Dagon — Restaurant in New York

I have walked by Dagon for so many times but I never stepped inside. My dinning mate decides that we should get dinner from here so we went for an early dinner.

Decor is typical Mediterranean, more Greek with color choices. Bar is pretty, but somehow I don’t like the floor.

Appetizer Flatbread A very fluffy and aromatic bread. The rosemary just bursts in my face. The bread is stretchy with lots of aid bubbles inside. The bottom is a bit more crispy than top. It tastes me to like a cross between pita and focaccia, with all the aromatic oil and herbs drizzled on top. Funny thing is that the Chef specifically refused to slice the bread in the back kitchen as they believe the bread tastes better when it is teared freshly.

Mezz Spicy Feta As the name suggests, it is spicy. The harissa comes strong, with hints of smokiness. It is feta blended smooth so it was easy to spread.

Sasso chicken liver mousse Sweet and savory. The sweetness comes from the date syrup that compliments the natural flavor of the chicken liver. There was no reeking odor, which may attribute to the use of baharat spices. The mustard seed and the shallot break the heaviness and elevated the flavor with a caramelized savory finish. Just remember to blend the ingredients so you can get a homogeneous mixture to taste.

Muhamarra It is a very interesting one as I would have NOT come up with this combo. The roasted pepper dip topped with almond chips. The texture tastes like smooth pumpkin paste with crunchy nutty slices. The peppers have a slight charred flavor that supplements to the texture. This one is not as spicy as the spicy feta.

Small plate Shishbarak Mushroom filled dumplings with yogurt, pine nut, and spicy herb sauce. I was expecting creamy, but it was way more than just creamy. Highly recommended! The sauce was balanced with umami, tangy, creamy, nutty flavors. It is hard to elucidate all the flavors coming in at once so it was such a nice unexpected surprise.

Entrees Crispy roasted lamb Very very genius portioned lamb on the bone sitting on top of a mixture of wild rice blended with date and walnut and spices. There is also freshly sliced cucumbers to help balance the grease. The cilantro adds color and makes the dish very enticing. The lamb is braised perfectly tender. It requires no knife work as it was breakable with a fork. The meat was with a good level of lameness and aromatics. I particularly like the wild rice mixture at the bottom, which drenched with spices and the good flavorful fat from the lamb.

One thing I complain is probably the short staff. Sure I enjoy talking but we are left unattended for approximately 1 hours during busy hours when I really want to pay and leave.

They have a great early hour dinner pre-fix menu, which gives out 80USD worthy of food in under 50USD. I also heard good things about their black bass and labneh cheesecake. Now I am gonna wait for the call from my dinning mate so see when I can get the...

We went to Dagon for an outdoor birthday brunch! We were really excited about the bottomless brunch, and multiple people have recommended this place. But unfortunately we had a very bad experience. We were a party of 14 people with two toddlers and a puppy. A few of us had a bottomless brunch, which was an hour long for mimosas/Bellinis. The appetizers were great, but unfortunately everything started to go downhill from there. The waiter served us mimosas, and when we requested for another round he told us our time had expired! He told us to chug our drinks, but then said that we could not get another round! He did not even give us a heads up that the hour was up. Shortly after we had a series of accidents, starting with one of the servers dropping a mimosa on someone, followed by a bunch of plates breaking and food falling on our clothes and on our puppy. I don't know if the waiter was just unhappy that I spoke to the manager for a round of drinks that he had promised, but the highlight was him just throwing the check on the table really hard, with a toddler right across from him. What was astounding to me was I had made a reservation for a party of 14 and 2 toddlers and they wanted to charge me for brunch for the 2 babies, who didn't even eat. The reservation we made was for a three course meal, but they gave us the check without giving us dessert, so no cake for a birthday party! Took us a whole commotion and fight with the management for them to finally reduce the bill. I do not recommend this place for their service, including the manager who had a very causal attitude about the whole thing. Really terrible service to say the least! I have been to many brunches and birthdays in NYC and this has truly been the worst experience...

We visited Dagon on a Saturday afternoon for brunch. We had made a booking in advance, but it was also easy to make a time amendment on the day. We chose to sit at the bar area, as it was vibrant and very comfortable. The hostess that greeted us, the bartender, and waitressing staff were exceptional. I'm usually skeptical on brunchin' at Mediterranean restaurants, but I was so pleasantly surprised! Everything we ordered arrived promptly, the ingredients were fresh, and the portions abundant. A delicious complementary bread basket comes on arrival (brioche, pain au chocolat, sweet corn bread - YUM) and there are $24 bottomless mimosas/bellinis to indulge in. I strongly recommend the "kubaneh" (pull-apart bread) - oh my god that was delicious, soft, and filled with herbs and cheese. Undoubtedly this ranks in the top 3 breads I've ever had in my life - a high praise! The Israeli breakfast is a well-rounded plate. I was indecisive between this and the eggs Benedict (because of the Challah bread), but our server offered to substitute the breakfast's bagel with a challah bread instead. I was ecstatic and in carb overload (TOTALLY WORTH IT). The goat's cheese omelette was tasty and very satisfying as well, just be mindful of the cheese and baba ghanoush filling might be slightly too intense. I also wanted to try the pistachio french toast as dessert and will definitely visit again just for that. I advise that you don't get carried away and order additional plates for your sweet tooth given the portion sizes and the fact that the bread basket comes with sweet bread options, butter, and strawberry jam. All-in-all, 5/5 (specifically for brunch and the plates mentioned above), highly recommend, and will definitely...