COTE Korean Steakhouse — Restaurant in New York

I had a really unpleasant experience with Cote the first time I was there, but they've made it up for me and provided exponential service. (Updated)

Just like all the 1 star reviews, I also had a unpleasant birthday experience with the service here. Food was great I liked it, but Cote employees literally destroyed my birthday cake, and cocktails were poured uneven with no garnishes.

Here's my email to the AGMand support team.

Greetings!

My name is Qi Xin, I had a reservation at Cote Steakhouse on 12/10/23 10pm for four people. First of all the food taste great, but I'd like to report some unbelievable behaviors. The manager during the shift did accommodate us well in the end, and she's the one who give me your business card.

This reservation is for my birthday, the birthday cake was dropped off at 8:30pm. My boyfriend asked if we could bring in cakes, the host told him there will be a $5 fee per person, which is totally fine with us. The cake was packed with a sparkler and some candles by the pastry chef. During the end of our meal we asked for the cake, we waited for almost 20mins for the crew to bring out the cake. So we kept on following up with the request. After 15mins of waiting, I don't know who sent this girl who later I figured out was a host in training, telling my friend that cakes are not allowed in here and they're making an exception for us. So we were like ok? The moment my cake was brought to me there was a huge hole in the middle. It was obvious that it was the hole that the sparklers made. I totally understand the sparklers will make a fire hazard and I did not ask for the sparklers at all. So whoever that unpacked the cake put the sparklers in, instead of using the smaller candles. It is so obvious that's a sparkler, the circumference is tremendously larger than a regular candle. And so my cake was brought to me with a huge hole in the middle, not to mention my boyfriend customized the cake for me and it's a $150 cake just by itself. Please see the attachment for how ridiculous it looked when it was presented in front of me. And I saw it right away, and I was saying excuse me, trying to ask what happened, the person who brought the cake and other employees did not reply me or take any immediate reaction at all! I got so mad and someone called the manager asked to come over. She asked what happened and apologized etc. Accommodated us with champagne. She was just about to say sorry and leave, but I was very very disappointed, I was really on edge, and was about to cry because the cake that my boyfriend bought was distoryed by your employee's mistake, and whoever that distoryed it didn't even come and apologize. Instead you guys asked for a trainee to lie to me as of I am a fool. I am bar manager myself and the Cote team is trying to treat me like a fool, ignoring their own mistakes, and try to cover their mistakes with a lie while sending a trainee to pass false messages to us. And this was one of the incident that happened during my experience. Another thing is the cocktails, we ordered 3 espresso martinis(your house version) and it was unevenly poured, and had no garnishes. Please refer to my attachment, the very left cocktail is much less than the other two. As a bar manager myself I know how easy is it to for bartenders to pour even drinks when multiple people in one party orders the same thing. So who's supposed to take the lesser one? Not to say that a $20 drink has no garnishes. Cote is a Michelin stared restaurant and the bartenders can't present or pour drinks evenly? Eventually the manager compted the cocktails, but honestly I wasn't going to bring up the cocktails situation if it wasn't for the whole cake thing. However, I just wanted to forward this unpleasant experience at the restaurant, although the taste of everything was great, the service was very disappointing especially when the team was trying to cover their mistakes with a lie, that is rude and I feel disrespected. I don't know who did what or said what when the cake was destroyed, but I am the only...

It is very rare that my positive experience with a restaurant starts before I even walk in through the door.

I had heard how difficult it can be to secure a reservation at COTE. It would be even more challenging since I was planning on dining solo. All of COTE’s tables are made for 4. Their Resy description states that for parties of 2-3 they offer two seating options, their first and last seating. Since there was no single party option, I decided to take a chance and email them. Both Al and Jennifer went above and beyond to not only get me a table for Sunday at 5, but they also showed a true sense of professionalism and made me feel welcome through their communications. Al even reached out to say they had an indoor cancellation, so I was moved from the outdoor bungalow to an indoor table. Right off the bat I had set a high bar for COTE as my pre-meal experience was already among the best I had ever experienced.

When it came time for the actual meal, again the kindness and energy shown by the whole staff just added to enhance the experience of the meal. The Maitre d’ was warm and inviting, made some small talk about if I had been here before. If I brought my appetite. I replied it was my first meal of the day and she laughed and said I made the right decision, and boy was she right!

