I’ve heard many things about Crown Shy, both positive and negative. It’s located in the same building as Saga, a Michelin 2 Star restaurant, and also a supposed good bar called Overstory. This year, Crown Shy received a Michelin Star, and various public forums raved about their dishes being inventive and good. Since reservations were easy to get, we decided to spend our Friday at this restaurant. It was very easy to book a 5:45 PM dinner reservation for 2.
From the about section of their webpage:
Crown Shy is the first solo project of Chef James Kent. Inspired by James’ upbringing in downtown New York and his experience leading the city’s most celebrated kitchens, Crown Shy is a neighborhood seasonal restaurant elevated by fine dining training and technique.
Ambiance & Service
The front door to the restaurant is somewhat discreet. If you’ve ever been to Rockafeller, it’s similar to some restaurants there where it’s just a door inside the building. When you walk in on the right, you’ll see their signature bright and vertical lit sign.
They seated us towards the back at a table. The space between diners was great, in that we had an empty table between parties. The ambiance, albeit full of people, handled the noise well in that you didn’t really have to shout. The music was playing 90s and 2000s rap music.
The service was very good. The waiter gave great recommendations in terms of courses, and they also recommended a good wine for all the dishes. All the servers were attentive to filling waters and clearing tables.
Food
The Melona Milk Punch ($20 - front) came with vodka, honey dew, sticky rice, coconut, and clarified milk. This was surprising to us in that the liquid was clear, but maybe that’s what clarified milk is. The drink itself was a summer drink with a lot of melon flavors.
The Dolcetto ($21 - back) came from Nicolas Altare Dogliani, Piedmont, Italy 2021. This was dry and very fruit forward with some earthy notes. It was something we noted in our wine lists.
The complimentary bread was quite delicious. It had some pistachio cream in the middle with a lot of parmesan doused on top. With the butter, it was very good.
The Gruyere Fritters ($17) were served with chili and lime. This tasted like a churro with spicy cheese in the middle. I wouldn’t say it was bad, but it was probably something that is a little gimmicky. The churro crust was nice and crunchy though.
The White Asparagus ($34) came with morels and beef tongue. The morels were actually pretty good. I can eat this. The sauce and the asparagus were both excellent as well. They put a poached egg on top, so this becomes a very creamy dish. I’m not sure why they chose beef tongue as the protein, but it was very tender and reminded me of fresh cut tongue tacos in Los Angeles.
The Mafaldine ($36) came with rock shrimp and chorizo. The pasta was absolutely delicious and scooped up the sauce very effectively with every bite. The rock shrimp was very fresh, and the sauce had a small kick to it. We thought there was just a bit too much sauce, but overall, the dish was great.
The Roasted Short Rib ($105) came with yucca and lahoh pancake. The roasted short rib was absolutely delectable. It was very soft and had great flavors. The yucca sat in a little sauce bowl of what I am guessing is some jus. The sauce didn’t have much strong flavors, but it was definitely heavy in fat and oils. The pancakes were OK. It reminded me a bit of Nepal-type bread wraps. I didn’t do much wrapping, and I ate things individually.
The Horchata Ice Cream ($16) came with chocolate and churros. If you are as big of a horchata fan as me, you will certainly love this. In the center of the horchata ice cream was chocolate ice cream. Overall, it was a good balance of sweet, and you get that distinctive cinnamon and rice flavor coming out of the ice cream. This uses the same churro batter as the fritters, so it was perfectly crunchy.
Final Verdict
Crown Shy met all the expectations I had of a good Michelin restaurant in New York City. Everything today taste wise was pretty good, and the wine was a perfect complement. We would love to come back to bring other guests, and we will eventually aim for its more upscale sibling, Saga.
Yelp Jabs
Furthermore, there were very limited vegetarian options for my husband and the waiter almost forgot to tell us that there was pork gelatin in most of the dessert options.
This Yelper had a bad night and just went on rails for everything. The menu has vegetables on it, but it doesn’t really enforce vegetarianism. I understand that some people go to these nicer restaurants with expectations that they will be able to offer plentiful options for dietary restrictions, but the truth is that most restaurants will have difficulties meeting those expectations. The waiter should have asked more questions to understand how strict this person’s diet was.
The scallop crudo wasn’t even cold. That’s a health problem.
This Yelper is from Atlanta, and no, it’s not really a health problem. Cold is subjective, but also you can have room temperature scallop and be fine.
Revisions
- May 17, 2024 - Initial revision.