Manhatta

Polished, attentive, energetic professionals poised to meet your every need? Check. Extensive wine list with well-educated and engaging, never snobby, sommeliers? Check, check. Delectable and beautiful plates of food that have the whole table ooo-ing, aah-ing, and "here, you MUST try this"-ing? Check, check, check!! Roll all of the best features of great restaurants up into a tidy package, transport it to the top floor of a skyscraper in FiDi with gorgeous views, and you have Manhatta.

We had the extreme pleasure of dinner at Manhatta on Friday, 12 July. We had arrived much earlier than we thought we would, and were prepared to have to wait in the bar until our table was ready. Entering the building, we were greeted cheerfully by the entry host at their podium. Upon confirming our reservation, they directed us to the bank of elevators waiting to whisk us skyward.

After a brief ride (my ears popped somewhere around the 50th floor), the doors open, and we are greeted by name by the host waiting for us at the stand in front of the well-appointed bar. Although we had assumed we would need to wait in the bar, they had our table ready! Our host escorted us to our table, which I realized after studying the layout was as close to a window as they could get for our larger party. The largest window table that we saw in the main dining room was only big enough for 4; most table windows were for 2 diners only. However, our view over the city was still spectacular for that very reason -- without giant parties at the window, it was very easy for everyone not right at the glass to still see out.

I will study my notes and come back to flesh out this placeholder review with the various dishes I ordered in our 4-course meal, but what I ordered did not matter so much, as we all ended up swapping tastes of everything with each other, and the staff absolutely facilitated our foodie frenzy.

If you are very lucky, you will have Jocelyn as your personal guide for the evening -- she is vibrant, fearless, knowledgeable, good-humored, detail-oriented, and so very enthusiastic about her restaurant, the food, the layout, everything! She made me feel like I was being hosted by a dear family friend. She promised us a tour of the facilities at the end of our meal, and she absolutely delivered-- what a phenomenal venue, and seen through her eyes, the exciting possibilities for events that could be held here became very clear. What a great resource is Jocelyn!

If you are DOUBLY lucky, you will also have the brilliant Lee as your sommelier. Loaded in equal measure with encyclopedic knowledge, warmth, and a screamingly great wit, Lee allowed for great choices by our wine connoisseur, but was not at all afraid to suggest possibilities for a pairing that he thought might be even better in a way that validated our friend's original plan, but opened the door to this whole new world (the Sauternes my friend had selected was awesome, but the Late Harvest Tokaji that Lee suggested for the dessert course was beyond perfection!).

The whole evening unfolded at a blissful pace, never rushed, but never a second spent waiting. Absolutely perfect pacing! The benefit of a restaurant who knows what the heck they are doing with staff training is that you feel incredibly pampered at every turn by people who give off a genuine vibe that this is the only thing in the world they want to be doing right now. Manhatta staff are absolutely among the very best at this. I constantly marveled at how they anticipated and took care of every need without once seeming to have snobby airs that can be found in some establishments, and without once getting in the way at all, despite our table's jolly propensity for trading bites, gleefully eating (and sometimes spilling crumbs), and trading out wines with the various courses, hence new glassware selling with the usual silverware and plate dances of the courses.

If it seems like I'm spending an awful lot of time on service, it's because flawless, warm service absolutely elevates the dining experience for me. I've seen Michelin-starred restaurants who could only dream of having as good of service as what is found every day at Manhatta!

I'll revisit to add food details when I have time, but suffice it to say, the food was glorious, and next time we know we will be in the city, if there is enough lead time, we definitely want to be at the chef's counter for Chef Bogle's tasting menu! If our regular meal was as good as what we experienced, I can only imagine the chef's counter will be EPIC!

I live next block and I always visit bar when I need to take my out-the-town friends somewhere nice. Btw, bar is walk-in welcome! No reservations are needed.

This place is charming, service is not rushed, cocktail's ingredients are excellent and not cheap by all means (bartenders will understand).

Trivia question:
How to understand a good and well balanced cocktail? - When you cannot taste main/base ingredient: be it whiskey or sake or vodka...

This Upscale place will offer thin water glasses so your lips will not clinched around thick glass- an aesthete touch. Stem of wine glass be long but overall be perfectly balanced. You will have sensory, auditory and visual stimulation.

Now lets talk about atmosphere and ambiance.
Open horizons, as far as one can see city views allow to relax your overworked during the day eyes and both hemispheres:))

Saying Hi to our server who recently moved from Texas. Remember how to say THANK YOU In Georgian:) ? In case you forgot:
Its "MADLOBA"


:) :) :)

From the service to the setting everything about Manhatta impresses. It's great to see Manhatta make a strong return (after being closed during COVID) and having dined both pre and post COVID can confirm that quality and attention to detail remain unchanged.

