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The Vanderbilt
Rating Details »
Categories: Gastropubs, French [Edit]
Neighborhood: Prospect Heights570 Vanderbilt Ave
(between Pacific St & Dean St)
Brooklyn, NY 11238
(718) 623-0570
- Nearest Transit:
-
7th Ave (Q, B)
Clinton-Washington Aves (C)
Grand Army Plaza (2, 3)
- Attire:
- Casual
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Price Range:
-
$$$
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good for:
- Late Night
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
19 reviews for The Vanderbilt
in an effort to be brief but efficient, i shall list out key elements of hermano y yo's dining experience at vanderbilt and respond with one-word associations. by doing so, any curious reader will get an honest, accurate portrayal, without having to sift through the flowery (possibly entertaining? yes?) yet superfluous writing.
so, here we go...
1) croquets - crispy!
2) warm fall salad - soupy!
3) brandade du morue - small!
4) skirt steak - teeny!
5) chocolate peanut butter cake - ... tiny!
6) use of space - lame!
7) only h'or d'oeuvres and dessert in the front - seriously?
8) prices - hahahahahaahahahahahahahahahaha!
9) consensus - overrated.
it's never OK to need a sandwich afterwards.
...
gee, this game was fun.
Braved the freezing rain and went to The Vanderbilt for the first time last night. My boyfriend and I were pleasantly surprised to find the place packed and bustling so early in the evening despite such bad weather.
I also had immediate misgivings and almost grabbed my partner's arm to say, let's try the place another time. The energy felt wrong. Plus, we hadn't even bothered to look at the menu. All I knew was they served "small plates". Having worked in restaurants for 15 years, I should have listened to my instincts.
The decor was done well, perhaps a bit dark and over done for my liking. It's on the slick, poser-Manhattan side of my taste. Doesn't seem to fit the neighborhood or current economy.
Cocktails were delicious.
Our server was sweet, professional and friendly. She said the dishes were tapas size and suggested we each might want to order 3.
With each item about $10 apiece dinner was NOT going to be cheap.
We thought we'd leisurely start off with the Brussels Sprouts, Fennel Salad and each try the Butternut squash soup then decide on other dishes afterward.
When the food was delivered we both had to keep from letting our jaws hit the table. THE PORTIONS ARE MINISCULE! I'm no "Super-size", fat American but, common! Are you kidding me?
The butternut soup - smooth and tasty, was a cup size.
The brussels sprouts - surprisingly spicey, would fill a ramakin. Three bites.
The Fennel salad - nicely balanced pickled and fresh fennel, was the size of a side salad.
But, what makes me absolutely crazy is this horrible trend in restaurants where they BLAST music. Why must I and every single person in the place SHOUT to be heard? Oh, how I absolutely HATE that! Because of the blaring music we were subjected to having to listen to our neighboring tables scream their conversations at each other. I could hardly hear my boyfriend speak. He kept saying, "What?" All that does is aggravate me and make me shut down.
SO-
We sucked down our drinks
Inhaled the tiny portion of food
Waved down the waitress and paid the bill and fast as we could and got the hell out of there.
Then-
We walked a few doors down the block and had a lovely, delicious, proper, relaxed, quiet dinner at a real restaurant - not some pretentious poser gallery.
Good bye Vanderbilt. The hardware store that used to be at that location was far more useful than you'll ever be.
Ok so the owners of The Vanderbilt did not get the memo that the 90s are over and they also somehow didn't hear that the economy is in the crapper....
Let me first say...
I really like the decor (it's a tried and true NYC staple) exposed brick, glass, steel, upholstered banquettes with shared bar tables and seasonal specific floral decorations etc etc...
The service was fine (even if they would NOT let me sit down at an (EMPTY) bar (two feet from the banquettes they offered) one afternoon when i wanted to stop in for a drink and snack with my infant son. "NYC Law" my ass!
Anyway - the food...MEH. The Tapas style thing has been done and needs to stand out to be your 'thing" anymore.
