Esca - New York

This was our 3rd dining experience at Esca and did not disappoint. Always a wonderful experience, great service all around.

The music was extremely loud for the small, intimate venue. Did not match with scene I believe they were trying to set. Very loud 90’s music is fun but not appropriate for the elegant setting. Our waitress left half way through our meal and did not tell us she was leaving. For a higher end restaurant, I would have expected her to introduce us to our new waiter. We had one couple from our table of 6 have a family emergency and they were late. I called to let them know and they sat the 4 of us immediately. We had a cocktail and were waiting for them. We asked if we could order some food while we waited but she said no that would be impossible. I asked for bread bc it was getting late and I was starving and that seemed inconvenient. Once our guests arrived and we ordered things improved a lot. The sommelier was exceptional. The food was delicious and beautifully presented. The service other than that was great. However we were the last ones in there and when the staff decided it was time to close, they turned the lights up to give us the hint to leave. It was 11:45pm. Sort of disappointing for a high end nyc restaurant to get kicked out at that hour. All in all it was a great meal but a bit rough around the edges.

I’ve loved Esca for years, but found on this visit that it has lost its soul and the kitchen is cooking without any care. Hope it was just a bad night.

We were so excited to see all of the crudo's on the menu since we LOVE crudo but the quality and cuts were very poor. The rest of the meal was clunky. The best thing about the experience was the sommelier. She was delightful and very knowledgeable.

Pasta with crab was fishy. amuse bouche was the best thing. A bit for what it was.