Sunday, April 27, 2008

The Experience Mimics the Review



Often when you read a review (be it Zagat, Food and Wine, CitySearch etc) the experience doesn't read close to the print. The reviewer has said the food is excellent and yours came out cold, that wait staff was said to be nasty and obnoxious and your personal encounter was nothing but friendly and warm. I think its safe to say that while reviews have their value; they are not the end all be all. I would have to say though that when the review is spot-on, it's an eerie feeling and I would most definitely say that is the case with Zagat's review of Felix on West Broadway. The commentary reads, "A “playground” for the “beautiful”, “international” set, this “loud, lively”, “very SoHo” French bistro delivers “decent” eats in “airy” digs with “two walls of open doors”; “brunch is a highlight”, but the “rowdy patrons and inevitable dancing” always steal the show."

I've been to Felix on two occasions. The first instance was on a late summer afternoon for what could have been brunch but just ended up being wine and turned into a parade of toasting and drinking with foreign new friends. Yes, I would describe the above as pretty accurate. The second occasion was just on Friday night when my friends and I returned for the same such scene and for the open doors on one of our first warm spring nights. I had heard mixed opinions on the food and was pleasantly surprised to find that it was indeed pretty good. Doogs and I split a beet salad to start. There were yellow and red beets over a bed of endive, sprinkled with walnuts and apples and drizzled with a dressing that added a layer of saltiness to the already sweet ingredients. It was quite tasty and exceeded my expectations. A Duh and Wild Ginge split the warm goat cheese salad which they seemed happily smitten with. For entrees, I got the Chicken Fricassee with ratatouille (a peasant dish by French standards) but good in it's simplicity and fall-off-the-bone chicken. Doogs got the seabass over a bed of mushroom risotto (She's currently on an "I Love Risotto" kick), A Duh and Wild Ginge both got the mussels and french fries (maybe more for the french fries than the mussels?) and Sista Ginge (yes, wild Ginge has a sister! with the same Ginge features) got the steak tartar to which she defended as very good (although again maybe ordered more for the love of fries?) Aside from the food, there were the annoying french guys who tried to get us to sit at their table, the table of 20 celebrating the birthday of a woman in her 30's wearing a skirt an 18 year old probably shouldn't be wearing out of the house, a gaggle of tables who liked to sing with the music, old men at the bar with designer glasses and very young arm candy and an eccentric hostess who was just as fun to watch as her guests.

Yes, the review is pretty true blue. And I can say you will probably mimic that experience for sure at Felix on West Broadway with the airy open doors and scenic view (be it people passing by on the street or patrons swapping tables for chit chat inside).

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I love this post (obviously!) and I must have missed it! Being that I was with you 2 of the 2 times you were there plus countless others I can say that your post and zagats are both totally on point. That place is an international party of goodness (similar to my romantic-life)and I have to say I love it there!