Saw the hype, felt the hype, came in for dinner :) Came in for a light weekday after work dinner and drinks at the bar. Didn't venture to the main dining room but what I saw looked nice. What I liked: Fun, adventurous menu. Inventive spins on classic French dishes. Cocktail menu was pretty good and the two drinks we tried were both great. The hanger steak dish was one of the best that I've ever had. What I didn't like: Some elements of the dishes we tried were a little disappointing. I can't knock too hard on this, because I'd rather a restaurant be adventurous and take risks and that means taking some of the bad with good. I guess it's just selfish or jaded but (especially for the prices), I'd have liked everything to be stellar. The bar was pretty but I don't think I'd sit there again. It's a bit cramped, and there was an uncovered trash can directly in front of us (instead of being tucked away out of sight) and lots of cleaning materials etc. I get that it's making the most with a small space, but the mess behind the bar felt out of place and detracted from the overall feel. For a place that has a nice rustic charm to their menu, I think they're missing an opportunity to feature complex local sours and saisons (there were only 2 beers available if I recall correctly). Also, for a $9 draft I expect a 16oz pour, not a 12oz. Welp. I just gave 4 stars and wrote about three times more about things that I didn't like. I guess that's normal - when you like a place, you want to see it be a place you can love. read more

The restaurant was packed but for the life of me I couldn't figure out why. Fancy names for food and when it appears at your past u think "what!?" Nothing special. Three voices on the menu for dinner. A meat , fish , foul. After sending the hen back, ( too much work to cut and chew ) I got what looked like a beautiful sirloin , but honestly that was hard to Chew too. Lots of veggies to hide the small protein portions. Veggies were delicious. Expensive for really nothing food. Service was excellent. read more

Great food, well priced wine and the service is super - we will be back soon !!! Loved the steak and the pulled pork was delicious. They also have great coffee. read more

Service was ok, not amazing but way overpriced, almost $40 plus tax and tip for a main. While the steak was cooked medium rare, it was very chewy so it was not that enjoyable. The guinea hen was under seasoned but the there was a blob of something on the small dish of peppers so I didn't want to use it. I was pretty disappointed overall and wouldn't recommend the place. read more

This place blew me away. Just opened and already on my list of favorites in the city. fresh and creative dishes. The gnocchi and fish stew were my favorites... But really you can't go wrong. Everything we ate was excellent. Wonderful service and atmosphere as well. Staff went above and beyond to make our experience comfortable and memorable. read more

The talented trio running King really know what they're doing. The restaurant actually fills a niche: an unpretentious welcoming place serving uncomplicated but sophisticated food. If ribollita is on the menu when you visit, order it. On a cold blustery winter evening in New York City, it is immediately restorative. Yes, it's a soup, and it comes in a bowl, but you can eat it with a fork (we did). Beyond hearty. Onglet -- hangar steak -- arrived perfectly charred on the outside, rare as ordered within. On a bed of polenta and rosemary. It totally satisfied. The menu changed daily and they cook what looks good that day. So there's an element of "people are coming to dinner tonight! What have we got?" that helps the place achieve its air of informal but warm and accomplished hospitality. Service staff is charming and well informed. read more

Amazing food, decor and atmosphere. All dishes are composed with simple, super high quality ingredients and cooked to perfection. Yes, it's not a long menu, but everything is delicious. This isn't the sort of place that tries to jam in a million ingredients and flavors into every dish. But all dishes are meticulously thought out and crafted to strike the perfect balance of flavors. Wine list and recommendations are awesome as well! read more

We were disappointed in the quality of the meal in relation to the prices and other positive reviews. Menu is extremely limited and a dish like rabbit en cocotte was mostly just beans with some tiny slivers of meat. At these prices every dish should hit it out of the park. Wines were good, but pours are incredibly stingy- I've never had to bring this up in a restaurant before and the manager made me feel like I was being a cheapskate. Learn some hospitality or you'll be out of business in a year. One and done. read more

