Bloomingdale Road

CLOSED DOWN.
for rent sign in the window today.

More like 2.5 stars. The place was better than expected. I have to agree on some of the other reviewers stating portion size to price is not of value. Service was friendly and very attentive. The place used to be AIX and has been livened up quite a bit and the kitchen is now open so you can see all the activity if you sit within view. However, it does get a little loud in there with the low ceilings.
I dined with my girlfriend and her mom, so it was a fun place to take someone to share lots of little plates. I was very impressed with the sliders. We started with both sets of sliders. The green chili cheese was better than the pulled chicken, but both were still pretty tasty. The burger on the slider was cooked to perfection and the fries were hand cut and tasty. We shared the coca-​cola roasted ham, which was fair and a small portion. We also had the pancetta and fig salad, sauteed shrimp and steak tar tare. All of these dishes were great and would get them again. I would pass on the lobster bisque though as it was mediocre at best and had little to no lobster flavor. Also, I kinda expect lobster meat in a lobster bisque not crab, but I am not the chef.
I did not try any of the entrees but none of them were jumping off the menu saying try me, try me. I would go back to have a light meal with the share plates again. I am hoping this place will survive these times.

I had been wanting to try this place for a while because it looked so cute and I had heard great reviews.
When I finally got around to trying this place, we had a mediocre experience. I had the ham and cheese ravioli, which was pretty tasty, but it was a little pricey for the portion size. Our waiter was also very neglectful and it would take forever for us to order more wine or to get our check. Bloomingdale Road is a cute place, but didn’t live up to all the hype I had heard.
The décor is beautiful though, and would be a good date place.

My department came here for holiday lunch, despite the iffy reviews. We were all a little worried. It was the first real snowday, we got in… place was empty. We were a little more worried, but figured it would be an amusing lunch nonetheless: P Anyway… first thing we noticed, aside from the emptiness, was the open kitchen with slabs of meat sitting out on a rolling island. Occasionally someone would come over and start chopping at it. My coworker said he’d pay me $ 20 to go grab one and wrap it in newspaper and take it home: P I did not. Anyway, it was a little weird. We all just kept looking back at the meat laying there… hahaha
We ordered a bunch of cocktails. I’m not a big drinker, so I don’t think I can rate the taste of the cocktails or anything (and I usually don’t find them that tasty to begin with anyway), some got one, some got cocktails, some thought they were too sweet and just stuck with wine. I had a couple, they were okay. Pomegranate sparkler was kind of gross… but maybe that’s because I’ve decided I don’t like pomegranate in my vodka… and I’m not a huge fan of champagne. And they put a sprig of rosemary on top — weird. Second drink was the Bloomingdale Manhattan — bourbon and some fruity mixes. That one was better. Also — they make them strong!
The food — none of us were too thrilled with the menu. It was lunch, so it was smaller, not much to choose from. We ordered the deviled eggs — delicious! Everyone loved those. And the cheese plate was okay, but we had to order extra bread. A few of my coworkers got a soup, I can’t recall which, but they all enjoyed it. For my main meal, I got the meatball sandwich (with no cilantro, yuck), it was pretty tasty… yet I think I like subways meatball sandwich more. I don’t know what that says about my taste… or the restaurant we were at. Hahahaha. Anyway, it was okay. The fries were FANTASTIC. mmm. I also tried a bit of everything else that was ordered.
Coca cola ham sandwich — eh… it wasn’t bad, but I wouldn’t have been able to eat the whole thing, the flavor was just too much (it didnt taste like coke… it was just too much… something), the chicken sliders were pretty tasty and my coworkers loved them, also the tiny burger was tasty as well. And the macaroni and cheese… we all agreed it was the best thing there, and that any of us would go back just for the mac and cheese: P Mmm… we ordered another too.
So yeah it was a good lunch I suppose! we enjoyed ourselves, service was very nice, a few more people came in to eat… maybe it was the bad weather and the fact that it was lunch keeping it away, but it was seriously empty: P I think there’s potential, as others have said. Probably wouldn’t take visiting guests there or anything.

I am giving Bloomingdale Road 4 stars. Looking through the other posts, it is apparent that this place had some opening week issues.
I thought that the service was good, the quality of the food was excellent, and the menu was creative, interesting and changes frequently. The décor is warm and the bar area is friendly and inviting. I’d definitely like to stop in for a drink and small plate sometime.
Spiced Butternut Squash Dip toasted fruit bread — Only OK. The delicate dip was overwhelmed by the incredible sweetness of the raisin bread.
Smoked Deviled Eggs — Fantastic. Four large deviled eggs.
Pulled BBQ Chicken Sliders — tasty, and almost large enough for an entrée portion.
Duck Confit Terrine brandied cherries & cracklings — Awesome.
Smoked Rainbow Trout Filet — Delicate and flavorful.
I like the bar in this place. Great for a quick drink and an appetizer.

