The Musket Room — Restaurant in New York

So we were really looking forward to this evening. It was a birthday celebration and we had booked way in advance for four of us. I had ordered a cake and a card for the end of the night. shortly before dinner I received a few short texts saying upon arrival all guests were to prove our vaccination status. It surprised me because the reason we chose the musket room beyond looking interesting and having a Michelin star was because it offered outdoor dining. they also text that we needed to choose in advance wether we wanted the tasting menu all or none could have the tasting menu. I replied- ty I guess we’ll choose a la carte. No reply no ty we are looking forward to having you tonight. Ok. Busy staff? We arrive- After being greeted by the host we were led to the garden/patio in the back. We decided to start with a dozen oysters on half shell and the Kristal Caviar sandwich accompanied by a bottle of Dom Perignon 2009. Someone only turns 21 once so why not. A server came out to show the bottle and then for some reason, (noise?) went inside to open it and came back out to taste it and pour. Very nice. A little past it’s prime I expect but still complex with notes of star fruit or yellow melon and chalk on the finish. The waiter correctly identified the caviar sandwich as quite small and suggested two of this $50 dish. Which we decided ok. The oysters were served with a yuzu vinaigrette and were fresh and delicious. The caviar sandwich was very small. Served on Japanese milk bread which was toasted and buttery. It looked to also have some gold leaf layered in there. Good but I thought an odd way to celebrate the ingredients as they were a little disguised. The caviar a bit on the salty side as well. Then we waited. Just the Dom to keep us company. While I appreciate a dinner where you don’t feel rushed there is a limit to how long one wants to wait for an entree. I think it was nearly half an hour we sat after apps. It was a shame because had the staff asked we might have ordered the breads and spreads to enjoy with the champagne but we saw little of the staff until dinner arrived. I ordered the halibut. A nice sized piece that had once been hot. It seemed lifeless. I don’t know how they cooked it. It wasnt dry it was very moist but just fell apart. I have a feeling all of our entrees sat for a long time under heat lamps which would explain the temperatures and wait. What was more unforgivable than that was the seasoning. Heavily over salted while having salty caviar on top. The whole dish was mush texturally besides the lobster mushroom of which there were just a few and also salty. As it was we each tried one of the available entrees. The Berkshire pork I’m told was very good but the portion was very small. Two small medallions of tenderloin. The duck was two maybe three slices of a breast. Also a small portion but tasty. The cherry labne was a nice sweet sour to go with the duck which at one point may have been the right temp but arrived medium well and stiff. The half roasted chicken was on the verge of inedible. Covered in rosemary and parsley maybe? Who knew when there was that much rosemary and SALT! I made the mistake of accepting a small taste and it made the halibut seem refreshing. Heavily over salted. Cocktails were ordered with dinner my banana boondoggle was pretty good and tasted like bananas foster. The cake arrived without the card and pleased everyone. Very flavorful chocolate with some dollops of creme fraiche which really set off the chocolate flavor. I feel like we may have really missed out. I have a suspicion that the tasting menu might be where the real magic happens. If so it’s a shame because two of us really wanted to try it but splitting up the table for that and a la carte was not allowed, If that’s the case though, if the focus and attention is really paid to the tasting menu and that’s what it’s all about then don’t offer entrees. At least not if they are lack luster. Which I really felt given the status of this...

Words can't even begin to explain how much I loved my dining experience at The Musket Room. I heard from a friend that they had an amazing 6-course tasting menu for an affordable price ($75) and they were able to snag a Michelin Star within the first year of opening. All these accolades are EXACTLY on point!

To start, the service here is impeccable! When we arrived at our reservation, our hostess was very apologetic about making us wait and she offered to buy us drinks. We opted for the Smoky Kiss and The Queen's Punch. Among the two, the Queen's Punch was the better drink, with a little less of an alcoholic aftertaste.

