Wallsé — Restaurant in New York

Just had a very disappointing experience at Wallsé that I would like to share. After dinner at Wallsé (the restaurant), my friends and I went to Wallsé Next Door (the cocktail bar) for drinks. I ordered a first round (a vodka martini and an expresso martini) for which I chose to be immediately charged $45.73. After that I opened a tab and ordered a second round which included a vodka martini and two expresso martinis. These drinks were delivered and happily consumed. After waiting more than half an hour for another expresso martini that never came, I asked to close the tab. I signed this tab without checking the amounts I was being charged, trusting “Wallsé is Wallsé” and that was my mistake. About to jump into my Uber, I was notified by American Express that I was charged $163.31 for the vodka martini and the two expresso martinis. I went back to Wallsé Next Door, asked why I was charged such a high amount and politely expressed my surprise with the situation. I was assured that there was no reason to be disappointed with the experience at Wallsé Next Door and that the situation would be resolved. So far so good. I was shown the tab I was charged, which included multiple items we never consumed. To their credit, my assertion that “we should have been charged for a vodka martini and two expresso martinis” was never challenged by Wallsé. I was then briskly told my tab had been corrected and was presented with an iPad to input the tip I wanted to include in my bill. The words that accompanied my surprise were “are you serious?” Apparently, those were not the right words. Me and my two middle-aged lady friends (yes, we are middle-aged and, statistically, successful enough to support Austrian ambitions on a Monday night) were unceremoniously asked to leave the premises under the argument that “people make mistakes, and our staff gets paid on tips”. I guess I could understand the first argument (enough to even forgive Wallsé): yes, everybody makes mistakes. But the second is a hard sell: if tips are it for your staff, then that’s on you. Pay your staff as you should. And own your mistakes like everybody else: do not ask your patrons (rather insolently, I might add) to leave your premises when you charged them almost three times what they were due and they (surprise, surprise!) happen to have an opinion about that. Yes, everybody makes mistakes but “fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.” For the record, we paid approximately $750 for dinner (three people, with $140 of tip included) and more than $169 for drinks (yes, two hours later I still don’t see the correction credit in my American Express). I hope this feedback will inform other people considering dinner alternatives in the...

Truly a great experience - you get a exciting yet certain inkling of excellence the moment the waitstaff greets and you look at the items listed on the menu. As with much fine dining, the menu caters closely to what is seasonal instead of forcing the same dishes year-round where the respective ingredients are scarce and/or not of the same quality. We were a group eager to try many things at once so we did not shy away from a specific selection. We ordered quite a lot...as in 4 appetizers, 10 entrees, and 4 desserts a lot. So I feel like we have a lot to go off of to make a true determination for this restaurant.

First off the "White Asparagus, Fresh Pea Vinaigrette, Quark Cheese" was great - I'm a sucker for a vibrant tender spear of asparagus, so I found it borderline remarkable. Spatzle is a more traditional dish that made is presence known well with a great balance of rabbit and tarragon. If you look at the menu, though it is considered a Michelin rated Austrian restaurant, you'll see that it is very modern/contemporary it in its implementation. Cooking techniques such as sous vide are utilized. Though as we'll see in our meal, the spatzle and schnitzel were as I completely remember for traditional Austrian cooking, growing up in south Florida and visiting "The Wine Cellar" often.

As we went through having Halibut, Trout, Lobster, and Cod (all beautifully cooked, seemingly devoid of oils and butters as to brighten the innate flavors of the fish and accompaniments) you see how the restaurant also has a designation of Seafood. Roasted Duck Breast was an absolute standout with a transcendent crispy skin alongside outstanding red cabbage and endive. Other standouts are definitely Braised Short Ribs, but I can hardly say any dish was distinctively better than another. Everything was exceptional and the only marginal difference would be due to preference/palate.

The atmosphere was on point and the waitstaff was impressively knowledgeable of the sourced ingredients and the dishes themselves. Highly...

I have been a loyal Wallse diner for over a decade and am really sad to see their service levels and standards slipping.

Food: I am a pretty small guy (5’9” and 140 pounds) with a smallish appetite but I was still starving at the end of our three course Restaurant Week meal. My neighbor got the same arctic char entree and his piece was much larger, so perhaps I just got unlucky, but their portion consistency needs work. What little food we got was okay but unremarkable, definitely nowhere close to the Michelin star they used to have.

Service: We waited about 45 minutes for dessert and no one checked on us until I eventually managed to flag someone down to ask about it. They offered some apricot schnapps as a goodwill gesture, but guess what, I don’t drink and didn’t order any wine with dinner so why would you think I would want that? The nice couple next to us saw this all go down and volunteered that they also thought our waiter tonight (Cory?) was terrible.

Atmosphere: The room is still nice and their artwork and sunflowers in the window are lovely. Tables are a little close but it’s not too noisy and possible to have a nice conversation. However, it’s hard to appreciate the ambiance when you are hungry and the service is so subpar.

Overall: Dinner took close to 2 hours and my meal of a tiny tomato salad, tiny piece of fish, and apple strudel with no drinks cost me $77. I guess I should not be surprised why it was so easy to get a reservation at prime time on Saturday night. I honestly couldn’t wait to get out of there and probably...