I sat down for my birthday dinner with my brother in law, ordered a bottle of Sancerre, the Lobster Dish and then the Hanger Steak for entree. Two bites into my steak the waiter spilled my entire glass of white wine over my dish. It obviously ruined the dish, so the waiter immediately and quietly cleared everything off the table (my brother eats fast, so his Mackerel dish was already done). The waiter brought back water glasses, the same wine glasses, and freshened each glass with a pour. He then asked if we'd like dessert. I said, "Well, I'm still very hungry, is there anyway we could have some food, maybe replace the steak?" He said, "The kitchen is closed, but I can offer you some dessert, and I was going to take the steak off your check." Anyways, the summary of the story is there wasn't one "Sorry," no apology at all, just a move forward like business as usual. We've never not left a tip at a restaurant in our entire lives. This restaurant will forever be that first experience, on my 30th birthday, with my brother. I was excited for this place, and it turned into the worst dining experience I have had in my 30 years in Manhattan. read more

This place had unbelievable service. Not often you find that in NYC. Great outside spot with cocktails, delicious food and incredible service . (I even forgot my purse and our waiter ran down the block to find me to return it to!) I will definitely be back. read more

On food alone, it would be a 5. We had steak, sea bass, and fennel salad in anchovy dressing, and all were basically flawless, if a little pricey. The wine was good, but the cocktails were not on par with the food -- whiskey drink sitting in ice too long and rum drink more something you would expect in a tiki hut on the beach than at a nice restaurant in Manhattan. The waitress was friendly and knowledgable, but obviously over-extended and thus somewhat less than attentive; given the prices, service should have been a little better (more waiters and waitresses?). One other complaint -- it was so loud! I don't know much about restaurant design, but surely a little something could be done about the acoustics. Anyway, despite the complaints, I would go back, because, once again, the food was excellent. read more

Came here for dinner. Food was fantastic, limited menu, so we got everything on the menu between our party of 5 and everyone loved their dishes. Only gripe was that the restaurant is really small, so if you're seated next to the kitchen, you sort of feel like you are sitting in the kitchen with them moving dishes around, clanking of pots, etc. Otherwise, love this addition to the neighborhood and will definitely be back! read more

My husband and I really enjoyed our dinner at King -- the panisse (chickpea fritters) alone were worth the trip -- where the food was generally very good (though a touch on the oily/salty side for my taste) and the service lovely. It was more hectic and noisy than I had expected, especially for a Monday night, but the only thing I didn't really like was the soundtrack, basically club music, with its thumping bass. I love music, but that bass in a restaurant drives me right up a wall. read more

Terrible management. They did not honor our reservation for 6 people at 8pm for my daughter's birthday dinner. We waited for 40 minutes in their no space entry as the tiny bar was packed. Our table was occupied by another party still having dessert and coffee 40 minutes past our reservation time. They obviously seated them too close to our reservation. They offered us nothing and told us to go next door for drinks as they had no space in their bar. The manager was rude and completely unsympathetic to the fact that they ruined our birthday celebration. We were forced to find another restaurant at 8:40pm for our group of 6 significantly damaging what should have been a happy occasion. I emailed management and received no reply. Obviously this staff should not be in the hospitality business. read more

Came here with 3 friends. I was blown away by the quality of the food and service. It is creative, inventive, shockingly good. The menu changes every day. It is so fresh and just amazing. We had the beef, guinea hen, a special chickpea soup. And the apple pie is incredible. We will be coming back! read more

The restaurant's hygiene is a bit dubious. The server handled the straw that I requested for my drink with bare hands and dipped his finger in my drink while putting it in my drink. Totally UNACCEPTABLE. I have been sick since then read more