Whether you get the three or four course meal ($115 vs $145), the only difference is whether you go with a dessert to finish. Each portion is what they call the 'perfect Goldilocks' amount, leaving you satisfied, but not too full. I found that between the amuse bouche, bread and the main entree that this was generally true, and left satisfied (vs still hungry at some of these fine dining establishments).

The standout dish (to me) was the scallops. The sauce, a combination of seaweed Bjerre bland and maple cured trout roe, was fantastic and the perfect level of richness to pair with the scallops. If you're feeling daring you can also dip your leftover bread in the sauce (which I'm not ashamed to admit I did). Most will also go with the 'ribeye of beef' which is satisfying, but the accompanying caraflex cabbage is a bit too vinegary for my taste.

Overall, whether you're celebrating a date or having a business power-meal, you won't leave Manhatta disappointed. Plus, the view from the 60th floor certainly doesn't hurt.

The resaurant was right across from the Federal Reserve Bank with a nice welcome area. It was minutes walk from our hotel. We were one of the few to arrive first for Sunday's lunch, the speedy elevator impressively shot up to the 60th floor. Arriving early was great, we had unobstructed (diners) views of Manhattan, Brooklyn and the river that wrapped around Manhattan, in the empty dining room we felt free to take some photos. Shortly after the restaurant filled up.

I started with a Chablis which took while to arrive and taken to the wrong table. The somm didnt seem focused. Perhaps this restaurant was more of a evening place. We had a few appetizers my beef tartare was well made handcut compare to a "French" place that served it grounded!! The crispy keropok cracker worked so well. The hamachi crudo was good but didnt wow. The asparagus buratta was a better appetizer.

The kiddo had the burger and they kindly served all the sauces on the side. The pure soft buns and patty combination was indescribably delicious I could understand why the five dudes who arrived with us only ordered that.

The steak was delicous and the trout I had was also good. The dessert was a chocolatey tart it was delicious too!

The service was hit or miss lacking the high end restaurant standard or enthusiasm and the restaurant had a high number of "touristic" visitors for the view. We came for the food and service firstly but perhaps the great view took abit of that away. It has great potential!!

I've only come for drinks, but this is a go to for me when trying to impress a friend from out of town. Go in the afternoon and you will likely have no competition to find a spot at or near the bar and be impressed by the beautiful views. Drinks are also delicious and not outrageously priced (around $20, which is not bad given the setting). What more could you want? I need to try the restaurant next!

Had this place bookmarked even before Covid... finally made it here for a very special birthday celebration!

We opted for the dinner four-course prix fixe. Everything was delicious and beautifully presented. The absolute standout was the live scallops which I could not stop raving about. I had had many scallops at many high-end restaurants, but these really blew me away by how fresh and tender they were. We placed a second order for these a la carte because they were so amazing. The entrees were cooked to perfection. I especially appreciated the creative accompaniments such as cabbage puree. The chocolate mousse dessert was incredibly rich and smooth. The entire meal had no weak link.

Oh and the cocktail that I had... it was called Chinatown with some really interesting ingredients that I was very skeptical of, but somehow it worked, like magic. It was delicious in a savory way and reminded me of Chinese food. Can't explain, but must get!

The view in the dining room was great, but it was even better in the bar on the other side of the floor. I'd return for another Chinatown cocktail at the bar lounge...

We came here for our anniversary celebration and were really impressed by the service! From checking in downstairs to being greeted by our hostess and every waiter/waitress that we interacted with wished us a happy anniversary. We went with the four course menu and tried the sweet shrimp (one of my favourite courses), white asparagus with kombu (would avoid), scallops (definitely get this), cod and rib eye. For dessert, we got the Mille feuille and the strawberry rhubarb. They also gave us a small tiramisu for our anniversary! All in all, a great experience at Manhatta, with the cod, Mille feuille and sweet shrimp being the standout dishes

Run, don't walk, to make a reservation at Manhatta for a special occasion. This place blew my expectations out of the water.

First off, the view. We sat in the corner room, so you can get a beautiful view of the city, and catch a glimpse of the sunset. It was stunning. I could not get over how beautiful it was.

The food was also incredible! I love the experimentation with flavors and the presentation of everything was STUNNING. And!! It all tasted delicious! I think the pricing is fair given the food and experience.

Big Eye Tuna with foie gras, artichokes and moscatel vinegar: 11/10

I have never seen tuna displayed like this or with these combinations of flavors. I absolutely loved this dish for so many reasons, so if you like tuna and foie gras, do not skip this one.

