Valentine’s Day … it’s yet another day of the year to spend more money on your partner! Valerie is a restaurant located in Midtown about 3 streets up from Bryant Park. My partner was craving crab cakes and aside from ordering from Jimmy’s Famous Seafood, I was having a lot of trouble finding something. They gave me a list, and I noticed that there was crab cake on this menu. I had no idea what to expect on an early Saturday evening when we arrived.
Ambiance
The interior decor is quite interesting with a lot of velvet and a mix of tile, brass, marble, and smoked mirrors. It definitely had a very strong “burlesque” and speakeasy feel where the dark walls and dimly amber lit lights transported you back to the early 1900s. We were seated in a room in the back at bar level where the ceiling was quite short, and it had light bulbs that remind me a bit of the Edison in Los Angeles. The booth was quite comfortable for my partner, whereas I sat on a typical dining chair. It’s supposed to resonate a romantic vibe, and I briefly felt that with the ambiance. There were a lot of couples in that area having their early Valentine’s Day Saturday dinner.
The menu has a lot of gin on it. If you’re a fan of gin cocktails, I think you’d be a fan of this place. We were not super ecstatic about gin, so we explored other areas of their expansive cocktail menu.
The service itself was very snappy and on point. The waiter was very attentive in making sure our waters were filled, and the food itself came timely and appropriately after each other.
Food
All the cocktails here have very interesting names and mixtures.
The pisc-kola (left - $17) came with macchu pisco, amaro montenegro, angostura bitters, lime juice, and kola demerara. I was expecting this to have some fizz, but there wasn’t any. It was still pretty good and smooth.
The keruouac’s tales (right - $17) came with lairds bonded apple brandy, mezcal, ancho reyes, salers apertif, beet shrub, and lime juice. This was really delicious. It was smooth with the right mix of alcohol and juices.
The dozen east coast oysters ($2 each) came freshly shucked with the typical cocktail sauce and mignonette vinaigrette. The oysters were delicious, and I am guessing these were blue point oysters. They were not as salty or briney as typical east coast oysters.
The Maryland crab cake ($18) came with creamy leek velouté, crispy bacon, grated egg, shaved fennel, and frisée salad. This was pretty decent although the crab itself didn’t have that super fresh taste we were looking for. Despite this minor issue, we enjoyed the crab cake with condiments that came with it. It certainly wasn’t the best crab cake we had, nor was it the worst.
The diver sea scallops ($38) came with kabocha squash puree, wild mushrooms, smoked bacon & apple marmalade, sage butter, and micro greens. This surprisingly only came with 4 pieces, so it is a bit pricey for the quantity. The taste, on the other hand, was phenomenally harmonious. My partner really enjoyed the perfect cook of the scallop, and the sauce and garnish were a very nice complement. The sauce had a nice balance of sweet flavors from the squash and apple marmalade and salty flavors from the smoked bacon.
The pan roasted black cod ($30) came with white jasmine rice, snow peas, tobiko & koji cream sauce, pea shoots, and furikae nori spice. Unlike the scallops, this had much more volume. The cod was perfectly cooked in that the skin was crispy and the cod meat was moist and flaky. The rice was a little moist in my opinion and could have been forked a bit to allow the moisture to rise out. The tobiko & koji cream sauce was the highlight of this dish because it unified the fish, the rice, and garnish together very well. I didn’t quite know what koji was, but online says it’s another form of umami flavor similar to soy sauce or miso. It does have this very interesting taste that gives it a light sweet but savory taste that I find in some modern Japanese cuisines. I would highly recommend this dish if you were looking for something light but very flavorful and satisfying.
Added January 29, 2024 for brunch.
The Hanger Steak & Eggs ($29) came with 2 eggs over easy, chimichurri, hash brown, and mixed greens. The steak was cooked a perfect medium rare, and it had a nice char to it too. The hash brown triangles were crispy and delicious. The eggs were a little under done for me, but they were good. Everything here was pretty outstanding as expected from Valerie.
Final Verdict
Valerie is a fantastic spot for either a casual inventive drink after work or when you want to invest in a date type meal. Their cocktails are abundantly excellent with a lot of options for both gin and non-gin lovers. The food was all cooked superbly and left a lasting impression. It’s also located in a very convenient location between Times Square, Grand Central, and Bryant Park.
Yelp Jabs
We were able to get a high top but were limited to an hour seating as the whole night was booked for reservations even though we had an email that showed that we attempted to book our spot.
This elitist tried to make a reservation for 9 people in a bustling Manhattan location and time (Black Friday) and said they made a lot of damage with oysters, app, and drinks during happy hour. Here’s the problem why a large party doesn’t always equate good business for a restaurant. Large parties tend to chat longer, so turnover is going to be a lot slower. Nine people can easily take up 4 different tables. In addition, you’re there for happy hour prices which restaurants typically leverage to draw customers in which arguably is unnecessary on a Black Friday evening.
Love the fancy Great Gastby feel. My friends n I got dressed up for happy hour to match the ambiance … The place is Noisy though. it’s hard to carry on a conversation wo screaming.
This is quite a predicament and a bit of a contradiction. On one hand, this Elitist loves the Gatsby happy hour ambiance which I am assuming is a bustling noisy environment with a lot of chatter. On the other hand, they complained it was too noisy. You can’t really have a Gatsby happy hour ambiance without being noisy.
Revisions
- Jan 29, 2024 - Revisit for brunch with friends. Added Hanger Steak & Eggs.
- Feb 12, 2022 - Initial revision.