Went because of NY Times review. Food nothing special. Fried chickpea appetizer was too oily with too much rock salt. Appetizer of octopus under seasoned and octopus was too soft. Ox Tongue tough and who accentuates the tip of the tongue when plating?!? It was kept whole and full of phallic symbolism. Pork chop came whole even when we ordered to share, probably to hide how unevenly cooked it was - well done on sides, medium in some parts and raw in center. Not appetizing at all. Halibut entree skin was not crisp even though dish was okay. White beans were mushy. Glass of wine was more like half glasses. Skipped dessert. Go only if you know one of owners- better food and service - the table next to us was treated much better. I was sad they didn't treat all patrons the same way. Bartender was friendly and knowledgeable. He gets the full star. read more

This is my favourite type of evening: home-cooked food but done perfectly and with confidence, a buzzy but still comfortable atmosphere, a mix of regulars and newcomers, people of all ages, delicious (and strong!) cocktails and an exciting wine list. The menu changes daily, we had the asparagus (reminded me of my grandma's dinner parties in France growing up) and the ricotta ravioli (this is my death row meal, and was perfect). The steak was incredible, and the chocolate tart was light and magical, I've definitely never had anything like it before. I've been here for the Sunday lunch as well, and it is the PERFECT way to spend a Sunday. Perfect bloody marys, delicious food which feels both homey and fancy (ideal whether you are hungover or not), and a very friendly crowd and service. read more

The food was very heavy on the butter and average at best. The bill was exorbitant, coming out at twice the amount it merited. A day later and I'm still smarting. I feel as if I have been violated. They should apologize to New York. read more

We were so,looking forward to trying King. The decor and ambience is very pleasant. The waitress made mistake with the order and then the starter came. The quail was way too salty. After several glasses of water to quench the salt the mai arrived. I had the tail fish. The fish was well prepared but the accompaniment (like a pesto) was mostly salt. My wife's dish was well prepared but for the salt. While not as bad as mine it was inedible. If you want to reduce your chances of blood pressure issues avoid King. read more

Excellent balance of gustatory delights and ambiance: a sensory delight. Perfectly prepared meat dishes and desserts. Veal with artichoke appetizer and onglet with chick peas and spinach were tender and delicious. Apple with prune and Pernod biscotti topped off with sunny Sauvignon Blanc: heavenly and worth returning to read more

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Heard about King from a lady in an Uber Pool. My boyfriend is from London and his favorite restaurant is the River Cafe, where the chefs come from. The restaurant is absolutely lovely and the staff was friendly. We definitely experienced a dining experience that felt the growing pains of a new restaurant - the staff didn't know the menu, the food took quite a while despite small number of patrons. However, once the staff realized my boyfriend was from London, the chef came out and greeted us and was a delight to speak to. The chocolate cake was the best part of the meal. Ultimately, look forward to trying again once they've sorted out the new restaurant kinks. read more

Place had 3 entrees to choose from and 4 appetizers. Overly pretentious for what it's worth. Food is fine, not great. Won't be back.

Had an exceptional meal with the wife last night. The cocktails were inventive, and I look forward to trying the others when we return. Shared the octopus starter, then the guinea hen for two, and then both the date tart and the vin santo parfait. All were were excellent. The sense of joy among the other diners, and the upbeat demeanor of the staff, were unmistakable. read more

Truly excellent. Starters (we had the crispy artichoke and the octopus- perfectly prepared) were delicious, entree (halibut and accompanying tapenade) was divine, cocktails and wine were as perfect as one could imagine. The entire meal was well balanced, fresh and interesting yet simply and elegantly prepared. No detail too small, the espresso was extremely good and dessert (date and cognac tart) topped off an already five-star meal. Atmosphere is on-point for an evening out with friends or family: elegant but not fussy. Service is attentive and welcoming. With the rotating menu, this will be one of those restaurants we'll want to come back to again and again. Highly recommend for both locals and visitors alike. read more

I was so excited to eat here. We showed up at 9:40 pm hoping to have a delicious meal last minute but we were not able to sit down because the kitchen was closed at 9:30. Meanwhile 2/3 of the tables were occupied and the restaurant was no where near being done. And the hours on yelp and google say it closed at 11 pm. Despite how good the food is, I think it's really poor customer service for a restaurant to tell a customer they ran out of food at 9:30. That is not a good enough excuse. I was really disappointed. I'm not sure if I will go back. read more

