Summer 2011 NYC Restaurant Week Review...Awesome Meal at Apiary!

I'm often in the East Village and have wandered past Apiary numerous times, never having checked the menu or even thought about stopping in.  And even when my brother had suggested going there for restaurant week I honestly wasn't really expecting that much.

The cozy decor of the restaurant was inviting and service was attentive and spot on. Dinner was the usual pre fixe Restaurant Week $35.  We started out with the chilled corn veloute with corn salsa, grape tomatoes, and finished with both chorizo and basil oil.  This cold soup was so light and refreshing and was a great sign of things to come.

The other app ordered was basically a caesar salad...it had a ton of freshly grated parmesan cheese, but it's fairly simple, albeit solid salad.

We ordered an extra course to split between the three of us.  The squid ink pasta dish on their regular menu sounded delicious, and we sound found out that it tasted even better!  The broth is actually more of a light tomato based broth, there was a lot of squid which was cooked just perfectly!  The pasta was flavorful and the bold squid ink really came through as well.  This was just an awesome dish.  Our waiter was great in asking the chef to separate the entree into three small portions so we could be individually served!

The Restaurant Week entrees were also a hit.  I ordered the roasted chicken with potato puree and peas.  The chicken was roasted to perfection.  The skin was crispy and the meat juicy.  This was also a huge portion and aside from not being served with the drumstick, this was basically half a chicken!

Another entree our group ordered was the Atlantic Merzula.  Again, the protein was a fairly hearty portion and was just cooked to perfection.  The fish had an amazing crispy sear but was still so flavorful and juicy in the center.  The bouillabase broth had so much depth of flavor.

The last entree our group had was the confit of duck leg.  The parsnip puree was velvety and the cherry jus tied everything together, also served with caramelized endive and turnips.  Although a little smaller portion-wise than the other two entrees, it more than makes up for it in flavor!

The desserts were solid, but the highlights of the meal were definitely the entrees.  I would definitely come back and order off the regular menu.  Ok, on to the dessert round!  First up was the blackberry financier...

Next our group ordered the panna cotta with raspberry sauce.  This was OK as far as panna cottas go.

Finally, probably the best dessert was the trio of gelato and sorbet.  This included vanilla and caramel gelato and mango sorbet.

Again, I would definitely recommend going to Apiary, but focus on the entrees, because everything all the entrees we ordered, including the squid ink pasta dish, was just incredible. 

Apiary

60 3rd Ave 

NYC

(212) 254-0888