The Fulton

Summary

This place is one of Jean Georges’ new seafood-centric restaurant situated right at the corner of the Pier near South Street Seaport. This area has a tiny Boston like mall where people can shop and eat at some decent restaurants. The iPic theater is also here too.

The area is largely going through some sort of construction. The restaurant is located at the edge of the pier and overlooks the water facing towards the Brooklyn Bridge. In fact, just about everywhere in the restaurant you can see the Brooklyn Bridge without much obstruction. If you do try to make a reservation, I definitely think the second floor seating is more beautiful than the first.

Let’s get started with the drinks.

The raspberry-lychee bellini was interesting, but it had a very particular flavor that I wasn’t too keen on. This had crémant d’alsace, raspberry, and lychee. It reminded me of a particular lotion scent from Victoria Secret. Instead of smelling it, I was tasting it.

The rhubarb lavender fizz was the much better option of the 2. As I am reading this, I’m a little perplexed on if this was really this drink. This supposedly came with Spring 44 vodka, rhubarb, lavender bitters, and lime. I see no mention of strawberries, but there were some. The only strawberry cocktail on the same menu was the strawberry fields. I don’t remember tasting tequila nor do I see celery shrub. Either way, this one was definitely more fruity and tastier than the raspberry lychee cocktail.

The bread was nothing to write home about. It was served cold with butter on the side and a little spoon for salt crystals.

The crispy soft shell crabs was served with a Jalapeño-Coriander salsa and shaved radish. Let’s get to the chase here. There was only 1 crab. Next the salsa had a puree’d guacamole consistency. It wasn’t spicy at all. I was also expecting the radish to be pickled. Regardless, this dish was pretty good albeit slightly expensive for what you get. The batter on the soft shell crab was pretty good and slightly on the saltier side.

The Florida red snapper ceviche had rhubarb juice, red onion, avocado, chili, and coriander. I thought the snapper was decent. The citrus wasn’t super sour but had this orange-tangy taste to it.

The roasted monkfish medallions were quite delicious albeit salty. It came with calabrian chili, lemon, capers, spinach, and crispy potatoes. Maybe salty isn’t the right word here and more soury. They definitely did not shy from the capers. The monkfish itself was super tender and complemented well with the sauce and spinach greens.

The king crab and spring pea risotto came with dill and lemon zest. This wasn’t as great as I had hoped. The king crab tasted like it was just shucked from its shell from the cold counter. The spring pea risotto was decent, although I thought the risotto was a tad undercooked. The pea was slightly hard, which I am guessing was intentional. All in all though, I think if the risotto was cooked a little longer and the peas were just a little softer, this could have been a great spring pea risotto. The sweetness of the king crab was obviously used to complement this, but I think they should’ve just used scallops instead to counter.

Lastly the fish stew thickened with aioli was served with sea bass, halibut, mussels, clams, and a prawn. The menu says prawns, but there was just 1 in there. The seafood in here was a mixed bag. The fish was tasty although I had a very small bone in mine, so be careful. The mussels had nothing to write home about. There were like 5 pieces of clams the size of a dime. The prawn was probably the standout winner here. They probably could’ve tossed the clams and gave one more prawn maybe. The soup itself was a white broth and was alright. I recall it being sour, rich, but albeit just subtly fishy.

The ambiance and decor of the restaurant is pretty great. The view is probably the best part. The seafood is largely just OK for me. The menu doesn’t seem to quite match what you’re getting at times.

Service was kind of a hit and miss. Our server was attentive, but forgetful when you ask them for things. The pacing was completely off as we got our cocktails and bread after our appetizers. Also, we barely saw our server for most of the night as it seemed other servers were covering.

Final Verdict

If it weren’t for the Brooklyn Bridge view, I would say skip. There are better seafood restaurants in the city. Otherwise, come here for the view and try for the second floor.

Yelp Jabs

When served, the waiter brought out the entire seabass, which is covered in a puff pastry. He then carefully removed the seabass skin and plated the fish for us. The fish was incredible, and the sauces that it was served with was cooked to perfection. They offer the fish head to you as well. The puff pastry made the dish really unique, and I’d definitely recommend it

I saw them serve this to some diners. It looked alright although they discarded a lot of meat. I think this is something where I would’ve just preferred it steamed or sauced Asian style and devoured with chopsticks without the gimmicky puff pastry.

Instead I tried the Sashimi ($31), the Asparagus ($18) and the Fish & Chips ($24). All were really nicely plated and delicious.

This Yelp Elitist is the epitome of why some people loathe Yelp Elitists. He is usually one of the first to review any new restaurant, but often times it’s perplexing that he orders some of the most basic and plain dishes which I guess matches his mediocre palette. Why would you get sashimi (of all things) and fish & chips over something that’s a little more … I dont know … unique or different?

While the food is terrific, certainly everything you would expect from Jean-Georges, the service is clearly geared to getting you in and out.

Alas, this is not a fine dining spot. I thought the service actually was on the slower side, but I guess that’s just me.