One small but very welcome thing I noticed is. When I was brought to my table it was setup just for 1. I have been to restaurants, including other Michelin star restaurants where the table is setup for the whole table. Here I was at a table for 4 and it had 1 plate setting. It showed a sense that they were ready just for me, and that was wonderful.

For the actual meal I went with the butcher’s feast, I added on the A5 Wagyu, and ordered 2 appetizers. The Korean Bacon, and 4 pieces of shrimp cocktail. The presentation was beautiful, and mouthwatering all at once. The shrimp was excellent, and the gochujang cocktail sauce was so savory with a hint of heat. The Korean bacon was beyond anything I could have expected. It took every ounce of strength I possessed not to order another. I really cannot stress this enough. Do not sleep on the Korean Bacon, you will regret it.

Already my meal was out of the park. Another small note. I was here solo; I had a table for four and a premium table at that. I had the table closest to the window, literally one of the best tables in the restaurant. Not once, not even for a moment did I ever feel rushed. I was always reminded to take my take. When a plate was empty it was not taken away, they asked if they could clear it each time. The meat was not slapped onto the grill. It was a very delicate dance, and that dance was executed elegantly by my server Laszlo. He was very friendly and explained the whole menu to me. He offered tips to enhance my meal, and my experience. He was engaging and I got the sense he enjoyed doing what he does.

The whole team at COTE Flatiron is wonderful, and they look out for each other and all the customers there. While Laszlo was my main server he was covering many tables. Other staff members did come by to ensure the meat was cooking properly. Not too long not to short. Other than Laszlo at least 4 other staff members came by to just check on my grill and the meat to ensure it is not at risk of being overcooked. Including Jonathan the restaurant manager. As a frequent solo diner, it is a rare experience for a manager to come check on a single table. It almost never happens.

Jonathan did pay attention to the meat on the grill. He also took the time to see how I was doing, why I came here. We talked a bit about other restaurants I had been to and how amazing my experience at COTE was.

I cannot stress enough how truly exceptional my experience her at COTE was. It blew away every expectation I had set by leaps and bounds. I eagerly await when I can go back and try to omakase experience.

One tip, come with a ravenous appetite, I know I...

i am not sure where to start. let me just say i am really disappointed by the whole experience.

first, we arrived 10mins before the reservation time. and the host was not so welcoming. it was a late time but i guess i expected too much since it has a Michelin star so i was expecting the one star deserving service. and they made us wait at the bar around 20mins which was also never experienced in other Michelin stared restaurants before. and we finally sat down. as i was sitting down, as soon as i touched the chair, i knew this restaurant is not doing something right. the chair and the table were very sticky. and on top of all this, it took them 10mins to get us menu. which was ridiculous. there were so many staff were walking by and nobody was actually trying to help. so far not so Michelin star worthy.

we ordered the boucher’s feast and steak tartare. steak tartare was nothing special. but it wasn’t bad. and then the feast combo menu was coming out. the meat was ok but way too fatty. i am a korean and i know we koreans love some marvled meat. but this was not the same. it was more of greasy than what i expected. also the staff were adding too much salt on the meat. the meat was ended up too salty. i wish they’d just give us salt so i can season it myself. and the side dishes, all of them were way too salty. i know restaurants make their food saltier than home cooked food, but even considering that fact, it was WAY too salty. especially the kimchi and soy paste stew were too salty to tingle my tongue. at this point, my friend and i were too disappointed. but we kept eating cuz we didn’t want to waste our money! maybe i shouldn’t have now as i am writing this review i am getting too thirsty because of all the sodium i consume at the restaurant.

finally we paid, which was also a problem. when i checked the total, they put the tip amount on top of the after tax total. are we starting to pay tips on tax now? this is pre set up on the machine so i am sure this is easy fix for the restaurant owner or manager to do so. please stop ripping off on customers. the owner, i am sure you are making more than enough money to pay your staff from your pocket.

and after this disappointing meat, i did final stop to the restroom. and it was a MESS. i understand it was late and almost closing but aren’t you the restaurant with a Michelin star? there was no toilet paper, hand towel, water everywhere. it was just looking way too dirty. all i could think about how clean the closed kitchen would be, when they cannot even take care of the restrooms that the customers see.

all and all, nothing was impressive. i am not sure why i expected and waited this much. having a Michelin star puts such expectations on customers, all i wanted or expected was a star deserving food and experience. i guess i expected way too much.

i do want to emphasize on the staff that helped cooking the meat, they were excellent. very attentive and helpful. this review has nothing to do with...