New Year’s Eve at Goat Town
Posted on | January 10, 2011 | 2 Comments
I normally just write off New Year’s Eve as a night where the city will be full of drunken idiots & nothing spectacular would happen. This time, I decided to change the game up, at the last minute & with no reservations I went to Goat Town (511 East 5th Street between Ave. A & B) an East Village newcomer. Housed in the former Seymour Burton/Butcher Bay space, Goat Town is owned by the same dude as The General Greene in Fort Greene & helmed by Chef Joel Hough.
Upon entering, you can tell that they put some work into the place, there are some innovative tiled banquettes, a vaulted ceiling, a long wood & copper bar & a tiny kitchen. It was pretty early in the night, so we were seated immediately. For $75, you got three courses. The meal started with a Lobster Deviled Egg amuse bouche (well, technically it started with the pint of Coors that I ordered). It was tasty, but a bit ‘light’ on the lobster, you could hardly taste it.
I got the Oysters with Caviar (an $8 addition), they were absolutely delicious! The Naked Cowboy (east coast) was salty, but very tasty, the real star was the west coast Evening Cove, these things were gigantic! I really think that the caviar enhanced the flavor. They were served with a pickle vinaigrette which I really didn’t use much of. My dinner buddy got the steak tartare with cornichons & house made chips. Goat Town doesn’t have a full liquor license, so it was more beer for me.
Pauly got the Roasted Pheasant with farro, green olives, dates & walnuts served with a pomegranate reduction. He never had pheasant before & I think he was duly impressed. I got the River Sturgeon which was roasted & served with celery root puree, mache & marrow butter (unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture!) The texture reminded me of swordfish & was cooked very well. There were capers shallot & a sprinkling of course sea salt. The marrow butter was insane! It melted perfectly & added an amazing rich taste to the fish. The mache was very sweet but a little on the oily side.
We also decided to try one of the cocktails; The Stout & Stormy. A play on a Dark & Stormy, it was made with fresh pressed ginger juice, lime, sugar & Lion Stout. I’ll just say that it was ‘interesting’, way too tart though. I don’t think I’ll be ordering that again. For dessert, we both got the New York Cheesecake with citrus marmalade. It had specks of vanilla beans throughout, a creamy vanilla top layer & a great , thick crust. I really enjoyed it, however, it really didn’t go well with our drink choice!
We turned up at 7 on the dot & didn’t leave till about 10pm, the food was good, the staff were really friendly (the chef gave Pauly a quick lesson on the origins of West Coast oysters) & didn’t rush us. What I thought was going to be a ‘bland’ (sorry, I couldn’t resist) New Year’s Eve turned out to be an awesome meal. I’ve been back there since (review to follow) & I plan on trying a few more of their dishes. Further Goat Town coverage here.
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January 17th, 2011 @ 5:07 am
[…] Meanwhile, our friends at East Village Eats dined there on New Year’s Eve. You can read that review here. […]
January 25th, 2011 @ 4:15 pm
[…] the awesome New Year’s Eve dinner (review here) I had at Goat Town (511 East 5th Street between Avenue A & B), I knew that I had to go back to […]