Interesting chef (Ed Witt) and menu. The menu doesn’t fit any particular nook. If you want that natural, creative, rustic, American-​ish cuisine. This is the place.
Had tasting menu ($ 55), with the wine pairing (extra $ 40).
1. Sesame seed crusted fried oysters– okay. I prefer my seafood raw .
2. Seared foie gras with apples and mint — tasty. Not too salty or have that paste feeling .
3. Poached mackerel with taragon and mushrooms — The best out of the five dishes. It was fantastic and not fishy at all
4. Pork shoulder from a farm in Clinton Corners, NY with roasted chestnuts, sage and greens — was disappointed after the fish
5.Panna cotta on a base of caramel sauce and housemade «oreo» cookies– was okay if you like sugar and cookies.
Service– When asked what is on the menu to the waiter. He didn’t know… had to wait for chef. Chef knowledgeable and friendly, took pictures with us.
Unique factors
1. Bread on the table– Brioche in a metalcan with rosemary butter was good.
2. The bill came in a book.
3. Chef has alot of tattooes.
Four stars —
2 for the menu
1 for the wine
1 for the chef

I dropped by Bloomingdale Road today and had a really great time! I nibbled on a few appetizers and kibitzed with the staff and I have to say I had a really great time!
I am going back again next week and will revisit this review then. Give them a shot. Great location, good pricing, GREAT DRINKS (sit at the bar…)

CLOSED!!! I should have known better and listened to my fellow Unilocalers and not gone to the place, but alas, I am not that bright. This place sounds good in theory but not in execution. The cheese plate was decent but who serves a cheese plate with no fruit or nuts? Also not well-​presented. The chicken sliders sounded good but were on poorly toasted baguette slices and really nothing special. Our wine was good and not too highly priced– $ 40 for a good bottle. The mac n’ cheese was the only good food we had and they didn’t give us a spoon to scoop it, so it turned out to be challenging to eat. I don’t think this place is going to last too long.

No no no… this is a fussy, over thought menu and considering the hype on the chef, I certainly expected a much better meal.
We told the waiter we would be sharing (we were four for dinner) and each dish was presented with tiny cutsy utensils — that made things difficult to begin with.
The duck confit was a little hockey puck in a jar (?) and it was cold and unappealing, none of us liked it. The Mac & Cheese was not hot either and had about ½ teaspoon of baco-​bits in a little pile on the side of the plate. The french fries with BBQ chicken on top (waiters suggestion — YUK) was a pile of not hot, not pretty and not tasty goo. The hamburger sliders were cold (see a pattern here) and not good and served on thin stale slices of bread. There was a tuna tartar, that was decent, actually the only decent thing on the table. There were other things and none of them were memorable… only that it was a very ordinary meal for too much money.
The chef was there and we asked to say hello and welcome him to the neighborhood and wish him luck (we were not planning to comment on the food, nor did we, nor did he ask). If only people would tell the truth to the people who need to hear it.
ps…they didn’t get a martini made right… twice.

Not as bad as the reviews are saying (at least at NY Mag) but not nearly as good as it could be. The idea is there — American tapas — but the execution and menu are all over the place. True, we only went during their second week, so there’s a lot to get ironed out still. The pulled chicken actually gets you a good amount of food for your buck, which is fairly rare at Bloomingdale.
I would give it a higher grade for an app and a drink-​type place, but not for a full dinner. Share some appetizers and some wine here, it’s low-​key and friendly — just not ready for prime-​time yet.

(Almost) made me miss Aix. Service was sincere but haphazard. Atmosphere young, hip, frenetic. Food sub sub par. Bland, boring. If you want great tapas in the neighborhood, you’d do better at Buceo on W. 95.

