Imperial No. Nine

Food is not worth it for the price.

Cauliflower Fritters were good, but that doesn't say much.

Stopped in recently for happy hour on a Friday. The ambiance and decor of this place are definitely trendy and cool. The main dining room (where we sat) is basically a huge, glassed off green house, which was pretty cool. The main dining room also has tons of plants and tress, which was another nice touch.

Our group ended up going with a bunch of tapas and drinks. We had the fried oysters, cauliflower fritters, raw tuna and a few other dishes. All the tapas were outstanding. The mixed drinks they serve are delicious as well. I'm a 'scotch/single malt on the rocks' type of guy but I ended up going with their cocktail called 'the #9'. I had 3 of them and they were outstanding, some of the better cocktails I've had in a while, although I forget what was in them now haha.

Service here is a great and attentive. Just a tip, if you plan on doing just a bunch of tapas, my group consisted of 4 people and we ordered 6 tapas and were still hungry after, so order accordingly. The tapas and drinks are pricey though, I guess due to that clown from Top Chef being the head chef here.

My first visit to the Modrian SoHo. I was there for drinks, so Imperial No. Nine it was. I was there on a busy Sunday evening. The decor is typical Morgans Group awesomeness - sleek, chic, and a bit quirky.

The staff was very friendly. They were chatty with all of the guests, even though they were very busy. The bar has a deep list of customized cocktails, but they do not roll their eyes when you ask for a Goose and soda.

This room is quite large and spacious, so it is a great place to bring a group to meet up and pre-game before going to some cramped, painfully hip SoHo lounge.

Service was very slow and the place wasn't busy for lunch at all. As a hotel guest who flew on the red eye I found this annoying. Neither the hostess nor the manager took the time to help this slow server out.
The food was delish though. The burger was da bomb and the roated califlower was perfect!

Women are crazy.

This is an indisputable truth to which even the fairer sex can attest. We won't go into all the various ways one whips out the crazy (the list of possibilities is ever-expanding, like the universe - no, not a coincidence). But what it really comes down to is just how well, and for how long, they can hide this craziness.

Imperial No. Nine is really no different than some loca ladywoman. She will reel you in with her sinister good looks, make you believe you have found the one, that none other could look as impressive, as trendy, as stunning, as picturesque as what lies before you. Then, it could happen over four years (God help you), four months (this is average), four days (you're probably dead), but before you know it - bitch be crazy.

So, just as it takes some four phases to find out your girl is insane, it only took me four dishes to know that Imperial No. Nine may be gorgeous, but she's also kinda dead behind the eyes. Let's mirror this "Unveiling of the Crazy" ritual with my plate-by-plate experience at this deceptively attractive SoHo hotel restaurant.

Phase 1: She is just as wonderful as she is beautiful.

A multitude of exquisite crystal chandeliers. The high-vaulted, greenhouse-style, window-paned ceiling. A collection of glass vases serving as the dining room centerpiece. This one is a stunner - easily on the short list of most beautiful and unique restaurants in New York City.

As for dishes, I've got to crown the King Louie sharing plate as my favorite. The iceberg lettuce was super crisp and cold, cupping chunks of king crab tossed about in a creamy, Thousand Islands-esque dressing. This was the fresh, clean, delightful dish I was expecting walking into Imperial No. Nine. If there's a second date in the works, this would surely be a repeat order.

Phase 2: She's a little crazy, but it's still cute.

There are painted platters that hang from the wall opposite the bar at Imperial No. Nine. On these platters are semi-strange portraits of different species of birds dressed as old-school Spanish royalty. Picture National Audubon Society hummingbird heads sticking out of some Shakespeare get-up straight out of a Renaissance fair. Quirky, yet endearing.

Meanwhile, the Toasted Cous Cous was a decent selection for the table, with more crab, and some asparagus and roasted mushrooms now joining in on a dish. The highlight here was actually the component I was most skeptical about - a slow-cooked egg, dropped dead center in the heap of cous cous. A weird addition when read, but not half-bad when devoured.

Phase 3: Everyone tells you they adore her, but little do they know, she's a closet sociopath.

You may have heard a healthy buzz about Imperial No. Nine. It's the uber-trendy restaurant in the Mondrian Hotel, the one that you've just got to see for yourself. The one with the impressive garden lattice-work entranceway and the loopy Alice in Wonderland theme that, once experienced first-hand, might just make you feel like you've been taking too many hits off the hookah with the big blue caterpillar.

