Ponty Bistro — Restaurant in New York

This place is absolutely awesome. I have heard a lot about this Harlem staple, so the last time I was in the area I just knew I had to try their food. And man oh man was I glad I did. Sitting down with a friend of mine we first decided to try an appetizer to share. Thankfully we chose the Crispy tuna. Flash fried and served on top of a Wasabi cream sauce and then drenched in a soy glaze, this was the perfect way to start our meal off. The tuna was cooked to perfection. Crispy on the outside and beautifully rare on the inside. I knew we made the perfect choice to dine here as I liked my plate when I was done. My friend then chose to order the whole branding fish. When I saw the plate come to the table I was floored by the size of the fish... not to mention the accompaniments. A decadent home made salsa and some cous-cous rounded out this perfect dish. The fish was both Crispy yet light. Flakey and delicious. I decided to try their pot of mussels served in a creamy west African spiced broth. Some of the best mussels I have eaten in a long time. The broth was incredible savory and the bread they served with it was the perfect pairing to sop up all that delicious broth that was left after I devoured the mussels. It had the perfect spice blend to them, and I am already salivating just thinking about them. After we finished we happened to run into the head chef who was so nice and accommodating. He had the most sincere smile as we thanked him for a truly lovely lunch. I can't wait to stop back in at the Ponty Bistro the next time I am in Harlem. Such a great spot. Definitely a must go to if you're in this area...

My 1st time was a great experience and therefore I decided to take my family to celebrate my sister who flew in from Cali. It was 5 of us they brought out 3 meals and the one chicken entree had to be returned because the rice was so hard and the chicken didn’t taste good. They took the new order and That order came out 15 mins later… now the 2 family members that had their entree already ate, the other 2 family members are still waiting and now the replaced meal came out for me and when we ask about the other 2 meals they stated they forgot about it. We now suddenly had a new waitress and the one who forgot about our order was still there and never came to apologize or ask if we needed anything and somehow didn’t realize there was 2 people sitting with no food an hour later? I call over the manager and asked him if he was aware of what was going on and he said yes they forgot your order don’t worry it’s coming out. I’m completely in shock on how poor quality service and bad management can be running this establishment when they want to be on the higher end side of the restaurant business. This bill was $450 for us to all eat separately, wait over an hour and the only apology we received was from the nice waitress who took over. Mr. owner if you do not get qualified workers they are going to run your business through the ground. It’s a shame because their fish is good but what is good food with bad service? This was the worst spent money I have ever spent at a restaurant with the most unqualified workers . We didn’t have the family dinner we...

My family, friends and I have patronized this restaurant often and have often referred others to enjoy a meal there however my visit yesterday was unexceptionable. I decided to enjoy a lunch alone as I work in the area. I sat at the bar ordered a drink and the Asian steak salad which has always been one of my favorites. Mid way eating my salad there was plastic about three inches long in my salad! I asked the bartender/ waitress to come to me discretely as there were two other customers sitting eating lunch by themselves also, one to my left and other to my right. I didn’t want to make a show of it as I’m a fellow business owner myself and know things happen. When I called the waitress she was literally 3 feet away from me delivering a soup to a woman next to me but instead of coming to me she decided to walk the opposite way and address me from behind the bar. I then pull the plastic out of my salad and of course the people next to me witness this. The waitress apologized. I even said bag the rest to go. She removed the salad. Minutes later she returns and said they are going to make me a whole new salad. I thought wow that is nice. I asked for the check as I was leaving anyway. Would you believe they charged me for the salad! $39.19 for my drink and a salad that had plastic in it? As to not make a scene I paid and left. Needless to say horrible way of doing business and service. You decide if you want...