When we were finally seated, we chose the 6-course tasting menu. While we were waiting, our server gave us a choice of a couple different breads: sourdough, bacon and cheddar brioche, and rye. Like any starving individual, I stopped listening when our server said bacon and ordered the brioche immediately. AMAZINGGGGG. We asked for seconds and thirds throughout the night and our server happily obliged. The sourdough was pretty good as well, but no contest for the brioche.

Our dishes were paced perfectly and in this order:

Broccoli soup | oxtail | parsley: The oxtail croquette was SO DELICIOUS. Be sure to savor this one! The broccoli soup was a great appetizer for a cold night. It was thick and had great texture without being too heavy.

Cold smoked scallops | cucumbers | black garlic | pears | sea beans: This dish had the best presentation. It was served with smoke bubbling underneath a glass cover and when the server lifted the glass, the smoke dissipated into the air, drawing the attention of other patrons sitting near us. The rolls of pickled cucumber here were my favorite. Everything on this dish complemented each other perfectly.

Quail | blackberries | bread sauce | roasted onions: I haven't had quail too many times before this, but I really enjoyed this one. The bread sauce was very unique and tasted great with the tender quail, which fell right off the bone. I only wish there was more meat!

New Zealand red deer | flavors of gin: This was my favorite dish of the night. The red deer was cooked perfectly and did not have a gamey taste to it at all. The portions looked small at first, but as I was eating this one, it didn't feel that way at all. I think it was just the right portion to satiate an appetite without being overwhelming.

Grape | ginger: This was a really interesting palate cleanser. I liked how at certain parts it tasted somewhat like a peanut butter jelly sandwich. It was bright and sweet without being too overly saccharine.

Chocolate mousse cake | pear | almond: I wasn't a huge fan of this dessert, but it was still pretty good. I'm big on textures so I really appreciated the medley of flavors and combination of textures on this plate.

This is probably one of my best dining experiences in NYC and I will definitely recommend this to anyone and everyone! The Musket Room has definitely set a high bar for New Zealand...

Update March 5th: A few days after our first dining experience, Maurice from the Musket Room reached out to me and invited all three of us back for a tasting menu experience that is on the restaurant. The food and the vibe were incredible this time, and we really appreciated Maurice's gesture.

February 15th- An extremely disrespectful hour of our time - from the moment we arrived at the restaurant till we got seated. I had a reservation at 9:30pm for a table of three on Saturday night, but we got seated at 10:30pm, an whole hour after our reserved time. Since the Musket Room is a Michelin one star restaurant, my friends and I had some expectation of our dining experience. However, when we arrived at the restaurant around 9:25pm, the hostess told us that our table would not be ready in another 30 minutes. Although we were a bit annoyed, we understood that situations like this could happen in an over booked restaurant. Nevertheless, when we asked regarding where we could wait for table, the hostess directed us to go outside to another restaurant near by. After returning back to the Musket Room around 9:55pm, the hostess told us our table is not close to be ready and we would have to wait longer without providing an explicit estimation of time. We stood in a squished corner next to the bar while neither the hostess or the bartender offered us anything during the meantime. As we were chatting with another party who also were sharing their frustration of their table being delayed, Melissa, the bartender, approached us, asking if we were waiting for a drink. When I replied no, we are just waiting for a table that was reserved for 50 minutes ago, she told us that we should at least be glad we are waiting indoors. The kind of service and response that the Musket Room has provided due to a situation that they failed to manage well were simply rude and unprofessional. We felt extremely disrespected by such response, and that hour of aimlessly waiting had completely ruined our mood. We finally got seated around 10:30pm, and we did enjoy our experience from that moment on due to the excellent quality of the food and our attentive and approachable waiter albeit finishing dinner at 1:30am. We are grateful for the dining experience that we had but feel utterly disappointed by the service and response that the hostess and the bartender provided given the circumstances. We wished the restaurant would have called or texted us ahead of time regarding the delay of the table and being straightforward regarding the time of the delay upfront. I really did enjoy the food and the wine, but I would only return for a dinner reserved near their opening time, knowing I would not have to wait an hour wandering around outside and feel utterly...