Cafe Kestrel — Restaurant in New York

I’d say this place is really good value in NYC. For me, everything pictured here (split with my friend) represented about $75 (including tip).

The experience is very similar to eating in a Parisian bistro, with the tables being right next to each other in a small environment. The upside to that is that the service was very good—shout out to the staff who were consistently filling my water since I drink a lot 😂

For the food, I was very impressed by the “toast” which is just a grilled baguette. I really like the charred flavor that was imparted onto the bread, which I would gladly have eaten on its own.

We were both surprised by the cafe salad, where the cheese blindsided us. We assumed it was going to be something like butternut squash, but were pleasantly surprised by how everything came together. It was a rather unusual combination that just worked.

I really enjoyed the swordfish due to how deeply charred it was.

One thing that my friend and I do at the end of these types of meals is to rank the dishes. Something that he pointed out with this establishment was that the variance of the enjoyment of our dishes was actually quite low—our favorite dish was not too far away from our least favorite dish. This observation I believe perfectly encapsulates the experience to be had here: everything is very well executed, and it’s unlikely that any individual item will leave one unsatisfied.

I give this place my recommendation, but be sure to make a...

My family and I walked in over Labor Day weekend for brunch on Sunday and loved everything about this place (the food, the garden) except for the service. My boyfriend and I both work in hospitality so we appreciate great service, but we're not unrealistic with our expectations. We just appreciate kind people who aren't overbearing or pressing, but the woman who served us was so cold and rude, it truly made us feel uncomfortable. There was no warm greeting, not even a smile, she barely spoke a word to us the entire time we were there. We were one of two tables in the garden and there were 3 tables in the front, so it's not like she was busy or anything. The 3 of us ordered the dandelion salad, French toast, poached eggs entree, zucchini blossoms, bacon and hasbrowns. Our server didn't check on us once. Never asked how our meal was, if we needed anything, literally not a word. She literally just took our order, put the plates down and we never heard from her again. The service was very robotic, truly it was like a robot was serving us, because there was just nothing personable about it. There are a lot of places in NY with good food, but it's the service that sets it apart. I dont think we'll be returning or...

The ambience at Cafe Kestrel is lovely — warm and stylish. We sat at the bar, though, and it honestly felt more like sitting at a workstation than a comfortable dining spot. The music throughout the night was great, but since the speakers were right above our heads, we had to raise our voices to talk.

We both really enjoyed the wines — they were well chosen and paired nicely with our meal. Unfortunately, the food didn’t live up to the setting or the prices. The fried mussels were drenched in oil to the point that you could barely taste the mussels. The salad verte was the best dish of the night, and the beans with anchovies were also very tasty.

We also ordered the scallops, chicken with dates, and trout, but every single dish was heavy with oil. We ended up drinking a ton of water just to get rid of the greasy coating in our mouths. When I walked by the kitchen on the way to the restroom, I noticed other plates going out looked the same — all shimmering with oil.

Overall, the vibe and wine are great, but the food quality and execution really miss the mark for the price. Hopefully they can refine the cooking, because the place itself has a lot...