Raucous Restuarant Week in NYC

Last night, we went into NYC for Restaurant week. We were excited to check out the Davidburke Townhouse. Once we were able to secure a cab from Grand Central Station, which was like a marathon as we shifted from corner to corner scurrying to nab a cab before someone else took it, we were off to the restaurant.

We arrived on time with a reservation for 4 but only 3 of us were there so they sat us at a table for 3. 10 minutes later, our 4th person arrived so we were shuffled to a 4 person table, leaving our bread plates behind :(.

That's when the fun started! The new table was in the bar area, which was very crowded and noisy. We were sat by an old married man (in his 60s) lounging on the banquet with a very tanned younger woman who was not his wife. Whatever, until they decided to examine each other tonsils during our dinner. Needless to say, it was very distracting. We were never so happy to see other diners get their food.

Next up, a girl fell down one of the steps into the restaurant and hit her head on the hostess stand. They gave her ice, got her up and then made her go recovery outside on the bench. Seemed a little odd to me to send a possible lawsuit out into the heat to recover instead of getting her a freakin' table and comping her dinner.

Finally, came dessert. Our 4th member got his dessert before the rest of us. The waiter was trying to explain why he got his dessert first and it looked rough. The ice cream was melted all over the strudel and the dulce de leche sauce was already poured on the dessert. It looked like a drippy mess, something not quite right for this chi-chi restaurant. Things got more interesting 5 minutes later when our 2nd apple strudel came out like a piece of work, ice cream in a nice ball, sauce poured on the dessert at the table.

A little Nancy Drew work and I found out that our 4th person got a recycled dessert. The lady next to us had ordered the same dessert and when it arrived, she said she did not want the ice cream or the sauce. They brought her a new one and the one our friend got was obviously taken back to the kitchen, sat for 5 minutes and then was tried to be passed off as a new dessert. Are you kidding me? It was an apple strudel swimming in juice and it was totally unattractive. The waiter is glad he did not put THAT dessert in front of me, I might have stabbed him with my fork!

All was forgiven though when the Lollipop Cheesecake Tree arrived (see the picture below). This yummy Dr. Seuss concoction made us forget about all the crazy misadventures of dinner and the bubble gum whipped cream made me feel like I was Willie Wonka!