The Brussel sprouts (which are sauteed with honey and sriracha) were nothing special. (I caramelized a batch the night before with nothing more than butter/EVOO, salt and pepper - mine were MUCH better) were fine
The "ears of Jesus" (read: stale pork rinds) must have been made by a vindictive vegetarian because the peanut oil was stale and made them taste off (and i LOVE cracklins/rinds/chicharones) and the 90's style micro-pipettes of hot sauce (vinegar and 'red') were kitchy at best
The "spicy" blood sausage was NOT spicy, was too heavy on the oatmeal, and while seasoned ok, was not cooked right and was soft and mushy with no redeeming sauteed crunch - note: MUSHY blood pudding is not fun.
Pumpkin soup with wood ear mushrooms and home made ricotta(?)was ok, but again the ingredients were fussy and really belonged in another era when ten obscure ingredients are "super rad" but the too-much-too-often flavors just aren't cool anymore...
the cheese selection was ok for me (i love the STINKY cheese) but the flavors were all about the same level of funk (with no reprieve for non funksters) and were paired terribly (or were not paired but rather just splashed together with thee chutney/brioche on hand) bummer
bummer - i was excited and love the daring (in print) menu - go to No7 for the same idea done PERFECTLY!
Food is great. Prices are set for manhattan. Prices should have been at least 25% less. They need to check their competition. Beast has a much better qpr across the street. And james-amazing! I would go back to the vanderbilt to drink and snack, but not dinner. My husband and I spent over $75-only one cocktail and we're both still hungry. Interior is great. I liked it, but too pricey, think frannie's. But I at least feel full at frannie's. I agree. It's not ok to leave and want a sandwich or slice.
This newcomer in Brooklyn is a welcome addition, if perhaps a little pricey for the quality of the food.
It's a beautiful space, though one that is divided up and used somewhat oddly. There is a bar in the front with a long row of elevated banquet seating across from it. In this part of the restaurant you can only order drinks and appetizers (no small plates), which seems odd since it probably seats nearly 30 people. Next down the length of the restaurant is a kitchen bar where you can sit and watch the action while ordering off the full menu (this is where we sat). The back of the restaurant appears quite small and provides table seating for the lucky few who are able to get there early enough or are willing to wait long enough for a table.
The food is all small plates served tapas-style (to share) and most of it was quite good.
To start, we tried the brussels sprouts with sirachia, lime, and honey, which were sweet and crisp-tender but could have been a little spicier. We also had the homemade jerky, which was incredibly flavorful (clearly made from high-quality beef). We also tried the duck rillets with quince, which were classically prepared and tasted just as they should (nothing amazing or special here, though), and the smoked Jagerwurst with German potato salad, which was a universal favorite - very juicy, tender, and full of flavor.
Other dishes we sampled included the crispy pork belly with lentils (a generous portion with tender layers and a crisp skin), the grilled Merguez sausage (spicy, but I found it a little dry), the steamed Bouchot mussels with coconut, basil, chili (really plump and flavorful mussels, awesome Thai accent), and the grilled Spanish octopus with cranberry beans (great flavor, but slightly overcooked and chewy)
As the evening wore on and the tasty drinks flowed, we ordered even MORE, including grilled pork loin with parisian gnocchi (very passable, but nothing special) and a dessert of spiced donuts with pistachio ice cream. Unfortunately, the donuts were a real miss, dry and unappetizing.
Overall, with tip, drinks and more food than we probably needed, the meal came to around $135 per couple. This isn't outrageous for New York, but seemed a little steep for the overall quality of the food. My final assessment: very good but not mind-blowing. I'd return and probably order a little more wisely. If you go, don't miss out on the Jagerwurst, the mussels, the jerky, and anything with polenta (the chef gave us a taste of some polenta he was working on to see if we liked it -- it was *incredible*). This is also a nice place to just grab drinks; they have a creative bar menu with some real winners (favorites: black cherry rickey and the Pimms cup).
I should be psyched since this is my block, but I wasn't thrilled with my food. we had -
mussels in coconut broth - get a spoon for the broth.
crispy pig's foot - mostly fried-ness.
brussel sprouts - decent
croquetas - meh
choco pb mousse thing was good. but mostly because it tasted like a candy bar.
cocktails were good and i like the place itself. i'd go for drinks, not dinner. or just a couple of hors d'oevres at the bright white bar that overlooks the goings on in the open kitchen.
Well, I had a marvelous experience at the Vanderbilt. I'm happy it's in the neighborhood and wasn't at all shocked by how crowded it was this weekend.
