New York’s 7 Most Exotic Tasting Menus
From New Zealand to Yemenite bites, you don’t even need to pull out a passport to taste the world in New York City. Check out some of the most exotic tasting menus and enjoy unique, international flavors in New York.
This Israeli restaurant from Chef Eidat Admony of prior Balaboosta and Taim success is her best project yet! The menu combines traditional Israeli as well as Ethiopian and Yemenite flavors for a fantastically ethnic meal. The $100/person tasting menu is served to share, and includes menu highlights like the kibbeh spiced beef dumplings, shrimp in Yemenite curry, the famous whole chicken with pomegranate and crispy rice as well as the halva creme brûlée topped with Persian cotton candy for dessert.
The Musket Room brings the taste of New Zealand straight to Nolita with their tasting menu. Bites on the $125 Degustation menu include foie gras torch on with apricot and beet and New Zealand deer with gin. Add a beverage pairing for $85.
Atera’s 20-course seasonal tasting menu is one of the best in New York, earning it two Michelin stars. The dining room’s U-shaped counter top allows diners to surround the chef while he works and watch each dish emerge like a work of art. The menu changes often enough for optimal variety, and multiple visits always render unique experiences.
This Korean tasting menu is far more exotic than your standard bulgogi. Definitely the only haute-Korean eatery in all of New York, a unique and fantastic meal is served here. Chef Jung Sik Yim is a veteran of New York’s Aquavit and Bouley, so he knows how to put together a beautiful meal. Enjoy the five-course seasonal tasting featuring trendy versions of Korean homestyle classics, like bibimbap or macarons infused with Asian flavors.
This German restaurant hidden inside Greenpoint’s Torst beer bar is truly a gem in the rough. Upscale German cuisine is hard to come by, but worth the search. A $95 chef’s menu with a $45 beverage pairing will transport you to Berlin for the evening, tucked in the cozy restaurant. This menu-less dinner will leave you happily satisfied with previous dishes including lamb sweetbreads with hay, radish with razor clam and Maine lobster served with seaweed. Prost!
Chef George Mendes will whisk you away to the shores of Brazil with his tasting menu. Experience seafood in an innovative way with dishes composed of octopus broth, pickled rock shrimp and salt cod casserole. Visit on Monday nights when the chef creates a new 9-course menu for up to six guests to enjoy.
While we can’t pin chef Wylie Dufrense’s Lower East Side restaurant to a specific cuisine, other worldly would pretty much do it. Wd-50’s molecular gastronomy menu combines flavors from Eastern and Western cuisines, creating dishes you never could have dreamed of. The 12-course tasting at $155 is definitely the way to go for optimal enjoyment. For something a bit more unique, request a private meal in the wine cellar. The restaurant is closing in November (due to a real estate buy-out, not it’s lack of popularity) so make your reservations now!