Restaurant Week: Brasserie Ruhlmann

J's friend decided to make reservation for Brasserie Ruhlmann, I didn't know about it until after the reservations were made. To say the least, I wasn't that thrilled about this meal. But nonetheless, I tried to enjoy it since it's right in the center of Rockefeller Center.

We came a bit earlier than our reservation but got seated anyways. The service here was pretty dam great.

Complimentary Bacon Poppers, not bad but not so great either.

Bread came also, which wasn't that bad. The butter was a bit bland but very creamy, wish I had some salt on the table for the butter.

Since the menu had 3 appetizers, 3 entrees and 3 desserts to chose from. We thought of getting all of them and just share it among each other but our waiter said one of the entree wasn't worth getting and somehow persuaded J's friend to order the same thing as J...

Starting with appetizers, there was the Mushroom Veloute, Winter Squash Risotto and the Asparagus & Bucheron Salad. The salad was the lightest whereas the soup and the risotto was very heavy in taste and felt overly seasoned.

Entree came right after our plates of appetizer were taken away. I had the Free Range Chicken Fricassee (left) while the others had the Braised Short Rib (right). The short rib was too sweet for my liking but I did enjoy my chicken. Still a bit salty but not too bad.

The moment we were waiting for, the menu on the website stated they would have the Passion Fruit Crepe Souffle but instead it was replaced by something else! Extremely disappointed. From the left going clockwise, Banana Tart & Maple Sauce, Bittersweet Chocolat Pudding and Winter Fruit Panacota. None of the dessert stood out which made it just a mediocre meal.

We did get some fresh macarons on the house. They were actually a lot better than the desserts we had, odd.

Two main reasons why this meal wasn't up to par --
1) It's a tourist trap, literally right across from the skating rink of Rockefeller Center.
2) Restaurant week menus are usually quite dull and never presented the best (but there are exceptions!)

Being it was $38 per head, the price went up from $35 from last Restaurant Week. Another reason not to participate in RW because of the price increase and quality of food. If I'm going to a restaurant, I want to be able to enjoy the food regardless of the price. I'm willing to pay for good quality. If I didn't care, then I would be going to McDonalds...

Brasserie Ruhlmann
45 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY 10111
(212) 974-2020