We were seated at a small table/booth in the back. Quiet, dark, dimly lit. I enjoyed looking out the large glass windows to watch the traffic on Bergen St. A nice contrast to the beight white kitchen bar in the middle of the restaurant.
We started off with cocktails. I ordered Glyda's Rose, a very nice concoction of gin, campari, blood orange juice and champagne. By the evening's end, I decided it was my new favorite drink. At first it was tart and shocking, but it mellowed out and became DELICIOUS. My boyfriend had a Shade something or another, which he said was also tastier with time.
For dinner, we ordered steamed mussels for me, blood sausage for him, and chicken wings to split. Every plate was perfectly portioned for sharing or eating it all by yourself. My mussels were really, really great. I mean, they were in a simple Thai broth of coconut, basil and chile. But it was the actual mussels that made me happy - BIG and tasty and not chewy at all, they felt like butter in my mouth. Then I let my two little pieces of bread soak in the broth. Soooooo good!
Boyfriend's blood sausage looked like a turd sitting in a bowl of diarrhea. He says he liked it a lot.
The chicken was coated in honey and cracked black pepper and sesame seeds, then fried and finally "blistered" on a grill. The outside was crisp and sweet and I loved it. Beyond the outer layer, it tasted like any other piece of fried chicken, but that was expected.
Dessert, which is what we'd originally come here for, was the best part of the meal for my boyfriend. He ordered the goat cheesecake with pear sorbet. It comes with little chunks of pears (soaked in wine?) on top of it. It was amazingly delicious.
My chocolate peanut butter cake was great, too. The grape jelly, excuse me, gelee, was a great touch as was the caramel popcorn on top. But it just didn't hold a candle to the goat cheesecake.
Overall, it all came to just under $80.
So, yeah, the food was great. And I don't want to forget to mention our server, Kyle. She was attentive, patient, and so helpful and talkative, all without being overbearing. Really, she was fabulous. Everyone was actually. The hostess, the other servers... they all do their part to make sure you are comfortable. The best part was that the whole night we watched the place fill up but no one was ever seated at the table right next to us.
I'm excited to see how this place grows. I'm hoping the menu changes come spring. But in the meantime, I'll be back to try some of the vegetable dishes, particularly the warm fall salad (farro, pumpkin, goat cheese, hazelnuts poached egg) and the butternut squash with ricotta and lemon confit. They sound simple but amazing - like the foods we tried yesterday evening. I overheard the hostess say that eventually all the tables in the house will be for dining, not just appetizers and cocktails.
Went here for the opening night and I have to say, I'm pleased!
The atmosphere is nice and strangely cozy with all the reclaimed wood. Service was friendly if a bit disjointed but it was their first night so I am willing to cut some slack. The music was nice without being too loud.
On to the food. The cocktails were very well thought out and interesting. I had a gin, campari, blood orange and champagne cocktail that was just fantastic. Bitter and refreshing but with quite a kick. Marinated olives were buttery and delicious with a hint on lemon and thyme. Serrano ham croquettes were crispy without being greasy and stuffed with a good amount of ham and some sort of cheese though I am not sure what. Whatever it was was delicate and delicious. Mussels with coconut milk, lime and chili were cooked perfectly! We very nearly ordered another bowl. A light, crisp apple turnover with vanilla ice cream finished the meal and was just enough without making you feel like you have stuffed your face. Best of all, the whole bill was only $40!
This is a welcome addition to the neighborhood. The menu is small and specialized, offering unusual and unique items which I was informed would change seasonally. The wait staff need to get their feet under them but I think they will do just fine. This is sure to become a favorite after work hang out and destination for diners looking for something new.
For the hype this place got, I expected (much) better. Sure, they have Sixpoint, which is an automatic star in my rating system. Yeah, they have a sort-of-nice-ambiance-thing going on. We waited nearly an hour to be seated on a weekday night - portions were small, unimpressive and expensive. Tables were packed close together, which doesn't have to be a romance killer (in fact can be quite the opposite with the right feng shui), but in this case it certainly was.
Oh well. Plenty of other (much) better choices very close by. See ya later Vanderbilt!
keeping in mind that this was the first day of opening and things may change, even dramatically, in the next weeks....
