Traif

Decided to give Traif a try for a belated Valentine's Day date night with my partner, and we were both thoroughly pleased with the food, drinks, service, and atmosphere!

We opted to try the tasting menu (which is an incredible bargain) and added on the wine pairing as well (which really did pair nicely with all of the dishes). While I don't want to spoil the tasting menu for folks (we personally thought it was best left up to a surprise), we can assure you we enjoyed every single dish and bite we had! It turned out to be a lot of food, but we didn't need to be rolled home ha! Essentially it was ~5 courses (with two dishes brought out at a time for each course, and the last being dessert).

We also learned that they change up their menu fairly often (seasonally based), so we are excited to go back and try the tasting menu again!

Phenomenal!

I dined at Traif for a friend's dinner and I must admit I had my apprehensions as someone with dietary restrictions (gluten free and no pork). However, I was proven wrong and the chef was quite accommodating to my dietary needs.

We did the chef's selection which was 8-9 courses and then dessert. I was able to partake in 7 courses with the group and I had a different dessert.

While all of the courses were superbly delicious and offered a unique taste, the Spicy Bigeye Tuna Tartare and the Dayboat Scallops were my favorites!

For my cocktail, I had the Rude Little Pig without the bacon rim and for dessert, the chef served me the Nutella mousse but everyone else had the bacon doughnuts which they loved.

After hearing about the 10-course tasting menu priced at $56 per person, we HAD to try it out! After tax and tip it comes out to $72, but I still think it was a pretty good experience for the price.

The tasting menu apparently changes every day and is a selection of what the chef wants you to try from their tapas menu. We got 8 tapas and 2 desserts. I don't remember everything we got so I'll just describe the dishes that I remember:

- Beet salad: very refreshing, tart, and had a good texture from the other vegetables. It was also topped with cheese. Hard to go wrong there.
- Scallops with risotto: you could taste the brown butter that it came with. Pretty good. Even though you only get 1 scallop per person, the scallop itself is a decent size.
- Foie gras with egg and prosciutto: it only came with 1 piece of foie gras for us to share between the 2 of us... I wonder if they would've given me the same amount if I had gone there myself. Nevertheless, it was pretty good and tasted as expected.
- Strawberry-cinnamon ribs: I prefer boring normal ribs to this, but if you're a fan of unique spices and flavoring on your meat you will like this.
- Oversized rigatoni: big pasta with pesto and fresh cheese. Al dente and flavorful.
- Pork steak frites: the pork was somewhat dry. I think a beef steak would've been better.
- Pineapple ginger key lime pie: I'm not a fan of ginger, but this grew on me the more I ate it. Would order again.
- Bacon doughnuts: I didn't taste the bacon, but there was good flavor from the accompanying dulce de leche and coffee cream.

Traif is a hidden gem in Williamsburg! This is a small cozy restaurant that hits you with amazing smells as soon as you walk in.

The four of us were seated in the back away from the bar and area where most of the guests are seated. Service, however, was still great! We indeed were not forgotten.

The food was all great! My personal favorite was the Rigatoni. Everything was such a distinct flavor, I wish we had swapped the Steak Frites with something more unique.

This restaurant is branded as pork centric on google, but I definitely would not say so. We ordered all non pork dishes with plenty of more options to choose from on the menu.

Definitely would recommend trying this restaurant if you are in Williamsburg and want unique dishes! Great for a date night or small group of friends.

Another birthday, another trip to one of my favorite restaurants in the city. As usual, I went for their tasting menu, which, once again, did not disappoint.

Caulini salad
Dayboat scallops
Burrata cheese
Crispy confit chicken wings
Strawberry-cinnamon glazed pork ribs
Oversized rigatoni pasta
Braised short ribs
Steak-frites
Seared foie gras
Mom's key lime pie
Bacon doughnuts

Everything was delicious, but if I had to pick a couple of dishes, I'd go for the scallops and the foie gras... truly divine.

I'm shaving off a star this time because of the painfully slow service. The first 7 dishes came out at a reasonable speed, but we waited over an hour for the last couple of dishes and the desserts (which is way too long for a spoonful of food). This has always been the case, but this time the wait was unacceptable. Sure... Saturdays are busy, but that's why we made a reservation at 5pm. I just wonder how long people are waiting for a 8p dinner... Oh well.

