Betony

Becca was back in NYC visiting from London, and she had heard about Betony alllll the way over there! I have been here a few times, last summer, when it first opened, and I was pleased to learn that it is/was relatively easily to get a reservation (when compared to, say, Milos, or Quality Italian). Becca and I only had one night to dine together since I was flying out to the west coast, so we Sanjay and a few of us together for a meal. 

Let's dive right in...

The menu is divided into tree part, and our waiter recommended we each order one dish from each section. As greedy as we are, we decided to just share a few from the first two sections and each order something from the third section ("mains"). 

We started with the foie gras bon bons. Imagine a smooth chocolate truffle but instead of chocolate, you are biting into velvety foie gras. Yes. Amazing. The velvety foie gras is coated with what I think are cashews, and dusted with black pepper. 

{Foie Gras Bon Bon}

We also shared the "lobster rolls". These were kind of a miss, I wouldn't order these next time, they were a rather underwhelming combination of cream fraiche and lobster hiding in the shell of what looked like a Pepperidge Farm Pirouette cookie.

Well, we got a little thank you course from Becca's Amex Concierge.

Also disappointing: the gnocchi. I actually just took a quick look at the menu online and it looks like the gnocchi has vanished! 

Not disappointing in any capacity: the lobster. I believe it was sous-vide, and you can see topped with asparagus and some other spring-y accoutrements. I loved lobster when I was 8, and actually haven't eaten it much till this spring (more lobster to come!), it is a nice splurge dish to enjoy when I'm out. 

Now, time for dessert! We ordered the passion fruit, butterscotch, and chocolate desserts, but somehow I only managed to take a photo of the passion fruit. It's a shame, the chocolate one was my "fave fave" (quoting Becca).

The passion fruit dessert had an interesting element of cilantro, and as much as I love passion fruit, this one was not my fave.

So now I've been back to Betony about three times now, during different seasons, and because of that, I don't think I need to keep coming back for more. I wouldn't recommend taking a trip here all the way from downtown, but it is a solid choice in the midtown area. 

Betony

41 W. 57th Street

New York, NY 10019

(212) 465-2400