Aquavit Cafe

Last night, Sabrina and I dined at Aquavit (cafe) from 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm. We started off with a glass of champagne at the bar and worked our way into a cute window seat. There, we were greeted by two servers and eventually two runners. Oh did I mention I got to see the kitchen, meet the general manager, and the executive chef?

Okay, so having a roommate who works at a 3 star fine dining restaurant obviously has its perks. Food came out to around $112, but luckily she gets a 50% discount. Anyway, this is what we had.

I decided to have a very Scandinavian dinner since I’ve never had Scandinavian food. For the appetizer, I got the Herring sampler. It’s 3 dishes of herring- 1 in vodka lime, 1 pickled, and 1 in this apple curry sauce. The apple curry was my favorite followed by the vodka lime. Definitely one of the more unique dishes I’ve gotten at a restaurant. Sabrina got the salmon sampler which I say was not as delicious as mine.

Oh! I almost forgot. We got a complimentary amuse-bouche. They served us a smoked tuna salad. The tuna was very lightly seared so the meat was quite raw. I really liked the chewiness of it.

Going on with the entrees, Sabrina ordered the seafood stew which literally looked like a hot tub full of diverse shellfish and fish. It looked pretty appetizing but with my non-shellfish palette, I could only guess how good it was. I got the Beef Rydberg. It was like chopped up sauteed sirloin. I really liked the onions and the sauce that went along with it.

But I haven’t even gotten to the good part yet. The dessert was incredible. I orde red the arctic circle which is basically blueberry sorbet served on top of a cylinder made of frozen goat cheese with passion fruit as a filling. It melted right in your mouth like ice cream. Without a doubt it was the most unique /delicious dessert I’ve had.

Aquavit is a type of drink. We also ordered a shot of coconut Aquavit because supposedly it’s supposed to go well with herring even though I can’t figure out why. It was pretty strong but still, a good thing to try.

Even without a discount, I’d go again, especially to the cafe. Apparently it’s one of the best cheap FINE DINING restaurants you can go to. The service is great and the decor is just done right. You know you’re in a very upscale place yet it’s still very fashionable. The architecture makes me feel as if I’m dining at the Moma.

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65 E. 55th St.
New York, NY 10022
Near Madison Ave.
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212-307-7311