Fantastic date night at Traif!! We had the tasting menu and it was such an amazing tasting journey from the chef and such a great deal (8 courses and 2 desserts for $56)! Some of my favorites were the tuna tartare on tempura eggplants, scallops on risotto and the burrata, bacon marmalade & homemade chips. The portions were just right. The drinks were amazing - we ordered four different specialty cocktail and each was better than the last. We were seated at the bar so really got to see the small kitchen hard at work. I'm so impressed with what they do and the magic they create with such a small kitchen and staff! We were even talking about the meal the next day- with my boyfriend saying that it was one of his top 3 restaurants we've been to!

Let's level set - I am amazed by that small - tight- a$$ - kitchen, churning out eats for all of us patrons. Yes, it's a small-cozy restaurant, maximizing every space possible, which also means great teamwork - the staff are well versed in not running over each other. We went for a 7pm reservation - it was packed.

Decor - very Willyburg... it's a tapas theme restaurant, so share plates. Not a fan of the plastic chairs... not comfy for anyone with a curvy butt... kekeke. Very dim inside... so have your friends be flash ready for your food pic & selfies. Unisex bathroom... (to the lady in a black tight knit dress this past Friday... we (5 others waiting + waiter) all knew you were doing #2, a mercy flush would have helped - waiter had to pre-clean for us).

Now for the food, we did the chef selection for a party of 7... aka 9 course tasting menu + desserts, but wish I added the foie gras... bc I wasn't impressed by 7 of the dishes and saw others with the seared foie gras... alas, I was filled from breathing in 2hrs of smoke. Total bill was less than $600... wow cheaper than my dinner at Kochi for 2 (not comparable in food).

Highlights for the night:
The rigatoni with pesto... and perhaps the fried snapper filet... (wish it was pan seared). Well seasoned and good texture.

The others were either too salty (almost all), too mushy (prawns were not fresh), and too boring- lacking innovation (duck breast... burrata... ribs... scallops & risotto).

Overall - probably a decent dinner spot for those who can't make it to the city but not worth a revisit. Yes, I heard it's TikTok famous... not my choice - thankfully.

Pro-tip: leave your coats in the car and wear sh*t you can laundry right away! Otherwise... RIP my goose jacket.

#yelplife
#blahdinner
#brooklyneats

They're known for their generous prix fixe menu, but we decided to order some of their most talked about items Alá carte. The space is tight but there was an excitable buzz in the air and our server was extremely friendly.
We ordered:
- foie gras: this dish was delicious, but beware it is extremely rich and cooked rather rare. We probably could not have finished this creamy slab without the crunch of the bacon.
- burrata: a bunch of juxtaposed flavors on another creamy glob. Wish there were more chip accompaniments for the cheese.
- tuna tartare: a succulent pile atop a crunchy eggplant base. This was rather refreshing since the tuna was not too heavy but you may notice a big pattern of squishy object + fried crunch by now.
- scallop risotto: a rich pile of rice and scallop with some brittle munches interspersed. The scallops were cooked very well.

Overall, these plates were great as standalone items, but put together yielded a satiation like no other. We actually asked to cancel an order of chicken wings because we were so full. We probably could have left out another dish too since we were moving at a sluggish pace by the time the meal concluded. We cancelled our after-dinner plans in order focus all efforts on digestion. I would still come again to try some new dishes!

Came on a Monday evening to celebrate a 30th birthday. i found this spot on tiktok hoping it would be a wonderful prefixed dinner with wine pairing for a reasonable price with wonderful staff and boy was this a HIT!

We originally had an 8:30pm reservation but wanted to go in earlier which they easily accommodated! immediately upon entering we were seated and able to sit in the back terrace area which was stunning and so romantic

as i mentioned we did the 10 course prefix with 5 wine pairings (2 dessert entrees and 1 dessert wine). we started with a delicious sweet white wine - tasted like candy and apples so good! we ate so many good things seriously everything was delicious- must shoutout the burrata and foie gras because of all the flavors the chef really nailed it. whats especially great about this restaurant is how fusioned the cuisine is!

i definitely recommend everyone to check them out and do the wine pairing. had some great wines ive never had before, ate great food, and had a pleasant time

How could I forget to upload all the delicious pics, ugh! Here ya go! Take a look at those glazed ribs, omg...