TØRST — Restaurant in New York

I really wish I'd read the reviews on Yelp before making a reservation to take people here for a "special" meal, but the vague relation to Noma blinded me.

Let's get things straight, the food and the beer are both good. Everything else was not.

Waited 30 minutes to be seated for our reservation at 9pm. Bad sign, but we had a beer at the bar and waited, growing hungry.

Seated eventually, it was 15 minutes before we were approached to order. Two in the party had the tasting menu with beer, the other person order off the beer menu.

The space is loud, I mean crowded bar loud. Not conducive to relaxing and enjoying a nice meal and conversing. My chair was uncomfortable. Decor is simple and nice.

The meal was incredible SLOW! At different points we wait 35 and 45 minutes between courses! I began to wonder if they were letting us metabolize and burn all the calories before serving us the next course. The beer pairing fell apart entirely. Instead of being to enjoy the food and beer side by side, drinking the beer became what we did between small portions of food. All told we were there for 4.5 hours and had 6 courses. SIX.

I asked a server at one point, how many courses were left?, and was told that "there are only two chefs in the kitchen and that means only 4 hands." Really? Really?

The total bill was nearly $450, so hiring an extra sous chef might be...

As a red and white blooded Dane, I wanted to love Törst, but it ended up feeling pretentious and over priced to me. I was very excited to try the hyped Evil Twin beer after the NYT feature on the brothers who split up, with one starting the brewery and this bar, but found the selection way too heavy on the IBU and hops. Instead, the German and Flanders brews appealed and did not disappoint, though the prices were high and the staff had a very Dane in winter approach to service, more hibernatory than outgoing. The overcrowded space and overly loud Brooklyn conversations from surrounding tables didn't improve the atmosphere. The food menu was very Scandinavian in its simplicity and lack of appeal, I was hoping for a more Holstein side of the Schleswig equation with some meat or other Germanic bar food. The wine glass serving vessels also did not inspire a ton of confidence in the brewing prowess. Overall, the beer was good, but if you are looking for beer Mecca, though this kills me to say, try Dirck the Norseman, though we did actually...

Really attractive and nice place to try some unique and craft beers or ciders that are on the taps here at Torst in Brooklyn.

The inside is decorated with wooden throughout and contrasted by the big large marble bar that wraps around and the white marble wall where the taps are placed. It feels very warm, relaxed, and very inviting when you walk in.

We grabbed a small table opposite the marble-topped bar and opened up the menu to have a look-see. All the beer is served in these really cheerful wine glasses that has a very Swedish design to them.

We spent the next hour or so just trying the craft beers that peeked our interests. We slowly just sipped and had a nice quiet moment amid the hustle and bustle.

We went in the afternoon so the bar was pretty low-key and quiet which I liked alot. I imagine during the busy hours, it would be hard to find a table...