Red Paper Clip — Restaurant in New York

To start, we ordered a negroni and a Oaxaca cocktail. The negroni tasted like a cup of straight campari while the Oaxaca, (with beet juice?) was quite pleasant although I don't really know what was so Oaxaca about it other than the mezcal.

The first set of courses to come out started off strong with the caviar and potato, being extremely rich and delicious. It set very high expectations for the rest of the courses which were quickly shattered by a mediocre, undersized oyster with a mignonette that somehow made it taste worse. Finally, the cucumber salad made me feel as if I was ripped off since it was straight up sliced cucumbers with a little hint of oil and sesame seeds on them. It was almost redeemed by the tzatziki sauce, which was honestly some of the best tzatziki sauce I've ever had. If only there were more than just a skid-mark of it on the side of the bowl, it really just left me wanting more out of it.

Next came out the corn on corn on corn. Surprisingly, it wasn't that bad, but again, nothing too special that made me think "Oh my god, I can't believe they did this with corn". I mean, if you really like corn, I'm sure you'll enjoy this dish, but to me, it was alright.

Then, we got the everything brioche, one of the flagship dishes of red paper clip. We enjoyed it, the dish was well put together but the flavor was very Slavic/Eastern European, so although it reminded me of home it did feel a little out of place. The cured egg yolk had a unique creamy flavor that was well complemented by the pickled onions, trout roe, and cured trout. Very good dish, but it feels like its in the wrong place.

Next, we got both the Cavatelli and the Xiao Long Bao Agnolotti. After multiple dishes of mediocrity, we were finally pleasantly surprised to have something so good (so much so that we forgot to take a picture). Both of these dishes were generously covered in black truffle shavings and the occasional full chunk of truffle, which wasn't really expected but whatever. Both dishes were served in a sauce/broth that we couldn't get enough of and wanted more.

Unfortunately, these heavy hitting dishes were followed by what another reviewer called "Three ways to waste lobster". To me, this dish was more like a "two ways to waste lobster" because the miso beurre blanc lobster was cooked to perfection and absolutely delicious. Again, seemingly the common theme for this place is to start off strong, and then absolutely disappoint you, because the sticky rice with the two tiddly-winks of lobster on top really just tasted like leftover microwaved fried rice. Even worse was the dry, breading covered, peppercorn lobster claws that gave me flashbacks to the taste of red lobster in the height of bankruptcy.

After this disappointment of a dish, we got dessert, which was alright. It was three apple fritters with raspberry sorbet and cheddar cheese ice cream? The fritters were perfectly fried little dough balls which were quite enjoyable, and the sorbet was good but it tasted like something I could just get at target by the pint. Finally, the cheddar cheese ice cream was really confusing, it just tasted like frozen milk and the only indication that it had cheese in it was the huge chunk of cheese right on the bottom.

We finished off with some chocolate covered caramels that were pretty good, but we were still left unsatisfied after the whole experience. The service was alright, our waiter just kind-of plopped our dishes onto the table and recited what was on the menu, but nothing more. Another table next to us got their dishes delivered by another waiter who seemed to have no idea what was served to them. I believe the chef was also having drinks with them but it looked like he had a little too much since he tripped on the table and almost fell onto one of the customers.

Overall, I have no idea how this place has had a Michelin star for the past three years. Reading other reviews, it seems to have potential, but is just so inconsistent and very hit or miss. I left finding it really hard to justify the $125 per person...

Let's first set the stage for this review: this was a $95 Asian-inspired tasting menu created by two young Asian chefs. Some dishes were alright, while others were exquisite and could probably fit in comfortably in the menu of a Michelin restaurant. What everything had in common was a sense of experimentation and surprise, without being overly pretentious about it. And for this price? I absolutely will be back again.

Also, how cute is it that their store sign is a literal neon-lit red paper clip.

Oysters (yuzukosho mignonette) One raw, one baked. The table was split on which one we preferred. A sufficient starter.

Everything Brioche (yolk, trout lox, dill) Second favorite thing on the menu. Smoked trout open-faced sandwiches are not revolutionary, but the creation of an egg-salad sandwich (albeit only with a congealed layer of yolk instead of egg chunks) topped with lox and ikura conjures tastes of Scandinavia and Japan simultaneously - especially when the loaf it sits on taste so soft, like Japanese milk bread.

Carrot Katsu (kohlrabi, ginger, shiso) This was possibly a great concept, but I'm not sure I understand the hype around it. The carrot could have been cooked a little longer to achieve a consistency closer to paste. I'm not sure the cream swirls added anything to the dish it all - there was too little of it, and it wasn't a particularly strong flavor. Perhaps just a bad night?

XLB Agnolotti (pork, truffle, black vinegar) A necessary show piece. As David Chang explains in his "Ugly Delicious" Netflix series, almost every culture's food has dumplings. This dish effortlessly combines Italian and Chinese cultures; it looks like agnolotti on the outside, but tastes like soup dumplings on the inside. Also, truffle shavings just because.

Lobster (scallion, ginger, chili) My favorite dish of the evening. Lobster three ways: butter poached, fried and steamed with glutinous rice. The poached lobster was cooked perfectly, almost melting in the mouth and coated with a luxurious butter sauce. But our favorite was the lobster that was presented in a bamboo steamer. The lobster was steamed unadulterated - warm and juicy, and the taste of the ocean was allowed to stand on its own. It was served over brown glutinous rice, which has a personal nostalgic quality for me.

Beef & Brassicas (short rib, mead, yeasted potato) This short rib was somehow cooked in a way that tasted like pastrami. Most of the times, tasting menus offer a final meat course before moving on to dessert - and often they are uninspired, but perfectly respectable steaks. I initially thought this was going to be the case, given how plain the presentation was. But this was a dish that grew on me. The unusual flavor on the short rib and the slight fermentation of the potato mash brought something quite subtly special.

Deconstructed Chocolate Cake with chocolate mousse, hazelnut mousse, bavaroise and miso caramel This dessert honestly reminds me of every other deconstructed chocolate dessert I've had in good restaurants which have a pre-fixe option, but no dedicated pastry chef. The miso caramel was, however, a nice touch to tie the menu back to being...

I so badly want to hope that Red Paper Clip is better on non-holidays, but I'm not sure. Please also bear in mind that this was on Valentine's Day, so the number of people may have been much higher than normal. I'll preface this to say that as a couple we love to cook at home, spend our time cooking, and love eating in the city. NYC has always given something to love, whether amazingly satiating and savory foods that are $15/person, or well paced, plated and though through $200/person meals at some high end establishments. Went to Red Paper Clip for a 7pm reservation on Valentines Day via Resy expecting a