- Restaurants |
- Nightlife |
- Shopping |
- Movies |
- All
5 Borough Bistro
Category: Restaurants Buffets Buffets [Edit]
111 8th Ave(between 15th St & 16th St)
New York, NY 10011
Neighborhoods: Chelsea, Meatpacking District
- Nearest Transit:
-
14 St (A, C, E)
8 Av (L)
18 St (1, 2)
One review for 5 Borough Bistro
1 review in English
-
Review from Kathleen M.
San Jose, CA
5/7/2009
If you want to eat glatt kosher food in NYC for under $15 that's not a falafel joint and still have it taste good, you're shit out of luck. Each year we visit my husband's brother who keeps kosher and each year we get screwed. (Past restaurants that are abominations include Ben's Kosher Deli - worst knish ever, and Mr. Broadway - please no.)
But then this year my husband had the great idea to eat at the Google café. He works at the Mountain View Google headquarters, but that nice badge can get us into New York Google for free eats. Plus, we read online that they carry glatt kosher food. Score.
5 Boroughs Café is MUCH smaller than Hemispheres (the other Google café in the New York Google office) and has a smaller selection of food. Unfortunately 5 Boroughs is the only one that's open for dinner. It took us awhile to find the glatt kosher stuff, but when I did I excitedly ran back to our table to tell my brother in law who had started noshing on salad. They carry packaged meals from Abigael's, which is an expensive, well-reviewed glatt kosher restaurant. The Abigael's meals included a prime rib sandwich and an entire tray of cookies. There was a sign saying to not eat the Abigael's offerings unless you were actually keeping kosher. (Until I saw that I was tempted to take some.)
But enough about the food 5 Boroughs doesn't make in-house. Here's what I ate:
The good:
-Garlic mashed potatoes
-Couscous with raisins
-Salad with apple slices
-Orange cranberry nut cookies (REALLY good)
The bad:
-Turkey fricassee
-Spicy pineapple broccoli salad (this was a flavor combination that tasted as bad as it sounded)
-Rainbow sushi roll (fake crab - Mountain View uses the real stuff)
The mediocre:
-Grapes with walnuts and goat cheese
-Eggplant and green bean ratatouille
-Almond tea cakes with chocolate shavings
The inspiration for the 5 Boroughs décor is, duh, the 5 boroughs of New York. There are a few subway signs but nothing else décor-wise, which is unfortunate. The New York theme extends to the culinary offerings. They also carry Olde Brooklyn Soda - each bottle featuring a different Brooklyn landmark on the bottle. There was also a pickle bowl, like you'd find in a deli (but not the big glass barrel kind).
While you're at Google other things to check out:
-Google logo and Sergey & Larry's portraits made in Lego
-Ball pit
-GIANT ball you can lay across (take pictures like we did)
-Massage chairs
-Ping pong table
-Hemispheres Café balcony with great view of the city
My Google Restaurant Rankings (in Mountain View unless otherwise noted):
1) Pinxto
2) No Name Cafe
3) Hemispheres (New York)
4) Pure Ingredients Café
5) Big Table
6) Andale
7) Oasis
8) Cafe Moma
9) Slice
10) American Table
11) Plymouth Rock
12) Fourteen
13) Off the Grid
14) 5 BOROUGHS CAFÉ (NEW YORK)
15) Lunch Box
16) Charlie's (the main Google cafeteria)
