy than we’d have liked. Last but not least, the Chicken Poppers came with a garlic aioli and were slightly better than the average ones I’m used to having.
For my main, I ordered the J.D. Braised Short Ribs ($68). The very sizable portion came on a bed of garlic potato purée and was top with grilled asparagus and frizzled onions. The short rib was very tasty and the texture was amazing. Roasted for eight hours and having fallen off the bone, it was super soft and no one would’ve needed a knife to cut it. The potatoes were slightly better than average as were the onions, and the asparagus had a great external char (I ate it despite not being an asparagus guy). Honestly, the greatness of this dish was the blend of textures. Getting a shred of short rib, some potatoes, and a few strands of onions in one bite made for an amazing combination.
My wife ordered the Poulet de Marseille ($42). It came with potato purée, wild mushrooms, and sautéed spinach. If my portion was very sizable, my wife’s was extremely sizable. She had three pieces of chicken stacked on top of each other. It may not have been the best chicken marsala ever, but it was quite good. We were also impressed with the spinach (I feel like it’s difficult to make sautéed spinach well) and mushrooms (I feel like it’s impossible to screw up mushrooms).
We usually would’ve ordered dessert… but we had a hard out and the wasted time from the apps ate up our dessert time.
All in all, a good night with good food, even if there was a little more waiting than there should’ve been.
Nati Burnside 