And everyone talks about the Cauliflower Fritters. These fried squares half-filled with ricotta, half-filled with melted vegetable, and served in a cracked-dinosaur-egg bowl with sunflower-olive brittle and white balsamic, are the popular go-to here, but I just wasn't as impressed as the masses. It's pretty easy to bread, then fry, most anything for me to enjoy it - but a boring-ass cauliflower that tasted like it'd been nuked to shit in a microwave? Apparently not even that life-changing method known as deep frying was able to save the KKK of broccoli.

Phase 4: Run.

I'm as clumsy as shit and that glass vase collection is this-close to going down. Why would they seat idiot me right next to a potential domino cascade of expensive shit like this? One false move and it all comes crashing to the ground.

The BBQ Shrimp Sandwich (with jicama, citrus, and toasted cumin aioli) was kind of a disaster, having suffered beyond simply sounding so much better on paper. None of the ingredients got along with one another. The bread was so big and bulky, I didn't even know how to eat this - and, trust me, I can pretty much work my way around any sandwich. Even when I gutted this thing to finish the job with a fork and knife, the shrimps were sub-par, nowhere near as spicy as advertised, and a shame to the BBQ name.

Bonus Phase: The second-chance encounter...

After some respectable amount of time down the line, I may try to rekindle the spark with this establishment. Sure, our time may have been fleeting and all, but I can see myself one day walking down Crosby Street and muttering, "I know where I am. This is Imperial No. Nine's neighborhood." Because really, what will stick with me is not the food, but the absolutely wonderful decor. This place is simply just too attractive to ignore. And I did really enjoy that King Louie dish. Maybe I'll just stop in and say hello... or does that sound crazy?

As we walked down the final block of Crosby, I started to get nervous. I had confidently assured my dining companion I knew where it was and didn't need to look at a map. But so far, nothing, and up ahead, it didn't look so good.

Then I saw it. Up on the left, some brick, some glass, some ivy, some flickering lights. A statuesque brunette strutting out in a gorgeous deep blue evening gown both confirmed my suspicions and made me nervous. "I don't think they have a dress code.." I said. (Lucky for us, they were doing some kind of photo shoot in the lobby. Phew!)

We were worried about getting in, being a Friday night for a hot new SoHo restaurant from a hot semi-celebrity chef. However, the hostess assured us we would have a table, but the restaurant doesn't open until 5:30. She suggested we wait in the bar and we happily obliged.

The first thing my boyfriend said when he took at a look at the bar is, "I don't feel comfortable with you drinking in here." The place is what I can only describe as "dripping" in breakable objects. A long mirrored table covered with glass vases and baubles in every shape and size runs down the middle of the room. And I'm super clumsy, so what. I guess they were going for some sort of greenhouse vibe, but it seems like way too much. The drinks were excellent however.

Our table was ready right on schedule. We were the only people in the place. The dining room decor is much more refined. (However, the hotel lobby you have to walk through to get there looks like thrift store Dr Seuss.)

The food was incredible from start to finish. It's not exactly tapas-style, but the menu is comprised of some smaller plates and some bigger plates and everything is sort of meant to be shared..

We started with the raw bar. The oysters were good, and they came with two house made sauces. A yuzu mignonette and a BBQ'd up version of cocktail. Both were good, but good oysters don't really need sauce.

We followed with a lot of things, and loved all of it. Cauliflower fritters and Black Chickpeas. Slow cooked octopus. King Crab legs. Steak.

I know it's silly to order steak in a seafood place, but seriously, the steak was one of the best steaks I've ever had. It was served with a kind of chimichurri sauce and some A-mazing potatoes. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

The king crab legs are out of this world good, but we found two things surprising. Not bad, just surprising. A. The portion is HUGE. B. They are served room temp.

The slow cooked octopus was delicious, but the only thing we got that seemed to be a bit overpriced. It wasn't special enough or a large enough portion to be worth $24. It's the only thing I wouldn't order again.

The black chickpeas were perfect. Just the right amount of heat.

You CAN NOT miss the cauliflower fritters. We almost got a second order, they disappeared that fast. They are outstanding.