Just had a birthday lunch with my wife and two friends and we were all blown away. The food is incredible without any of the pretension so many restaurants fall into, the staff couldn't be better (they made us feel like guests in their own home) and the ambiance delightful. If you've never been, go now. If you have been, make sure you return. Just don't get the last table - I want to make sure there's room for me! read more

Amazing food, delightful, warm and gracious service. The perfect restaurant. Lovely setting and even quiet enough to have a conversation with fellow diners. We sat near the kitchen so had the benefit of not only eating great food but also seeing all the other yummy dishes being prepared for other tables. Can't wait to go back and eat everything we saw but didn't order! read more

Fantastic food, terrific service, and a warm ambiance. I ate at King two weeks ago and am still thinking about the steak I ordered, which was perfectly seasoned and tender. The malfatti and chocolate cake were wonderful as well. Highly recommend! read more

The flatbread they brought to the table was absolutely wonderful but that was the last thing I could eat - the ricotta cheese salad invention had not a drop of seasoning to it - my husband was given the worst cut of hangar steak which cost a fortune for the cheapest cut of meat (called something better-sounding in French of course) - he left half of it on the plate - my food (I ordered whatever I could find that was vegetarian) was tasteless - it was VERY expensive - the table next to us HATED their meal - a lobster which was work-intensive and not worth the bother - menu changes daily so you don't know what "creative" dish you'll be left with read more

Really delicious meal. Limited menu but everything on it was as good as it gets. Possibly the best pork chops we've ever had. My husband and I sat at the bar, which is very small but cozy. As is the whole restaurant. Very nice wine list by the glass. Additionally, the bartender, Peter, was a total delight. And he knows how to make a proper negroni. Already looking forward to our next visit. read more

Despite all the publicity the restaurant has garnered, the food was mediocre at best. A pasta appetizer at $19 had about 12 strands of pasta and a cafeteria-type tomato sauce. It arrived lukewarm and without any serving utensil. The snapper entrée -- under-seasoned to the point of blandness and over-cooked, with fennel that was basically raw. The Ceresuolo-d'Abruzzo rosé -- a $12 bottle at retail -- was $65, and the least-expensive red, a Côte-de-Rhone of average quality, was $70. To say I was underwhelmed was an understatement. read more

If you truly appreciate and love really good food prepared by very, very talented chef's, you will love King. This was our first visit to King and it will not be our last! The space is small but very welcoming and the acoustics are very good. We came for lunch and started with the Carta di Musica with chile, butter & anchovy and the Insulata d'Inverno with fresh Ricotta, marjoram and warm walnuts. Both were so good and light! For our main courses we had the Chicken Paillard and the Ravioli. Each was so delicious we had to ask for bread to sop up the sauces in our plates and they didn't just give us bread....they toasted some Italian bread drizzled with excellent olive oil-outstanding!! For dessert, we had the olive oil cake and the lemon semifreddo. The cake was warm with a wonderful crust and the semifreddo had such a fresh lemon flavor. The service was great from start to finish. It's been quite a while since we have been this impressed with a restaurant so the recommendation is to run, don't walk to King! read more

Unimaginative and tepid food. I wouldn't bother. This place really needs work. They got a good review months back and now they don't feel like they need to keep working at it to consistently deliver good food. I was so disappointed. My lobster was just a grilled or oven broiled with some lemon juice on it. I could have done that. Not worth the money read more

A disappointing meal. We love The River Cafe in London and were excited to try this new neighbourhood restaurant opened by two former River Cafe chefs. Sadly it did not live up to expectations. My starter, bruschetta, featured tepid borlotti beans and burnt bread. My main course, skate with artichokes and spinach, was undercooked. Our waiter was not eager to take the fish to be cooked a little more. Eventually he did agree. We were given no apology. Such a shame. This restaurant is pretty expensive and has potential to be so much better. read more

