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“The Neptune Room”

Occasion:	Cuisine:	Area:	Cost:	Rating:
Night Out	Seafood	Upper West Side	Moderate	Good

Jeff Lefcourt and Glen Harris know the right way to lure a fish—especially when the fish in question is a school of New York City diners. Like Jimmy Bradley and Danny Abrams (Red Cat, Harrison, and Mermaid Inn), this young restaurateur-chef team behind Jane, the hip American bistro on Houston Street, have the right formula for easy success—good food made from quality ingredients, at a middle of the road price point, served in a casual but chic setting. They’ve applied the same formula to The Neptune Room, a new seafaring spot on the Upper West Side. The restaurant has a swanky, Finding Nemo sort of vibe, with a deep blue tiled façade, exposed brick walls, oversized circular banquettes, and curved wooden ceilings that give the illusion of being on board a fabulous ship somewhere in the middle of the ocean. Indeed, you may wonder whether Julie McCoy will be announcing a stop in Puerto Vallarta. (Didn’t happen while I was there, but you never know).

You’ll find an eclectic crowd—a reflection of the neighborhood—young families with strollers, couples on first dates, and tables of stunning women in flirty tank tops, micro minis, and stiletto flip flops, hoping to lure in some fish of their own. (From the looks of things, there were several sharks and a couple of nice flounders waiting to be baited in the wings.) To feed the neighborhood, Harris has assembled a menu that, as you might have guessed, is all about lovely creatures that once swam but now are food. (So sad, but hey, what are you gonna do? Become a vegetarian? Don’t think so.)

We started with a selection of marinated seafood cocktails from The Bait Bar (all $6) that are served in small shallow green glass bowls that sort of look like jellyfish. There was a lively sashimi of yellowtail with honey, grapefruit and pepper, a chewy (in a good way) char-grilled octopus with sweet cherry tomatoes, green olives, and parsley, and pungent cured white anchovies with potatoes, olives and oregano. While you can easily make a meal of the items from the Bait Bar, and a selection of starters like the oysters Neptune baked in pastry with parsley and garlic ($12) or the fava bean tortellini with lobster, mascarpone and basil ($11), if you are craving bigger fish, the entrée section provides plenty of options. We had the cioppino ($23), presented in a lovely terra cotta casual filled with generous amounts of fish, but I found it to be a bit bland. The broth is too thin and tastes mostly of tomat ... [more, click below]

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Posted: May 20, 2004

Other restaurants in Upper West Side :
+ 'Cesca   + Asiate   + Blue Hill Stone Barns   + Per Se   + The Neptune Room   + Spigolo   + Telepan   + Aix Brasserie   + 'Cesca   + Bar Boulud   + Dovetail   + BarBao   + Dinosaur Bar-be-Que   + Kefi   + Bar Luna   + Ed's Chowder House   + Red Rooster, by Rachel Barbarotta   + Loi by Dara Pollak   

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