YAKAR Kosher Steakhouse — Restaurant in New York

Holy guacamole!!

I've never even heard of this place. When I want to take my wife out for a fancy night out, we often go to The Loft or Bordeaux but we've gone so many times that I thought to see if there were any other great kosher restaurants that we were overlooking.

A google search for best kosher restaurants gave me a top ten list, which included a bunch of places we had already been to (Bison & Bourbon, also great) and included this place...never even heard of it. When the location showed up on the GPS map, my wife gave me a puzzled look and said, "where are we even going?! To Coney Island Avenue where we shop every Sunday? What is even over there?!"

But boy oh boy was this a special night out. We were seated and the place looked gorgeous -- fabulous ambiance. Perfect number of other guests to be right in the middle of super crazy busy and empty like no one cares, which was very nice. Latkes were served immediately, which I thought was a really nice touch! My wife didn't like the mojito on offer, and asked for an unflavored one, which the barman immediately agreed to. She thought it was one of the best mojitos she's ever had! He asked me what I wanted and I told him that I don't drink, to which he said, "that's ok...we can make it no alcohol" so I had a virgin limonana, which was so perfectly made as well.

Then we ordered, sharing the poppers (great!) and the miami steak (amazing!) for apps. My wife got the platinum steak (medium) and I got the surprise (medium rare) -- I asked if it was going to be a good surprise or a bad surprise, and they opted for the former, and they were right. :)

The steaks were so well prepared, but what was astonishing was the peppercorn dip sauce, which was reminiscent of La Brochette on Lexington Ave -- absolutely a total knock-out dipping sauce, and they even brought out more when we ran out (we had to dip the potatoes in it as well, what can I say?!). We got roasted potatoes and truffle fries, and then close out with coffee and the chocolate souffle w/ ice cream, which was really, really good.

Wait staff, coat check guy, barman were all so kind and attentive and helpful -- even the chef came out to say hi --- multiple people coming over to bring stuff and clear the table repeatedly during dinner. On the way out, met the owner in the front (Chaim) who was so gracious and unassuming.

We'll definitely be adding this secret hot spot to our list of best restaurants to visit...

Everything about Yakar was great. The ambiance, the staff, and of course the food

The convenience of being on Coney Island Ave didn't detract at all from the premium dining experience. A quiet softly lit room made us feel like we were in the middle of Manhattan.

We started off with the crispy beef, pastrami croquettes, and chicken lollipops.

The crispy beef was probably the best I've ever had. Beef was definitely highlighted over the crispy, and it was the right choice. A very flavorful, tender piece of meat is lightly coated to make it crispy. This was a welcome departure from most other versions where the crispy takes center stage and the meat is almost an afterthought.

The pastrami croquettes were also quite a hit. Biting into it was like getting punched in the face with a pastrami flavor, and I was okay with that. The saffron infused mayo looked cool and tasted great as well.

Chicken lollipops are not usually my thing, but I'm happy that we got them. I made sure to clean all the meat off of every bone that we had.

I don't remember the exact cocktails that we ordered, but it was some kind of raspberry with Smoky Ginger (one with tequila and one mocktail). They came with their own mini decanter with enough to fill two glasses. The smell and presentation were awesome.

For our entrees we had the filet mignon and baby lamb chops. The filet mignon was extremely soft and tasty. The gravy that came with it had a very subtle flavor that really enhanced the taste. I didn't try the lamb but my wife assures me that it was excellent.

For dessert we got the creme brulee and churros. I consider myself to be a creme brulee connoisseur, and I can't let the opportunity to taste a new one ever slip by. I'm happy to say that this creme brulee was great. Not quite top tier, but that's very difficult to achieve for a pareve version. Easily one of the best pareve creme brulees that I have ever had.

The churros were light and fluffy, yet crispy on the outside. The chocolate dip tasted almost like it was dairy, however, the fruity dips were a little bit too sweet for me

Our waitress was extremely helpful and attentive as were the rest of the staff.

We had a great dinner at Yakar, and will definitely be back. You should come. Enjoy...

Singularly awful. Unfortunately, you can't post a review without giving it one star, which I do reluctantly. Frankly, surprised by the glowing reviews here and on Yelp.

The only nice thing I can say about me and my friend's experience there last night was that I felt sorry for the waiter. He was working really hard which was odd given the small number of diners there when we arrived.

We ordered the Charcuterie board to start. It was at best passable but nothing special. All the meats tasted the same, salty - no one could even tell us what the meats were. Also, the toasted little breads were rock hard, like, breaking your bridgework hard. Not worth the $57 for sure.

Honestly, It felt like the staff was dropped into the place an hour before we arrived without any prior restaurant experience. They all seemed confused and ill at ease,

The worst part of the evening was the entrees - I had the Filet Mignon ($70) and my friend the cowboy steak ($94) with French Fries and Steamed/sauteed vegetables. We waited 50 minutes for it. We joked to each-other that they must still be raising the cow. The story of our experience there was frankly the best part of the evening.

My Filet Mignon had absolutely no taste with the exception of freezer burn. It was inedible. My friend's Medium cowboy steak was well done not medium as ordered and the edges were charred.

They took the entrees off the bill but kept the charcuterie and the gratuity . A place that wanted your business would have not have charged us at all. But they knew we wouldn't be back so figured what the heck.

Avoid this place unless you want a fun story. We went to Essen, a deli nearby, to have some edible food. I gave them a...