They use measuring cups people!!!
I recently moved way uptown from the LES and have been feeling a little out of sorts with the difference in the restaurant scene… to say the least… so I was rather excited that this joint was opening. So after a day of painting my apartment, I got all cleaned up and headed over for an early-​ish dinner at the bar — my favourite way to dine. I got a seat on the end of the back of the bar, (up a couple steps that I’d say aren’t very well marked given the amount of waitstaff that tripped over them!) right next to the service station.
Perhaps this location had something to do with my low opinion of this place — they have absolutely NO IDEA what they’re doing there!!! The head bartender was yelling at every runner who showed up with food for the bar that they needed to bring the ticket from the kitchen because no one knew who ordered what. Come on! I spent years in the restaurant business and it’s not that difficult to know where your food goes!!! Especially when there are five bartenders working! Finally, after he yelled this order at yet another busser, someone came out of the kitchen and told him the chef said they can’t do that. Of course they can’t do that! These people are ordering multi-​courses of small plates! The kitchen NEEDS the ticket!!!
Alright, so working the service kinks out aside, the head bartender comes up to me and asks me what I’d like. (I warn you this might get a little long — the details are key.) «Ketel one gimlet up with fresh lime, no sugar» I say. He walks away, looks around rather puzzled, and comes back to tell me they don’t have ketel one. So I say okay, make it Belvedere. He pauses, and says «we don’t have Belvedere either.» So I look at him and say «why don’t you tell me what you do have.» And he proceeds to give me this speech about how they are concentrating on very small organic purveyors and they only have vodkas from small local distilleries and would I like to try something new? So as I’m wondering why the hell he didn’t just start out with this speech in the first place, that would seem the logical thing to do if this is your schtick as a new restauruant… I say sure and he goes off to make me my drink. I note here that while I“m waiting, I look at the row of bottles behind the bar and lo and behold, what do I see but a bottle of Stoli, a bottle of Absolut and a bottle of Grey Goose — So much for the «we only serve organic vodka from small local distilleries» schpiel.
And here is where the real horror begins! He grabs a measuring cup off the bar — not a shot glass, no, my friends, a measuring cup! They’re all over the bar in two different sizes! And EVERYTHING is measured precisely — they can’t pour a glass of water without measuring it! (Okay I exaggerate slightly.) And he proceeds to measure out what I assume was a perfect 2 ounces of vodka for my drink. Then he grabs the pre-​made lime juice (note: I asked for fresh lime) and he measures the exact same amount as the vodka (!!) and throws it in the shaker with my «organic vodka from a small local distillery.» !!
So after serving me my very green drink, he comes over a little while later to ask me how I’m enjoying my «organic vodka from a small local distillery» and I have to tell him, I can’t tell– there’s so much lime in my drink I can’t taste anything else. He wasn’t amused. At this point, I’m completely turned off, and I’m watching the food go by — these really unappetizing-​looking chicken balls (really, the bartender called them chicken balls) on tiny wire sticks, stuck in a piece of wood; the slider plate; and the mac and cheese with a tray of stuff to throw in — bacon bits, and two other things I cant recall now; and decided to pass on eating. So no, I cannot rate the food other than to say that what I witnessed was so already done to death (when, oh god, when will we be DONE with the slider plate??? I thought we already were!) It just seemed to lack any real imagination or innovation and was just another hackneyed new American bistro-​whatever wanna-​be hip and pretentious joint that can’t quite cut it.
So I paid the $ 14 for my organic vodka and grabbed the first train down to the LES where I had a great meal and a real bloody cocktail with actual vodka in it!
And what’s with the blue lightbulbs? Who looks good in that light?

We stopped in this past Friday and had a nice enough time although they REALLY need to get their act together if they expect to be reviewed by many critics. We had clicked on the website link from another site to discover the site was only one page. And the business cards were pieces of paper. I had read 2 reviews online as well as in Time out Magazine, and both reviews noted the cedar planked salmon. Since I LOVE cedar planked salmon and haven’t had one in so long, I kinda wanted to check the place out. We got our reservation pretty last minute on
, and I’m glad we did because the wait for walk-​ins was 2 hours. The place was pretty noisy, which my boyfriend didn’t care for. But it had a lot of personality. The waitress, although very friendly, seemed to spend the entire night apologizing. I heard her apologize to the tables on either side of us for delayed timeliness of food as well as improper preparation of food. I kind of felt bad for her, and I don’t mind the apologizing, although it definitely made the restaurant seem less professional.
The cedar planked salmon I came for was no longer on the menu, much to my disappointment. Why change the menu right after opening??? I ordered the updated version of the salmon and thought it was good. My boyfriend had the lamb and said it was good. We also got the butternut squash spread which came with 4 slices of raisin bread to dip. It was delicious, but there was in no way enough bread. And lastly we got the mac and cheese. It came with bacon and jalapeño slivers as well as breadcrumbs on the side and I thought it was tasty, although I am not a mac and cheese connoisseur.
There was some charm to the place– the bread came baked in tin cans and was delicious; the check came in a worn out book; the bar had a self-​serve tap with water in it for people to help themselves.
We will probably go again, but only once it has been up and running for a bit longer.

«In 2 months, this place will be a 4-​star,» said my boyfriend. And it’s true. The food was solid, interesting and delicious. The service needs a lot of work. A couple of things that went wrong: we ordered all small plates with the «biggest» dish being the sliders. They arrived first and weren’t particularly hot. They forgot one of our dishes altogether. All the other dishes, including the soup, arrived at the exact same time, filling our tiny table to capacity with food. I had asked for a description of one of the dishes and the waiter very confidently described it all wrong. The drinks sounded interesting but weren’t that good. It might improve a lot with time, I’m hoping that it will, or it might be one of those UWS places that just doesn’t make it.