WD-50 receipt

Ah, WD-50.  I’ve wanted to eat here for the last 3 years and never could find a person to take.  They are somewhat vegetarian unfriendly in that the menu is experimental so you don’t always know what to expect.  Hard to plan for people with diet restrictions.  But I finally made it, here’s our dinner menu

  • Fried quail, banana tartar, peppercress  ….  16
  • Grilled octopus, avocado, juniper, lychee-campari  ….  17
  • Lamb loin, potato noodles, mustard crumbs, pretzel consomme  ….  30
  • Wagyu flat iron, coffee gnocchi, coconut, cipollini, sylvetta  ….  35
  • Passionfruit tart, sesame, argan oil, meringue  ….  14
  • Toasted coconut cake, carob, smoked cashew, brown butter sorbet  ….  14

Before i go into too much detail let me say this.  Overall i was emotionally satisfied by the meal, this is not to say i was gastronomically satisfied, actually my stomach was a little nauseous after the meal.  While everything was tasty and interesting i felt it was more like food theater then food.  Perhaps it’s my own personal baggage that gives me that perspective, but my dinner companion felt the same way.  I would go back (as would she)  but i would order a little more carefully and my expectations would be less about eating and more about the experience.  If you go the their website they have pictures of a few of their dishes.  One little secret, you can order some dishes al-a-carte from the tasting menu.  A popular choice is the ‘eggs benedict’, you can find the pictures at WD-50 images page.

Now how was the food?  I can pretty much guarantee that every dish will make you raise your eyebrow.  Raise your eyebrow when it arrives, raise your eyebrow when you smell it, raise your eyebrow when you taste it!  You will also keep repeating that ‘it’s wierd, but it works’ to yourself.

If i were return i would approach the menu a little differently.  The fun part of eating here is the wow factor of each dish and that really works for the appetizers but i found the entrees abut too much.  What was wow initially become a drag to eat.  Even the Wagyu with coffee gnocchi (not that wierd) with coconut cream (yeah it’s wierd) that Frank Bruni from the NYTimes loved, i found a little tiring about halfway through it.  On a return visit i would just order a few appetizers and dessert.  Dessert is definately the most approachable part of this menu.  You can even do a 3 course tasting menu for a slight discount.

Obviously the prices are a bit high, we did not drink, though the drink menu is equally interesting.  The tables are pretty close to each other and everyone is friendly in a ‘what did we get ourselves into?’ kind of way.  You will be looking over at other tables trying to figure out what people have ordered so be ready to be social!  On the prices keep in mind this is New York city, that’s actually not that expensive, there are better values out there but the entertainment level/food theatre is extremely high here.

One funny thing about the neighborhood, i visited this street about 2 years ago and figured the gentrification would radically change it.  Well not so much, if anything i thought it was even seedier then before!  And to prove my point, Tatum O’neal was arrested for trying to buy crack a few streets over (on the other side of Houston) right as we were sitting down to dinner!  What’s the street coming to!!