Live Scallop with seaweed beurre blanc and maple cured trout roe: 9/10

These scallops were delicious! the sauce was also incredible. I loved every bite!

Foie Gras Chawanmushi with shiitake and coffee ponzu: 10/10

This was incredible. Such a unique dish that takes influence from so many different cuisines and they did an incredible job. It's Japanese inspired but the flavors have French influence, and they crushed it. Super homey dish.

Barbecued Eel with bone marrow and red wine: 10/10

This dish was delicious! A fancier display of Japanese unagi / barbecued eel. The flavor id the same as that, but it is one of my favorites.

Ribeye of Beef with caraflex cabbage, smoked beef heart and sauce charcuterie: 8.5/10

It is a well cooked cut of beef, but it was nothing special. I personally didn't like the sauce, but the cabbage puree was unique.

Dry Aged Duck with pistachio, fava bean, candied black olive, strawberry: 9.5/10

This duck was exquisite. The display was stunning with the green from the beans and the red from the strawberries. The duck was cooked well, and they gave us plenty! I think I would have preferred for the pieces to be thicker and it was kind of cold, but otherwise it was good.

I wish they had better desserts, as I didn't like any of them, but the whole meal was still perfect.

Commence with the Bear comparisons. Manhatta is easy to miss from the street as you take an elevator up to get to the actual restaurant. Thank you to Yelp for flagging this place as I needed somewhere for a work dinner and wanted to avoid the usual suspects. The disconnect from the main dining room is cool as it makes it feel exclusive. Once up there, the views are breathtaking, the open kitchen of true pro's is awesome to watch, and the service is impeccable. You can tell it's a Danny Meyer place if you look close, as the staff is eager to please while not nervous like they might be thrown off the building if they don't. Going to go through the courses in detail, as I'm not satisfied with the quality and level of detail of the reviews posted here. This place deserves it.

For the first course I got the big eyed tuna with foie gras, artichokes and vinegar. I have no idea WTF the jelly thing was on top and why it was necessary, however happy to say that what was underneath was heavenly. Think of fresh poke and then add foie gras. Absolutely decadent and delicious. I would've licked the plate if I wasn't a classy broad.

For the second course I got the live scallop with seaweed beurre blanc and maple cured trout roe. Contrary to the name, they took out my boy right as they cook him; he doesn't come to the table moving. Basically it's a seared scallop with beurre blanc that's super well done, with the trout roe/maple adding a pop of added flavor. Worth noting my friend had the barbecue eel with bone marrow and red wine and said it was one of the best things he ever ate.

For the third (main) course I got the trout with turnip, shiitake and nori hollandaise (I really went all in on the butter sauces). It wasn't listed on the menu, however there was some incredible frizzled/fried zucchini on top that was addicting; not 100% sure if was zucchini however that's what it looked like. Trout was very well done as I normally am not much of a fan. Turnips and mushrooms were good, as was the nori hollandaise. Most tasting menus leave you hungry however the portion here helped leaving me in a perfect state of full but not stuffed.

For dessert I got the rice biscuits (yes I know they have a fancy name) with ice cream and caramel. This was very good however ordinary compared to the other courses. Other folks like the semifreddo so may try that next time. Also got really good espresso and also a white chocolate thingy as a bonus.

Special dinner that was as good as I've had in years. Better than highly regarded tasting menu places that I've been to. Bravo and can't wait to go back!

Food: 7/10
Service: 8/10
Ambience: 8/10

We came for restaurant week prix fixe dinner for 2 people in Feb'24.
- Complimentary bread
- Amuse Bouche Oyster
- Live Scallop
- Big Eye Tuna with Foie Gras
- Dry Aged Steak
- Hudson Valley Trout
- Palate Cleanser: Lemon Sorbet with Marshmallow Meringue

My friend's tuna appetizer sauce was good. The Trout was cooked well. Steak was chewy--I regretted it. Dessert was probably the best part of the meal but nothing incredible. Flavors were not creative or anything remarkable. I felt like the food quality, flavors, and portions did not justify the high price.

Our regular server was great. However, wine service was extremely awkward. He poured a tiny bit of wine for my friend to sample before pouring our glasses. We both waited for him to pour my glass as well but he ignored my glass and told my friend to try the wine. Maybe he thought my friend was my mother even though we are the same age... Regardless, I feel like he should've let both of us sample the wine.

We did not get a window seat. We were seated in a corner booth against the wall which was okay. I would choose Peak or Centurion over Manhatta for better food and ambience. I might return to Manhatta to try the bar area.