So we are back at Narcissa! After trying their brunch few weeks ago, we were curious to see how the dinner would be. And we were not disappointed except with the desserts that are too fussy unfortunately.

When we arrived, I was surprised to see that this place was not crowded for a Friday evening, thinking that maybe people focused on places that proposed a Restaurant Week menu, Narcissa not being one of them. I am not going to complain though as the lesser the diners, the lower the noise level.

The menu was full of interesting dishes with sev mushroom being everywhere, prompting me to think that there was a promotion that day, and with lots of vegetarian dishes for Jodi to choose. The first one was the tofu spinach dip that does not sound great and that we finally changed for the fava dip, after it was recommended by the waitress. It was topped with smoked pistachio and served with grilled poolish baguette. Nice dish, perfect for sharing. It is not that often that you see fava beans on a menu, or at list being the star of a dish.

Next, we tried the smoky Japanese sweet potato, served with preserved chilies and smothered with a Peruvian pesto. I should start by saying that Jodi does not like sweet potatoes but liked this dish that was so good, I kept going at it although it was spicy.

Smokey Japanese sweet potato at Narcissa at The Standard East Village

For her main, she picked the grilled eggplant that was accompanied by smoked goat cheese, heirloom tomatoes and baby arugula. Simple in a way, I loved the combination of eggplant and goat cheese that worked well together.

Grilled eggplant at Narcissa at The Standard East Village

The second dish she picked, still for her main, was the sev mushrooms with tahini, preserved lemon and sesame oil. Good, it was quite earthy.

Sev mushrooms at Narcissa at The Standard East Village

On my side, after lots of hesitation, I finally went for the whole branzino that was deboned (one side had few bones but overall they did a good job) and came with a pepper beurre blanc that fortunately was on the side because it was very spicy (but very good, even if my mouth was on fire). The fish, that was sitting on grilled scallion, was perfectly cooked.

I should mention that with my meal, I got a cocktail called Gotham nights, that was made with rye (it was the only cocktail with whisky), banana (did not really tasted it), sweet vermouth, walnut, amontillado that is a variety of sherry wine, and bitters. With all these ingredients, you would think that it tasted weird, but in fact it worked, the vermouth and rye being predominant.

Gotham nights cocktail at Narcissa at The Standard East Village

Dessert was, as I mentioned above, a bit of a let down. The olive oil cake was not bad, but it was served with shavings of preserved lemon that I thought at first was Parmesan (sorry but the light was low), that I did not really enjoy as it overpowered the dish.

Olive oil cake at Narcissa at The Standard East Village

Then the buttermilk panna cotta tasted more like a yogurt! It was accompanied with a grapefruit granita and oatmeal crumble.

Buttermilk panna cotta at Narcissa at The Standard East Village

And I am not talking about the Napoleon that had nothing to do with the classic cake: it was a sandwich made with sourdough bread, with a cardamom cream in the middle and served with marinated strawberries. For $14, I thought it was not worth the price.

Napoleon at Narcissa at The Standard East Village

Despite that, the rest was good and the service on point. I think after trying both that I prefer the brunch at Narcissa. Dinner is good but it means I would forget about dessert. But a meal without dessert is not a complete meal. No?

Enjoy (I mostly did)!

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Narcissa - 25 Cooper Square, New York 10003

Dinner at Narcissa

Jean-Philippe Gerbi