Nougatine

While I've dined several times at the famed Jean Georges, I haven't yet had the chance to sample the fare on the other side of the wall at Nougatine. The casual dining room at the Trump Hotel and Towers has long been known for being more inconsistent than the formal dining room. However, at the request of woman who's birthday we were celebrating, we made reservations for an early dinner.

Two of us decided to get the tasting menu (at $68 quite a bargain) and everyone else went a la carte. I thought it was good that the restaurant allowed us to do that. Too many restaurants lose out because they require everyone to do the same.

We were all presented with the amuse bouche of the night which was a salmon tartare and a yellow tomato soup. Great colors and presentation on both these items. I was lucky enough to partake of several amuses since my tablemates weren't all excited about raw fish. Either way, a lovely start to the meal.

My wife then had a pear and goat cheese salad which was very nice. She thought there was too much crushed pepper but I thought it really balanced out the dish.

The tasting menus began with a bluefin tuna tartare with spicy radish and a ginger marinade. The marinade was definitely very flavorful but probably a little too salty. There was probably also more marinade than was necessary for the dish. The tuna tartare itself was very fresh and tasty. I did feel that the radish added nothing but a bit of texture. The radish actually made it harder to pick everything up with my fork.

We then had the peekytoe crab cake with miso mustard. This was slightly disappointing. It came as 4 small cubes of crab. While there was definitely no filler in the crab cake, reducing the size of the crab cake gives you that much more batter to compete with the crab. And since the crab cakes were deep fried, you couldn't taste so much of the crab as the batter.

Then came the slowly cooked arctic char with white asparagus fondue and a basil vinaigrette. This was my favorite dish of the night. The char was incredibly tender and moist. Oddly enough, the waiter first presented it as salmon since the chef normally uses salmon. Also, when I asked about the preparation, he said it was slow cooked at a low temperature in an oven. Is that possible? When he first said slow cooked, I immediately thought sous vide, which made total sense. But can you actually cook a piece of fish slowly in an oven and maintain the moisture? Perhaps I've much to learn there.

The last savory was the short ribs vinaigrette with fava jalapeno and mint. Way too salty and too sour. I've always loved short ribs and this was the first time I couldn't finish mine. As it was, I drank about 2 glasses of water during the course.

Maria had the steamed lobster with crispy potato for her entree and that was really good. As with the char, the lobster was extremely tender. Too often, you find rubbery lobster if you undercook it or disintegrating lobster if you cook it too long. This one was just perfect.

Among the other entrees at the table was the grilled pork chop with bacon wrapped asparagus and japanese eggplant. This was a big hit although I thought it was overcooked a bit. I could feel that it was a bit dried out. Someone else had the dry aged sirloin and declared it the best steak they've ever had. It sure better be at $65!!

We finished with a dessert sampler which included their classic molten chocolate cake, a warm apple cider, and a berry tart topped with a small souffle. All tasting portions and unfortunately the highlight of the meal.

All in all, I'm not sure whether to be disappointed or not. The space was nice although slightly loud with the bar next to us. The wait staff, while attentive, didn't seem to know enough about the menu items. Also, there were bread crumbs all over the table and these were never cleaned up until after the savory courses.

Normally, when I go to Jean Georges, the desserts are the low point of the mean while, at Nougatine, it's the other way. I'm not sure if this speaks to the strength of the savories at Jean Georges and the corresponding weakness of the savories at Nougatine or the weakness of the desserts at Jean Georges. Either way, I did feel like the food and the service were inconsistent and with a much better albeit more expensive restaurant next door, why choose the stepchild?