Degustation: a careful, appreciative tasting of various foods
I spent the weekend in NYC with Amando. More than the shopping, museums, and shows, my favorite thing about the city was the FOOD. Every meal we had was amazing, even the street gyros. My favorite meal was at Degustation, a swanky tapas bar in the lower east side. There is no sign. The entrance is simply a door with its name emblazoned upon it. Inside is a bar that seats only 18 people, surrounding the small kitchen. You sit down and watch as the chefs prepare your dishes. They offer tapas sold individually, or you can opt for a 5 or 10 dish tasting menu. We opted for 10 and it was amazing. The above photos are of each dish plus a palate cleanser before dessert. We didn't realize it, but they gave us a bonus dish! The service was excellent under the circumstances – we arrived at 10pm and dinner lasted 2 hours. However, we never felt rushed and everyone was extremely kind, even though we were the last patrons.
Descriptions (as best I can remember):
Row 1: Fried Croquette and Ravioli, Fish Carpaccio (I ate it before I remembered to take the photo), Fairytale Eggplants (these were TINY, like the size of my thumb!)
Row 2: Heirloom Tomato Salad, Sardine Stuffed with Bacon + Sardine "Sandwich" + Sardine Sashimi with Smoked Watermelon, Scallops with Scallop Roe on top of Risotto
Row 3: Duck Egg with Duck Bacon Soup in a Duck Egg, Radish Soup, Spicy Sweetbread
Row 4: Beef "Cheesecake" (Thin slices of rare beef with sun-dried tomatoes on top of toasted bread and a cheese spread), Ginger and (something) sorbet with fresh strawberries (a palate cleanser), Spanish Caramelized Torija
Everything was delicious, but I think my favorite was the sardine sandwich (and I don't even like sardines!!). Amando's favorite was the scallops ("This is my favorite thing EVER")
Even though each dish was tiny, put together it was a huge meal. Near the end I could hardly finish my food and I probably would have enjoyed the last few dishes more if I hadn't been so stuffed, but all-in-all it was an amazing meal. I want to go back to New York =(
Degustation
239 E 5th St
New York, NY 10003
212.979.1012
Next time: Bouchon Bakery and Momofuku Noodle Bar
