The Good Fork Pub — Restaurant in New York

Very sad experience last night at what was a favorite years ago. It would be almost humorous, as a parody of a bad dining experience, if it were not so awful as well as expensive. Here is what happened:

The inside was empty and it was relatively cool last night, so we asked for the back, which was mostly full. We noticed 2 bottles of bug spray on the steps, apparently for diners to use. The smell of bug spray was strong. We were seated at a cramped corner table a little too close to the next table. The mosquitoes turned out to be thick so we asked to be moved to the front room. We were seated in a corner booth behind the front door — which seemed potentially cozy but was actually cramped. We were the only people in the front at the time, so the 2 of us were outnumbered by the server, the bartender and the host. We also noticed the owner/chef within eyeshot in the small semi-open kitchen.

As we got ready to sit, we noticed there were a lot of crumbs on the leather bench and on the table itself. It was clear we were the first inside diners that evening (and this place does not serve lunch during the week), so the crumbs apparently from the evening before, which was disturbing. We had no choice but to brush the crumbs off ourselves, which took a while and which we did as our server watched. She did not offer to help or send someone else to help or apologize or do anything else. So we sat down. There were an unusual number of flies buzzing around — maybe attracted by the crumbs?

So things were not going well, and we briefly considered leaving (which we never do) since we had not been served our drinks yet. But then our drinks arrived and the moment passed, so we decided to just stick it out since we assumed the evening could only get better with the food and drink ...

Our drinks and dumpling appetizer arrived, and they were okay, though not as good as they had been in the early years of the restaurant.

My eyes caught movement on the floor on the other side of the restaurant, less than 10 feet away since it is a small restaurant. It was a MOUSE repeatedly poking its nose out from under a floor-mounted radiator. Then the mouse ventured maybe a foot in our direction, then scurried back under the radiator. This happened several times. This development should have been shocking, but I wasn’t actually that surprised, given the crumbs and the generally dirty appearance of the place and the flies and the mosquitoes.

We discussed leaving again, but we had already ordered our entrees by this time so we decided to just grit and bear it.

It took a comically long time, at least 10 minutes, to get the attention of our server. She went to the back patio at least 3 times and returned to folding napkins 20 feet away from us — each time we tried to get her attention but she didn’t even glance in our direction.

When we finally got her attention, we told her quietly about the mouse and pointed to the radiator it was under. She did ask if we wanted to move again, but this seemed pointless since it was such a small room. But neither she nor the owner nor anyone else apologized. Within 2 minutes of us informing her about the mouse, 2 new diners arrived and they were seated at the very same table we had just shown them the mouse was under — even though the place was still otherwise empty.

Running out of review space, so briefly to wrap up: the service actually got worse and less attentive after we told them about the mouse. My burger was ok, but my wife’s fish (the most expensive item on the menu) was mediocre and small for an entree.

We wondered if the owner — who was visible in the kitchen this whole time — might come out to speak with us and apologize for this objectively terrible dining experience. But that did not happen.

In sum: expensive, dirty and literally crumby, mediocre food and drink, mosquitoes, flies and a mouse, and indifferent and inattentive staff. A very sad experience from a...

Until today, The Good Fork had been one of my favorite restaurants. I moved to the area nine years ago, and I always loved the excellent food and unpretentious atmosphere. I had told my mom about this place for years and took her to brunch here years ago, but hadn't had the chance to take her to dinner here. I finally got the chance today. I can't tell if I hate the Good Fork or new Red Hook or both. My mom likes her steak a little more on the well side and so she ordered it medium well. I know you're not "supposed" to do that, but this place has always seemed like a neighborhood spot to me so I thought it would be OK. It arrived pretty rare inside though seared on the outside. She didn't want to "complain," but I also thought it could stand to be done a little bit more to her liking. Years ago, I once received the completely wrong dish here and I didn't even want to say something but my dining companion did and I just decided to keep my wrong dish anyway and we got a nice dessert and it was fine. So I asked if it was OK if they cooked it a bit more. She brought us a plate for the rest of the meal and made my mom scrape the food off onto it while she begrudgingly sent back the steak. I overheard her snap at the kitchen that it was supposed to be well-done (medium-well, but whatever). If we were at a roadside diner, I guess that would have been OK, but at a roadside diner, the service would have been nicer, I think. I felt condescended to. I hate that. I always loved this place. I brought all my friends here. I bought the cookbook. Now I hate it. When we left, we followed three people out. One man said, "We hate children, but they were there." (There were like two kids there who were super well-behaved, and it was on the early side.) His companion, who was wearing a black and white fur vest (Dalmatian perhaps?) exclaimed something about her Louboutins. I guess that's the new Red Hook and my last time at...

I was absolutely blown away by the food and service at Good Fork in Red Hook. We were a bit nervous that it wouldn't live up to the prices which seemed a bit high, especially for Red Hook, but everything was amazing. We arrived without a reservation and were told we could have the cool little table in the corner as long as we could be done by the time the reservation arrived. The quaint, lovely, garden area was completely full already though I'd go back just to sit out there.

Service was very good throughout, very friendly and helpful with recommendations. It wasn't particularly fast, but the atmosphere lent to a laid back feeling and we enjoyed relaxing and taking it all in.

The wine, sourced locally from the nearby winery, was exquisite, not expensive, and complimented the food very well. The mussels we ordered as an appetizer were delicious. It was a huge plate of about 30 mussels in an incredible spice that hinted of old bay. The garlic bread was also delicious, I wish they gave more than one slice. The mussels were obviously high quality as they had none of the hint of fishiness you often get with them.

The duck breast was superbly tasty and was cooked to a perfect medium rare. The veggies and sauce were also wonderful. I really liked the spicy sauce but wish there was more. The bass special was also very good and came in a delicious stew.

We even ordered dessert because the dulce de leche and pepper ice cream sounded too good to resist. It was everything I hoped for and more. I could have dealt with it being spicier with more pepper, but realize not everyone wants to cry with their ice cream. The spice was well balanced with a delicious savory taste.

Red Hook may be a bit far out of the way, but with he free Ikea ferry and how good this meal was, I think we...