Eleven Madison Park, New York City
This was my most anticipated restaurant for this NYC trip, because it served a vegan menu. I had a very foggy day, though I mostly walked around and hopped between museums in NYC. Prior to entering the restaurant at my booked time, I actually sat in the Madison Square Park for a while and enjoyed the surrounding, while, well, chatting with a friend who was also in NYC.
Madison Square Park in a foggy day
I got lost and felt confused searching for the entry of this restaurant. The main door turned out to be next to the office building entrance to a bank. I totally missed the restaurant twice following map but there is no clear sign on the front door. Also, I certainly did not want to be on the way of all those rushing bankers either on their way to entertain their lovely family or their clients in the evening.
Although there was no wall, the restaurant was split to two sections, the inner half is left slightly higher and blocked by a half wall; I assume it may convert into a private venue if necessary. I got a very nice table, with a nice sofa and my back to the window. Also, I could see the rest of the inner half area to play the game of “why they are here today“ with myself.
Table
I did not get the menu until the end of the dinner. In general, it was a very fun combination. Of course, it was vegan, however, I did not feel much different or hungry after the entire set.
Menu
It was the season of Asparagus. The dish looked very simple without any other ingredients. There was limited seasoning too; I could taste light spicy and mustard. However, it was very impressive cold plate for me as the asparagus were very fresh, not overcooked, as I could still taste the fibrous texture and felt the crunchy, but also not raw, with no unpleasant sharp flavour. In fact, they were surprisingly very juicy. The light seasoning boosted the freshness very well. This was certainly a show-off from the kitchen.
Asparagus
The Soba was my favourite for the night. This course is the alternative for pasta in the common European style tasting menu. Of course, traditional pasta is not vegan, so soba sounds a great choice. The soba was thicker than usual, I guessed, and the buckwheat flour was coarser than usual. Hence the soba had a “rougher” texture; I enjoyed it, as a feeling of natural form, although the buckwheat was still processed ingredient. The soup was also thicker than it looked. I was curious how much mushroom they packed in to make the base soup. The surprise was the small mushroom on top; it was packed of flavour! A strong umami and ponzu flavour exploded in my mouth. It pretty much woke me up immediately when I had just a small bite.
Soba
The next dish was a simple but not too simple “potato”. The potato has crispy skin though no sense of oil or greasiness. However, the potato inside was very well cooked, creamy but not too dry. This was the first time I heard something call “land caviar”, some dried seeds. I actually liked them. They have very strong and salty taste, similar to caviar. Yet the land caviar was in general smaller than the actual caviar and less juicy but provided some earthen taste.
Potato
The main was “Romanesco” broccoli. Everything was very green. The Romanesco was nicely grilled, if I guessed correctly. There was light spicy drizzled on top. The broccoli was actually very solid and filling. It had a very light sweet taste, but mostly light flavour otherwise. The paired vegetable was much bitter and juicer than broccoli, which I thought was a great idea: it provided difference to the plate.
Romanesco
The place was great! Although I was by myself, a special gentleman was messaging me to provide some entertainment. As a Chinese, who has more palate for vegetable since Chinese cuisine explores many more types of vegetable than meat, I found the vegan menu was very fun. All the dishes were all well thought and provided different flavours. I particular want to say, none of the vegetables were looked or tasted greasy or soggy. Since I cooked vegetable a lot myself, it is very difficult to cook them well, especially in such clear fashions.
🐼 Score: 4/5
