Claud
For this week, I offered my partner an option of European or Chinese. Of course they said European. Claud comes from 2 veterans of the Momofuku Ko restaurant, chef Joshua Pinsky and wine expert Chase Sinzer. I remember this restaurant a while back, but it slipped off my radar with all these new openings in the last few years. When I checked Resy, I noticed there were openings on Friday, so the stars aligned. We were able to get a reservation for 2 for 5:15 PM on a Friday relatively easy.
Ambiance & Service
The restaurant itself is a half floor below street level. When you walk in, you’ll see the bar area and some dining tables. We had made a reservation for the bar, which was pretty spacious room for us to hang our bags and sit comfortably. By the time we left, the restaurant was pretty bustling, though the patrons rotated pretty fairly quickly.
The bartender ended up being the one that served us, and the food came out reasonably fast. They also made good recommendations as far as how many courses to get, especially for moderate hunger.
Food
The Melascone ($18) came from Colombera & Garella, Piedmont, Italy 2021. This red wine has hints of leather and tobacco. It definitely is a little medium body, and I ordered it specifically for the pork chop later. It has some tannin and some spice and acidity to it, so that it can cut through some of the sauce and flavor of the pork chop. It was light enough to drink with all the other seafood.
The Weihwasser ($17) was an Ulli Stein Feinherb riesling, from Mosel, Germany 2023. This was a riesling with some minerality and significant sweetness to it. It paired great with all the seafood, but it would be dull with the pork chop.
The salt cod croquettes ($19) came with 5 pieces. The croquettes were a play on Spanish croquettes. The salt cod wasn’t super salty, and the crust of the croquette was hot and very crispy.
The red shrimp ($27) came with olive oil and garlic. This was surprisingly very delicious. The red shrimp was cooked perfectly, and had a very succulent sweetness to it. There was a pepper in the olive oil which gave it a nice, but not excessive, kick to the flavors. This was one of our favorites for the night, especially dipped with the bread.
The pork chop ($41) came with smoked onion jus. This was a very rich and heavy course. The pork chop was cooked to perfection and very delicious. It was seasoned well, and the bone was very edible. This can be shared between 2 people, but miraculously, I was able to kill this off mostly by myself.
The tilefish ($35) came with razor clams and spinach. They gave a very sizable portion of fish here, and it was quite delicious. The tilefish was flaky, tender, and buttery. The spinach gave it a nice, aromatic leafy crunch. It was all very light, but it tasted great.
The devil’s food cake ($22) was a dessert for 2. This was probably one of the more subtle desserts we had. The cake wasn’t overly sweet, but flavor wise, it had noticeable mint(?) herb flavors. There wasn’t anything super special about this dessert, except it was a very large slice. It definitely was sharable, but definitely questionable for its value.
Final Verdict
Claud was a pleasant, surprisingly good, European restaurant for 2. Many of the courses are easily sharable, and it was easy to get reservations. The portion sizing was actually very good for the value. If you are looking for European type cuisines with a little flair to it, definitely check out Claud.
Yelp Jabs
Sadly, we did not dine at Claud because the hostess was extremely rude. On the phone, she told us there was currently no wait. So, we took a cab and arrived 15 minutes later. Once there, she haughtily looked us up and down and told us there would be an hour and a half wait, and after that, we could only sit at the front bar. She honestly seemed like she evaluated us as not worthy to eat there. We were dressed casually but respectably
This is an example of a classic Yelper that just assumed someone is out to get them. First, a lot can change in “15 minutes”. Second, there’s no shame in sitting at the bar. Lastly, I went here dressed causally albeit with a reservation, and it was fine. I noticed this Yelper coming from Illinois, so maybe it was that NY stigma that rubbed them. Much of the time what is “direct” is perceived as “rude” from folks that are not used to it.
Devil’s food cake (another must get, sweet but not tooth-ache sweet. definitely split with another person as this thing is HUGE!, all of the things you want from a cake, buttery, moist, just rich enough.)
I disagree with this Elitist in that this is most definitely not a must-get. It is huge, but it’s just a very large slice of cake. It definitely is not too sweet and reasonably moist, but you’re not missing much if you want to try their other desserts.
Revisions
- Aug 23, 2024 - Initial revision.