I found the dessert to be a high point. They've since changed the menu so I can't look up exactly what it was, but it was some kind of salted caramel panna cotta with popcorn powder (yes, popcorn powder). It was INSANE. I wanted to eat it forever and ever.

In fact, the evening was so nice and the food so good, I wish I could give Imperial no 9 five stars. However, the one thing holding it back is the service. I won't go into detail since they had just opened, but I will say one waiter sang our food instead of announcing it and made jokes like "I made this myself", while another one snapped and seemed annoyed when we asked questions. I will go back and see if they have ironed this stuff out. I bet they have.

Perfect for a romantic dinner or a nice night out. Go, and if you want privacy, go early.

Came here a few wks back and was expecting great food/service/anything out of such a gorgeous space. The atrium dining room was beautiful - something out of Alice in Wonderland (circa the 2010 film mind you). Ok, basically the only reason why i'm giving it two stars is because of the decor. It's an impressive room, excellent tool for impressing your companions.

On to the negative..

When we were waiting in the atrium, we ordered a few drinks to start. Those never appeared at our table once we were seated. When we finally got the drinks after re-ordering and waiting another 30 min, they were delicious. The drink menu is really great.

We didn't end up getting seated in the atrium, but sat in the back dining room in one of the raised booths. The tables were pushed so close together that I had to crawl from under the table to use the bathroom at one point. Am I 5?

The waitress we had didn't seem to care or know about any of the dishes. When I asked how the Lobster dish was cooked, her answer was basically "it's cooked on the blacktop surface". We were left to wonder on its seasoning. Ok fine, we cut her a break that she was new and didn't fully understand all dishes. But, the overall service was so poor - we were missing silverware, change of plates, napkins, water, etc throughout the entire night.

My entree was some type of white fish (skate i think) that was supposed to be pan seared w/ vegetables. The fish was well seasoned, but it was way UNDER COOKED. Some fish are served semi-seared, but this is not one of them. And, this was not on the menu. WTF. I've never been at a restaurant where I had to send back a meal because they didn't cook it fully.

I would recommend getting the raw oysters. That was fabulous.

Now that I'm thinking of it, if you are on a date and you want to impress, then bring him/her here. You'll look saint-like next to the service & the food, and with great photo opportunities.

This is a great place to go on a date or for a night out with a group of girl friends when you want to choose a spot that is visually stunning. Not many restaurants in the city can compare to their ambience.

That said, this isn't the best spot to take foodies who care more about the food than the ambience. The food is good but there are much better options if it's amazing food you're looking for, especially at these price points.

I would suggest going a little early before you dinner reservation, telling the host that you'd like to wait for a table in the main dining room, and hang out at the bar and take advantage of the beautiful space.

Read more about it and see more photos here: http://www.maisondesreveries.com/2012/03/enter-imperial-no-nine.html

I came here on a Thursday at 9pm. I originally had requested a table in the garden, you know the room with the high glass ceiling and elegant chandeliers. It wasn't a problem getting a seat in there at all.

I admit its a pretty room, but let's just say its more photogenic.

Service was friendly and relaxed.

Menu update: if your appetite has been invigorated by the mention of yummy cauliflower critters beware that they are no longer on the menu

We shared the fried artichoke app with something like the spicy sauce you'd have on a spicey tuna roll and the crudo which tasted a bit "fishy."
We shared the salmon entree with brussel sprouts and it lacked flavor.

All in all it was an underwhelming experience.
I wanted to love this place, I really did.
I guess the sun has set on this empire.

This review is for the restaurant lounge in the Mondrain SoHo hotel. The overall experience is more polished than I'm used to for Chinatown, but the venue seems better suited for business than pleasure.

The hotel itself feels like an oasis in an urban wasteland. When you walk through the thick vine archway you are instantly transported far from the congested bustle of Canal Street. Imperial No. 9 is open and airy, with foliage mixing with glass and crystal to create an interesting fantasy back drop. The staff in the lobby and the bar are friendly and attentive, but I could feel the nervous tension on the floor. Every operator of a high end venue runs a tight ship, but these workers seemed overly stressed. Maybe they are worried about breaking the delicate mood created by the room.

I was only there for a couple glasses of wine, so I didn't have a chance to sample the cocktail menu or the food. If I'm in that area again, I'll make a point to go back and see if the vibe is better

HF
G