MUST TRY: pig feet, chicken liver pate, blood sausage
ALSO TRY: duck rillette, blistered peppers, boudin blanc, goat cheesecake
now for some wordy bits: the menu was a little challenging but still very accessible. portions were acceptable as were the prices (~$10 plate, 5-6 plates should be plenty for a party of 4). it seemed a bit of a stretch for the neighborhood but it's sure to be a destination judging from the opening crowds. service was friendly. decor clean, a little stark.
i will be back!
We tried the Vanderbilt in its second week of opening. The place was popping. It took a hour to get sat, but while we waited we drank martinis and snacked on Brussels Sprouts and Ham and Cheese Croquettes, which were both amazing. The Drink my GF had was very good as well. We also tried the pickled veggies dish (they were more like vinegar soaked veggies and not very good).
For Dinner all I wanted was sweetbreads, but they did not have them yet. We had the Crispy Pork Belly over Lentils and it was amazing, the Blood Sausage was great as well. We also had a fish dish that was excellent and the Hanger Steak and it was great!
Go early and be prepared to wait!
Overall, what a great experience in every way!
I went on opening night, so I anticipated a crowd, but I didn't think we would have to wait over an hour for dinner. The hostess (Angela?) was very sweet, and we had been hearing so much buzz about the place, AND it was rainy so we decided to stick it out at the tall bar tables in the front - and boy, I'm so glad we did. I had a couple cocktails, including the "Glyda Rose" which had a great Campari bite and a champagne-y fuzz, and my friend tried the Dogfishead IPA on tap - his favorite beer in the world. While we waited, the hostess answered questions about the menu and we had fun trying to put a combination together. We were already sold as we munched on olives, fried brussel sprouts, and some kickass beef jerky to tide us over until dinner.
When we got seated (and it was actually way over an hour but we were happy with the apps and lost track of time), we sat in the back room which was actually a bit non-descript with simple wood paneling but completely relaxing and had good energy. Our waitress (can't remember her name but she had cool tattoos) was so attentive and gave us a rundown on the charcuterie, and we ordered the merguez sausage, the smoked jagerworst and warm fall salad - all three unbelievably delicious. Everything came out so quickly too. Then we had a moist mackerel with a southwestern sauce, and the perfectly-cooked hangar steak which came with these potato wedges that were surprisingly tasty. The quality was superb. We both drank a reserve pinot noir, for $5 a glass - what a great deal!!
I was looking around the room while we ate and everyone had something different on their tables - and it all looked amazing. Next time I'm ordering those shishito peppers and the pork rinds, which come in some sort of cone with these hot-sauce-dropper things. Cool.
We finished with the goat cheesecake. I'm normally not the biggest cheesecake fan, but it came highly recommended by our waitress, and I have to say it's some of the best dessert (let alone cheesecake) I've ever had.
I didn't feel "cheated" like some of the other reviewers on here that the plates were small. We were told from the get-go that the food was for tasting and sharing, and since the meats were so rich and well-prepared, we felt stuffed by the end. Yeah, our tab with tip was over $100, but I thought that was okay, as we spent well over 3 hours there and our food was made by (we were told) a Michelin-star chef!
I'll definitely be back again to try the other dishes. It's definitely a good energy place.
Have been to The Vanderbilt twice now, with the most recent visit this past weekend. While I thoroughly loved the place the first time (3 days after opening) this last time was absolutely incredible. The place was PACKED, and we waited about an hour for a table, which was more than fine with us because we actually came mainly for drinks and the bar scene. The Vanderbilt Pimms is a delight. We each had 2. Then we got hungry, so it worked out perfectly when the hostess called us to our table.
We shared the Mussels (best I've ever had), brussel sprouts (best I've ever had), the fennel salad, (clean, fresh, delicious dressing), the boudin blanc (SO flavorful!) and the grilled merquez sausage which was probably the most amazing sausage I've ever had).
We then split an apple turnover which was heaven and each had a cup of stumptown coffee. (If you've never had stumptown, it's one of the better coffees you can get in the States and is exploding in Brooklyn now that the guy who started it, moved from Portland to Carroll Gardens). Total bill was 50 bucks, not including the alcoholic drinks. A bargain, considering the quality (and care taken in preparation) of the food.
