The Ten Bells — Restaurant in New York

A friend and I stopped in on a Friday at around 6. They don't accept ressos for parties of under four people. When we got there, the place was pretty much almost packed, but we managed to nab two seats by the bar.

We started with two of their happy hour (M-F 5-7) specials. We went with a dozen oysters ($1), which were really salty. They were just okay - not the best dollar oysters I've had. We also did the carafe of white wine ($15). It isn't advertised but if a carafe is too much for you, you can do a glass for $5. But let's be real - you can probably finish that carafe.

For food, we ordered a bunch of dishes to share, since it was a tapas place. Here's what we ordered:

Pickled mango salad ($9) - salad with some peppers, tomatoes, alfalfa sprouts, and pickled mango. I couldn't really tell if the mangos were pickled or not. They just tasted like underripe mangos to me.

Meatballs ($8) - this came with three meatballs. I didn't think the meatballs would be very good here. I just had a hunch, but I went ahead and ordered them anyway and wish I hadn't as soon as I took the first bite. It was SO salty. Salt and salty tomato sauce was all I could really taste.

Mac and cheese ($8) - this was pretty okay. It had the perfect amount of cheese. However, the dish didn't come out that hot.

Steak tartare ($12) - this straight up looks like a raw hamburger patty, but don't be afraid. It's good. It's got some horseradish mixed in, which I enjoyed but my friend did not. The little pieces of toast it comes with balances out the flavors well. This was probably the best dish of the night.

While I wouldn't go out of my way to come back here again, I wouldn't mind getting some happy hour carafes and steak tartare if I was in the neighborhood. I'd probably avoid...

My friends and I were walking down the street and recognized this resturant from social media saying that it’s one of the best happy hrs in the city. Instagram lied to me again. The ambiance of this resturant was great along with the music and vibe. It’s too bad I couldn’t eat that instead of the oysters we received. The oysters were the worst I’ve ever put in my body, and tasted like they were fished out of the Hudson River last week. They were served without ice and they were extremely grainy and fishy tasting. They were in a pool of nasty water with bits of shell as garnish.

If this was the only problem I could forgive it, but the service was rude and slow. I completely understand that this is a busy resturant, but our waiter got upset that we only wanted to try the house wine as our first round. I can only speak for the red but it was subpar even for the happy hr price. They waiter tried to upsell us the carafe of wine, but we just wanted to try different samples of wine, and not just one big portion of red. When we placed our order they huffed and said, “ugh fine” and walked away annoyed.

They have a really extensive and impressive wine and alcohol list, but unfortunately we didn’t try it due to the slow service and the rude waiter. Maybe the waiter was having an off day? I’m not sure, but I’m also sure I would never try their food again.

I will note that the other tables seemed to be enjoying their food (they didn’t order oysters).

If you come to this resturant, I would recommend that you skip the happy hr and just order from their wine list. $1 oysters aren’t worth picking out broken shell out of your mouth. The outdoor area seemed like a...

We discovered Ten Bells during our first visit to the Big Apple in 2017. We travelled again to NYC in April 2019 and stayed for two weeks. I just wish now that we visited Ten Bells one more time. Let me tell you I liked it so much that I know where I'm going on the first night of my next visit! Ten Bells is a wine bar with character. Dark and moody but at the top of its game. The service at the bar where we sat was excellent. Fast, polite and ready to help you with everything you might need, details for the wines of its extended list included. As travellers from Europe we had plans on trying as many american wines as possible but the list at Ten Bells (extensive as it is) seems to love Old World wines as well. So we had some european ones as well. Those I remember fondly are a rose of Pinot Noir by Joe Swick (2016 - 17 usd by the glass) and a Pinot noir by Milan Nestarec (2015 - 16 usd by the glass). I'm not going into the food menu (tapas and meats) because we chose to accompany our wines with cheese. We tried weston wheel and oma from Vermont and cayuga blue from New York at 8 usd per plate. They are coming with small slices of semi-sweet bread with raisins and quince. They all rocked my world! If you are cheese lovers and you are first timers at the States, please (please!) go for them. For five glasses of wine in total and a three cheese selection we paid 100 usd tip not included. Great value for money. I don't even remember the music but the whole experience was amazing. Totally recommend it! Not to be missed for...