River Cafe

We tried out the River Cafe last Saturday for my birthday. Built on a barge nestled below the Brooklyn Bridge, River Cafe offers fairly traditional upscale fare in a romantic old gotham kind of setting. Upon arrival, you are met with a quaint cobblestoned driveway lined with twinkle-light adorned trees. The front lobby is filled with bunches of fresh-cut flowers. The dining room is long and narrow, a bar with a piano player on one end. We were seated side by side, I assume so we could both have a view of the water. It wasn't entirely comfortable, we felt as if we were watching everyone else eat and we couldn't look each other in the eye while talking. Another strange element was the cord from the little electric lamp on our table hung down between us. Bear accidentally unplugged it with his foot several times. I suggest specially requesting a window table (these were regular round tables).

The waitstaff were pleasant and quick with drinks and rolls with butter. We chose to do the $85 3-course prix fixe menu. There were an abundance of options for appetizer, entree, and dessert. I started with the appetizer special, a seafood duo. One on side of the long narrow plate was a seared hamachi over sushi rice and a sweet black bean sauce (tasted like hoison/plum sauce). On the other was a big eye tuna tartare marinated in sesame oil and garnished with scallion and pine nuts. The hamachi was decent, but not amazing. I liked the black bean sauce. The tartare was one of the blandest I'd ever had. There was no salt or acid of any kind to offset the sesame oil. Bear had Blue Fin tuna tartare. The tuna, which was wrapped in bacon, was stuffed with foie gras. The foie gras was warm and melty and creamy and the tuna was pretty flavorful, but on the whole this dish was also not amazing.

We were feeling a little discouraged, but when the entree emerged, all was redeemed. Both of our dishes were the kind that make your eyes roll back in your head at the first bite. I had monkfished cooked in pork juices, topped with a braised pork belly ravioli with a golden raisin puree. This was the best preparation of monkfish I have ever had. The fish was tender and sweet, complemented by the buttery salty pork juices. The golden raisin puree was a delightful accent. Bear had a branzino that was delightfully light and well prepared. I only had a bite or two so I will let him fill you in later.

The dessert was also a disappointment. I had a sticky toffee chocolate cake with a pistachio ice cream sandwich. While the toffee sauce was quite good, the cake was one of the worst I've ever had. Egg-y and bland and spongey. The ice cream sandwich was quite, but the chocolate cookies were really savory and kind of tasted like bisquick. Bear had an apple upside down cake with both an apple sorbet and ice cream. The main problems with these desserts was that they were overly deconstructed. Bear's had each element in a totally seperate space where they would have been much better piled on top of each other. The 2 toffee filled chocolate candies that came with the check were incredibly good though.

So, to sum up, even though the appetizers were just okay and the desserts pretty poor, it's worth at least one try for a special occasion. The ambience and service were great and the entrees were incredible. Keep in mind we were being pretty critical due to the place's reputation and the price. Bear took pictures of all of our plates, so stay tuned for his post.