The night (drinks and meal) were fantastic from start to finish. The bartender was great, the hostess was great, the waitress was competent and the crowd had a nice energy.
This should rank among the best restaurants in Brooklyn.
i've been awaiting this opening for months. made it out last night and the place was nice and cozy. the space is airy with an open kitchen and a shotgun layout that empties into the main dining room.
i ordered up a vanderbilt pimms. gin, pimms, bitters and basil. what more can you ask for? i would come to have one of these every night if my pocketbook could handle it.
i was a little disappointed that we couldn't order meals in the front bar. you can however order hors d'oeuvres. my roomie hadn't had dinner so she got the homemade beef jerky, which she exclaimed "tastes like steak", and the honey roasted peanuts.
the only complaint would be when it came time to settle the tab. they gave us the wrong receipt not once, but twice. the service was VERY attentive, but they have to figure out who has ordered what. despite that snafu, i'll be back.
I was excited about this place because I heard good reviews, but I was not overall happy with my experience. Mostly because the portions were SO SMALL. $12 for a tiny plate of mussels? NOT COOL. Final bill was way more than I expected to spend that evening, and I left feeling not full and unsatisfied.
However their drink options are good. They currently have Sixpoint Oktoberfest on tap, which is amazing, and a $5 glass of pinot noir which was good. They have several little nibbles options for $4 like olives, etc.
So I would definitely go again for drinks and bar snacks, just not for dinner.
I'd recommend the Vanderbilt for drinks and appetizers. The cocktails are well worth the $9 price tag (try the Pimm's), and the house-made jerky is astounding. However, once you are seated for dinner, you'll quickly discover that the Vanderbilt is a tapas/small plates restaurant. Our server recommended 4-5 dishes per couple, and at $10/dish, we'd quickly be insolvent. Of the 7 dishes we ordered (not including the appetizers we had at the bar), 3 truly stood out: the duck rillettes, the brandade, and the chopped liver (a pâté). Not worth your $10 is the grilled octopus, which should more accurately be labelled "a scavenger hunt for miniscule pieces of rubbery octopus in a field of bland beans." Honestly, you might want to skip dinner altogether and order another round of cocktails.
this is an update on my review. So a few of my friends went recently and sat at the bar in front of the kitchen and they said that the chefs were taking food off of other plates and tasting the food with their fingers THEN with those saliva fingers, started plating the food. Thats pretty gross considering that its an open kitchen and those seats were intended to be "chef's table" like. I most definitely will not be eating there HOWEVER the drinks are good. You can find me at the bar.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
-
11/7/2009
Drinks are good. Food is ok. I expected more coming from a michelin star chef. I don't know why ppl… Read more »
I can't believe I missed out on the first review! Well, I went there opening night, too, but I have to admit it was after the kitchen closed, so I can't comment on the food. But I did have the "Vanderbilt Pimms" amongst other drinks, and it was a lovely concoction with gin and yummy basil. The service seemed pretty blasé for a grand opening night, whatever that has to say about anything. But the decor is lovely, and I really liked the sturdy, high-top wooden tables. I wish they were open during the day so I could study there. I'm sure I'll be back to give the interesting-looking food a whirl. N.B. I don't consider three stars a bad review. I think there is far too great a tendency to give everything five stars on this site and elsewhere, that's all.
How bad is this place? Let me count the ways... (1) The portions are minuscule -- 3 or 4 bites at most. That's actually kind of ok because (2) the food just isn't very good. The dominant flavor in most dishes was salt. The chicken in the chicken wings tasted like it came straight from the freezer at WalMart. Same thing for the steak and the pork loin. The vegetable dishes weren't as bad but they were nothing special. You couldn't even drink your way into ignoring the bad food because (3) the wine pour per glass was the smallest I've ever seen in a restaurant. It can't have been more than 3.5 ounces. And finally, the reason I left feeling ripped off, (4) the place is incredibly expensive for what you get. Dinner for 4, with one (very small) glass of wine or beer per person was almost $200 with tax and tip. And we all left still feeling hungry. Save your money and time and go somewhere else. Actually, you can just wait a few months and you won't even have to worry about The Vanderbilt. I predict this place will be out of business by the first day of summer.
