Verlaine — Restaurant in New York

I usually go here on a Friday evening after work. During this time it is always packed-rubbing to slide past people basically. No reservations are taken for under a party of 6. One handicap restroom is upstairs and the rest are downstairs. The tables have to be pulled out in order for you to get in no matter what size you are. And you are basically sitting shoulder to shoulder with strangers. If they called it communal dining I wouldn't mind so much but I value my personal space. The bar is one body width away from the tables and has enough chairs but I wouldn't sit there unless you get the corner spot because patrons tend to reach over you to grab things or order drinks or hover by you trying to order. Now, the food. I have had the wings, chips, short ribs, spring rolls, curry, Chile salmon and honey salmon, and the noodles. The sesame brioche bun that is comes on is not tasty and hard. The slaw it comes with is very tangy and the meat is sweet. I eat it w/o the slaw and bread because that's tasty to me but not worth the price if I have to remove everything. The spring rolls are nice but should maybe be accompanied by something other than soy sauce.the Chile salmon is add your own Chile lmfao-why do you call it Chile salmon then!?!?!! The curry is not curry but a soup with diced bits in it. Not tasty or attractive. The honey Salmon comes with coconut rice. I have had the coconut rice several times and enjoy it but this time it had coconut flakes in it which I didn't appreciate. I don't like hard and soft things being mixed together like when you order noodles and then peanuts are on top. That extra crunch gets to me. The Lychee Martini drinks are usually pack a punch for a sweet drink but this time and last time it was a bit pineapple juice heavy and less alcohol so I did not enjoy it as I typically do. The happy hour is everyday from 5-10 and includes Lychee martinis, mixed drinks, Southeast red/white sangria, and house wine. I would recommend this place because I do have hope that things will go back to the way it used to be. Perhaps that was just an off...

Loved the lychee martinis but did not have the best service experience. We only wanted drinks so we started at the bar, it started getting packed so I tried putting our name down for a table if it was available. The host was all over the place and told me it would be a 30 minute wait, I told him nicely hmm let me talk to my party to see if that’s ok. I went back to him immediately after and said hey I actually would like to put my name down, and then he gets short and rude with me and says “you need to wait! It’s going to be an hour minimum!” I am automatically turned off since that’s not what he originally told me and he was giving me attitude for no reason. I said okay… do you want my name or number for the table? And he told me no he will just come and find me, fine. They sat us within 10 minutes (a plus for sure, but why tell me an hour and almost deter me from giving you business?)

When we sat down, we still had our original martinis from the bar so we were working on that. The waiter came and asked us what we wanted and we said we wanted a second round after we finished our drinks. He said we needed to order food since we sat at a table. I ordered us some fries to snack on, and he proceeded to tell me we needed to order more. We were not told this before sitting so that’s a bummer AND half the tables were eating a bowl of edamame or some tortilla chips and THATS IT. Many tables only had drinks! We observed that before sitting so it was a bit unexpected. I’m fine with that if it is a rule but it would be nice to make it known to your customers and also be consistent. We felt singled out and a bit unwelcome. He then told us if we wanted to drink we have to stand at the bar, that tables were for dinner service only. Totally fine with that rule but again, it didn’t seem enforced at all so it was just a turn off all around. We didn’t even end up getting a second round and left. Maybe be more clear next time...

I've heard wonderful things about Verlaine and have oft seen my friends check-in and wonder where the hell was I when you were hob-knobbing down there?! They have a $5 Lychee Martini, Red/White Sangria, bloody mary, House cocktails, House red/white wine special happy hour until 10pm. Also, on Sundays and Mondays they manage to knock that down to $4. Amazing?! Right?! So does everyone else in the city of Manhattan agree.

I actually last minute got a text from a high school buddy that he was in town for literally 24 hours and wanted to grab a drink and a few lady friends were accompanying me already post work. So, we pulled some strings, reserved a table for 5, they don't do less, and hustled over. We got our table with no problems and were seated pretty promptly and put in our orders. The Lychee Martinis are STRONG and pretty delicious. Not too sickeningly sweet which is a mega plus. The sangria is not bad either and packs a kick. The crumby part? The wait for any food or even appetizer order was antagonizing. An hour later, I kid you not, our little tapas/small plates finally came. This was after flagging down our waitress three times and asking if they remembered we put in an order. She gave a measly 'sorry about that' and ran away. Other people that came after us even got their orders first. I felt jipped.

The food seemed alright but not outstanding. One friend got the coconut chicken curry. It came with a small mound of rice. I tried one piece of chicken and was very 'meh' about it. Lacking in full flavor. But I guess appetizing. My friend from out of town got the mushroom dumplings that are fried with chicken. He seemed pretty 'meh' about it as well. I split the calamari three-ways. The honey dipping sauce was the most exciting part. I feel if you come here, take full advantage of their amazing happy hour deal. Don't waste your time and money on...