Levant on Smith — Restaurant in New York

My girlfriend and I visited for dinner and had a great meal. The food was delicious, the service was attentive, and on such a chilly evening we particularly appreciated the warm atmosphere. While there were a few nitpicks, our overall experience was more than sufficiently pleasant to bring us back, and I look forward to visiting again.

We split a few dishes:

• The black garlic gnocchi with mushrooms and chicken: This one was outstanding, and is likely the dish that will bring us back. As someone who appreciates all (most?) things fermented, I've wanted to try black garlic for a while—and now I'm upset at myself for waiting for so long. All of the fragrant and savory flavors combined wonderfully. Presentation was elegant too, with an intriguing black parmesan(?) tuile garnish.

• The wagyu steak tartare: We found this one delicious. It was nicely dressed, not too light on the capers and shallots but not too heavy either. I particularly appreciated the sharp, spicy mustard (I'd have guessed there was horseradish in, but the menu said otherwise). We both thought the large portion warranted one more toast than was provided.

• The sea scallops with cauliflower puree, asparagus, and caviar: We also found this dish pleasant, though second to the tartare if we had to rank them. We both tend to prefer scallops with a darker sear, though the light sear on these allowed for quite a delicate texture and a lighter flavor that played nicely with the cauliflower, asparagus, and the savory caviar. I think the purée could have used a little salt, but the caviar mostly countered that.

• The chocolate soufflé with crème anglaise: teeny, presented in an adorable little ramekin, pleasantly warm and rich in flavor. We were (easily) convinced to order an accompanying scoop of ice cream, which lent a nice contrasting temperature. There was also a neat bit of performance on the part of the server cutting an "X" into the soufflé and pouring in some of the crème, the aesthetic benefit of this act lessened slightly by the majority of the pour running down the ramekin and pooling on the plate. Regardless: tasted great; couldn't care much about spilt sauce since I had a bit to drink; perfect portion after a large meal; would happily eat again.

Nitpicks (all minor ones, really!):

• I think the portions could use a little tuning. In most cases, towards smaller rather than larger, since we split two starters, a single main, and a tiny dessert, and we still left stuffed to the gills. (Two asides: #1: Levant uses the word "entrée" for "main course" in the American style instead of "first course" in the French style. Thanks, Wikipedia! #2: I may be mistaken in considering "small plate" equivalent to "starter" or "appetizer.") For example: the serving of gnocchi was enormous given the richness of the sauce; we didn't let any go to waste, but struggled a bit to finish. I think we would have been equally happy if the tartare were 10% to 15% smaller. Interestingly the website shows the sea scallop dish with three scallops, but we received two (perhaps for the best, as this precluded any argument over who ate the third). It would have been nice to each have a separate main, but with the current portions we would not have made it to dessert if we tried that.

• I was a little surprised they did not have some sort of fortified wine to accompany dessert.

• As others have mentioned, depending on perspective there is either a discount for paying with cash or a surcharge for paying with card. I don't think I saw this noted on the menu, though I may have missed it. We ended up paying with cash, though would not have considered a small surcharge bothersome. To be fair: (1) the policy seems sensible given what I've heard about extortionate credit card processing fees and slim restaurant margins, and (2) I would not have been surprised by much higher prices given the location and quality, so am loath...

I absolutely love this place. It's a great spot for a date or special occasion (aside from any occasion). For cocktails, we got THE JUGGLER (Gin, House-Made Sour Mix Fresh Cucumber Juice, Bergamot), the HIBISCUS LEVITATOR (Tequila Blanco, Orange Liqueur, House-made Hibiscus Syrup, Fresh Lime Juice), and my personal favorite, the LEVANT FRENCH MARTINI (Absolut Vanilla Vodka, Chambord Black Raspberry Liqueur, Pineapple Juice, Confetti Sprinkles—it's just so beautiful and fun!).

For appetizers, we had the CRISPY GOAT CHEESE (Pastry sheets filled with goat cheese and herbs. 4pcs), CHICKEN CROQUETTES (Crispy chicken croquettes, 3pcs) with a creamy filling, Served with homemade aioli—just fantastic), the BRUSSELS SPROUTS (Sautéed Brussels sprouts with sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, and herbs), CAULIFLOWER GRATIN (Bechamel sauce, parmesan cheese—I want to eat this every day), WAGYU STEAK TARTARE (Hand-chopped filet mignon combined with shallots, chives, parsley, capers, French mustard, Tabasco, and Worcestershire sauce topped with a quail egg—also want this every day), and the FROG LEGS (Golden brown fried frog legs( 2 pcs) served with blue cheese dressing.)

For entrees, we split the CHICKEN CORDON BLEU (Chicken breast stuffed with ham and Swiss cheese, breaded and golden-fried, topped with a creamy Dijon lemon sauce. Served with asparagus—pretty good, although not the star), and the actual star, LE BOEUF GOURMAND, which sadly appears to now be off the menu.

For dessert, we shared the very excellent CRÈME BRÛLÉE (Creamy custard flavored with espresso, topped with caramelized sugar) and their unique SAN SEBASTIAN CAKE (traditional Spanish Basque cheesecake – perfectly light, creamy and smooth, baked to caramelized perfection).

It's been a while since I was last there, but need to...

I was very excited to check out Levant on Smith for valentine’s day dinner Prix Fixe, but left feeling disappointed. I’ll start by saying that all of the service was amazing, very attentive servers and the general atmosphere of the restaurant was very cute.

Where things started to go south was when the food came. At first we were given an amuse-bouche which was a smoked salmon mousse and it felt and tasted like it had been prepared days before and left in the fridge.

For appetizers we got the shrimp flambé and the wagyu tartare. The wagyu tartare was good but very heavy on the capers and that was very overpowering. The shrimp flambé was severely overcooked, super chewy and rubbery to the point of squeaking in my mouth while chewing.

For our mains we got the steak frites and the coq au vin. The steak was cooked perfectly medium rare, but what alarmed me was that when the plate was brought out it was hot to the touch (as if microwaved or heated). The coq au vin was alright but the quality of the chicken was, for lack of a better comparison, giving foodtown chicken. For dessert we got the creme brûlée and the basque cheesecake and both were flavourful, the best course!!

Lastly, at one point in the dinner the server had brought salt and pepper to the table. What was off-putting was that it was in the original McCormick brand salt and pepper shakers … which when dining at a restaurant is a little off-putting.

Overall, I realize that this was a special occasion and probably should go try it out when its not a prix fixe, but the food being of such poor quality does not make it very enticing and definitely not worth...