King offers a perfect dinner and a perfect evening. Both the restaurant and the menu are small, but selectively assembled. The dining room is intimate but lively. The tables are comfortably arranged, the lighting is balanced and the service is very attentive, friendly and unhurried. The menu is revised daily with a limited selection of excellent choices. Four of us each had excellent fish, duck and beef. A wonderful evening. read more

I was excited to try this reataurant and went last month. The food was sloppy and luke warm. The 'chef' [ real sour puss. you know who u r] if you want to call her that was so rude to the 2 guys seated next to us when they sent back their steak as they said it was cold. She came out and told them that's how it is supposed to be served! My pasta was over cooked and had zero flavor. The girl at the front desk was also rude when we got their too with such a bad attitude. Very odd, entitled feeling all round though our waitress was so nice, thankfully. They ride so much on the coattails of River cafe in UK but really? I sent my pasta back and the same rude cook came out and confronted me! So childish and unprofessional. There are so many great restaurants in the area so avoid at all costs. Note to chef: if you are going to be a diva you better be a FANTASTIC cook and you, very simply, are not. read more

Went there yesterday with high expectations and was quite disappointed. The main reason was the poor waiter I had. It all started with the water, no ice, I had to ask for some. Then I had to dig it out of him to explain the menu, because I cannot read French or Italian. His explanations were poor and unappetizing because he did not know the menu. Then I asked for bread which he completely forgot to bring and when they did it was a half of a slice. I did complain about this and then two half slices arrived (a bounty). Bread is probably the cheapest thing a restaurant offers and boy did this look stingy. The waiter then brought me an alcoholic drink that was not mine. The waiter was very snobby and unwelcoming and acted like everything was a burden for him to do. The food was just okay and for the price it was not good. I had a cheese ravioli with chopped zucchini on top which arrived downright cold and then I had trout with almonds which was just okay and cold again. The trout had a seaweed on top of it which I usually like but this seaweed was like dumping a pile of salt on top of the fish so the entire dish simply tasted like salt. I find restaurants like this try things for the novelty rather than for the way it actually tastes which was not good in this case. The menu is very limited so there were not a whole lot of choices. For the high prices and poor service it is not going to be on my return list. I often go to a very small French bistro in midtown where the owner is there and waits on tables, the food is consistently excellent and the prices are about half of this place. This bistro looks awfully good again. read more

Hmm..not sure what all the hype is about. Got a reservation on a Friday (had to put down a credit card to hold it, $60 cancellation fee) and showed up on time. We waited around 5 minutes to be seated and were led to the back room. It's really a beautiful restaurant. The ambience was definitely the best part and it's great for a date night. I'm not sure if it's just because we came on a day where the menu wasn't great (it changes daily), but it the food was lacking. We started with two cocktails which our server messed up. He swapped our drinks by accident so neither of us really liked what we had but didn't realize it was because we had each others drinks. Then we ordered to octopus to start and the dish was lukewarm. Not sure if it was meant to be cold or hot but it made the dish kind of odd. Some pieces were warm and others were just cold. The texture also felt like the octopus had been stewing for a while. The pieces were too soft for my taste. For the entrees my friend got the skate which he liked and I ordered the steak (medium rare). The steak was super chewy and also kind of cold. Bummer. We decided to give dessert a shot and got the chocolate tart with creme fraiche which was the best part of the meal. The tart paired with the sourness of the creme fraiche, was delicious. With all the restaurants in the city, I always ask myself if a place is worth returning to. I wouldn't add this to the list. The bill came to about $215 for two and I couldn't justify the price. I'm also wondering why the word "Michelin" is being thrown around on this page. They have a lonnnngg way to go before that happens. The only thing really worth seeing is the physical restaurant itself, the food and drinks left me disappointed. read more

