The View
The View was New York City’s iconic revolving restaurant, bar, and lounge, and recently reopened after a 5-year hiatus. It’s located in the New York Marriott Marquis hotel, and it was recently taken over by the Union Square Hospitality Group (known for places like Gramercy Tavern, Manhatta, and The Modern. Reservations were fairly easy to get, and since I was craving for prime rib, I snagged one just to see how it was like. Previously when this was opened, it was a buffet with not-so-great rated food.
The executive chef, Marjorie Meek-Bradley, had previously worked at St. Anselm in DC and Pastis.
Ambiance & Service
When you walk into the hotel, you take the escalators to the third floor. There are signs pointing you to the View’s host counter. When you check in, they send you up the clear glass elevators towards the restaurant.
When you exit the elevator, you will see this counter. This is actually the lounge and bar area. The restaurant itself is one floor lower, so you need to go down a set of stairs. We were seated in a quaint area, and we have a slightly obstructed view of the city as a whole. Compared to our most recent Niagara trip, the Skylon Tower had much better views.
The decor felt a little outdated, but the music played by the live pianist was welcoming and cool. The music was similar to bossa nova music, so it was definitely a casual, noir type of night.
The service itself was great as we were recommended tasty things and the food came out reasonably. They do accommodate guests that have shows, but luckily we didn’t have any so we could take it casual.
Food
The St-Emilion Grand Cru ($29) came from Clos de la Cure, Bordeaux, France 2019. This French wine came with a blend of Cabernet Franc and Merlot. It had savory red fruits with a straight forward and smooth finish. I was also offered the Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa, but that was too stereotypical.
The Espresso No-Tini ($16) came with house-made coffee cordial, espresso, and chocolate. My partner really enjoyed this because the flavor and smell of everything was very smooth and delicious.
The complimentary cheesy breadsticks came with 3 pieces. They reminded me a bit of all the fun cheesy cracker school snacks.
The Jumbo Lump Blue Crab Cake ($34) came with spicy remoulade. This was actually pretty good, especially compared to the one at The Grill. The crab tasted very fresh, and there wasn’t a lot of sauce to cover up the crab flavors.
The Prime Rib ($68) came medium rare with horseradish already grated on top. The prime rib was decent for me. It didn’t have a nice edge, but the flavors of the meat were decent. The fat was rendered well. It all of course tasted better with the horseradish or au jus.
On the side with the prime rib was horseradish cream and au jus. The horseradish cream was pretty good, though I wish it had more horseradish flavors.
The Snake River Farms Picanha ($48) came 10 oz cooked slightly over medium rare but below medium. The seasoning on this was a lot, but it was surprisingly very tender and flavorful with the fat on it. Picanha is normally a cut you’d order at a Brazilian restaurant, so this was an interesting take by a New American restaurant.
The Potatoes Au Gratin ($15) was thinly sliced potato medallions and covered with cheese and cream. Luckily, they didn’t go overboard with the cheese and cream, so it was pretty good and tasty.
The View Chocolate Cake ($18) was a devil’s food cake with chocolate caramel ganache. This was monstrous for 2 people, so we ended up taking it home. The cake was decently balanced in sweetness, and it wasn’t much different than other chocolate cakes. The only thing that stood out to me was the caramel that they poured. That was warm, and it had some nice flavors.
Overall Impression
The View is a decent New American restaurant with good views and good ambiance in the theater district. The views are much better at the lounge area than the dinner area, but the food and piano music somewhat makes up for it. The rotating aspect of the restaurant is a bit of a gimmick because you do have obstructive views of the city. It’s just not high enough, but nonetheless it is cool to see the full turn, which takes a little over an hour.
Yelp Jabs
The potato au gratin – incredible. Absolutely must get. That alone is worth the wait.
I don’t think this is a must-get, unless you absolutely want potatoes with cream and cheese. It’s good, but tastes very similar to Danny Meyer’s other establishments.
The clear winner was the dessert– the chocolate cake was divine and prompted almost all to agree to come back just for that giant slice of heaven! And, that fact alone speaks to the problem: when the dessert is the highlight of your meal… More specifically, the duck breast was a victim of shrinkflation; it was so petite as to be overwhelmed by accompanying turnips, which is a pity because the flavor was excellent.
This Yelper must not have had enough duck breast around the city because everywhere is serving small samples of duck breast. Regardless, I do not think the chocolate cake is heaven. It’s good, but not like a must-get if you see something else on the menu you’re interested in.
Revisions
- Apr 11, 2025 - Initial revision.