I debated whether I should review a restaurant that just opened as any restaurant is going to be working out kinks for a while. However, after our meal last night, it is clear that this restaurant should still be in "friends and family" mode, and that, if they are going to be charging full price, they are fair game for a review. I'll preface this by saying we came here for our 1 year anniversary after failing to get into Le CouCou or Mimi and having just read the Grub Street profile on the restaurant that sounded very promising. Starting with the positives, the decor is nice, with a small bar in one room with a few bar tables, and a cozy back room that probably seats 30 or so people. Tables are set nicely with high quality stemware (Riedel) something too many restaurants forget to spend money on (although Charlie Bird across the street will give you Zaltos and serve you wine properly, but we will get to that...). The restaurant was full so the noise level was pretty high, but I prefer that to it being quiet. The food was fine but not notable, and not due to any "just opened" hiccups, it was just kind of boring. They serve Southern French/Northern Italian food, of which I am a big fan having been to both regions in the last two years. - Malfatti - best dish of the evening, nice ricotta dumplings with sage or marjoram (can't remember) - Veal with artichokes - similar veal to what you would get in Piedmont if ordering Vitello Tonnato, but without the tuna sauce. Fine but a bit bland, overpriced at $21 - Chickpea fries - this was supposed to come first with our Prosecco, but they forgot it and brought it after the apps. Delicious nonetheless, crispy outside and creamy inside. - Braised rabbit - underwhelming. The white meat (...not a rabbit expert) was very dry, the dark was much better. This came with sorrel and some potatoes with not much of a sauce to speak of. Small. $29 - Seafood Stew - maybe I am jaded from having just spent a week in Portugal and eating their version of a bouillabaisse while sitting on the beach, but unless the Portuguese do a much better version than the french (I have not been to Marseille), this was a poor rendition. Half a maybe 1lb lobster, 4 littleneck clams, and a small portion of white fish in broth with a crostini and some aioli. Everything was cooked perfectly, but at $36, it was a skimpy portion, and cracking lobster seemed out of place in this setting. The broth was serviceable but lacked the depth of flavor that makes a dish like this. The main issue of the evening was the service, but again, they had just opened so its to be expected and I won't elaborate on all of the issues. However, the wine service was truly abysmal, and I fault the restaurant and the person running the front of house, not our waiter who tried to handle the following situation as best he could. We were excited to see they had two Corsican wines on their brief list as we had honeymooned in Corsica last year. We ordered the less expensive bottle, and about 10 minutes later were told by the person running the front of house that they had run out. Not sure how you run out of something on your list 3 nights into being open, but OK. The other bottle was over $200 so that wasn't an option. Next up was one of their two Beaujolais, which was brought out and poured, but must have been stored outside all day as it was well above room temp (probably 90+ degrees, really warm). We asked them if they could chill it down, 10 minutes later it was brought out at nearly the same temp (no ice buckets in house?). At this point we are done with our starters and just want some wine, so we ask them to bring the other Beaujolais if it was a reasonable temperature. It's poured and is refrigerator temperature (ie 40 degrees). Not wanting to complain any more, we drink it, and frankly I don't mind chilled red wine. But they really need to invest in a wine fridge here, maybe only the "private cellar" $500+ wines on their list are kept in one? Suffice to say we did not stay for dessert, and left $260 poorer. I've been to friends and family soft openings, and you can forgive the food and service issues because 1) you probably know the people running the restaurant and 2) you are not paying full freight. At $260, this was an unacceptable meal. The person running the front of house who clearly was a restaurant professional (I believe one of the owners) and not a newly hired waiter was aware of the service issues, but did not take the opportunity to make it up to us. They could have taken the prosecco we started with off the bill, or brought dessert, maybe offered the higher priced Corsican wine at cost (pipe dream!) when the other "ran out". I don't expect restaurants to necessarily do these types of things, but a little gesture can overcome an otherwise poor experience. We finished our anniversary evening at our local Hillstone, as sacrilegious as that may seem, where we knew what we would get. read more