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Bar Crudo Query

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Bar Crudo close to Union Square has been generating a lot of buzz lately. Not to mention MB's glowing review in the Chron... Has anyone had any first hand experience with it yet? I would love to hear about it before trying it out for the first time. Many thanks.

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  1. yes! we have talked about it on this board. you can do a google search to find it. bar crudo is my new favortie place. amazing fresh food, interesting combinations like arctic char with tobiko and horseradish cream...crudo translates to "raw" in italian so know that most of the food is raw. the sherry duck liver mousse is a must try. i am going back this weekend. it is not a budget place- not cheap, but amazing quality.

    1 Reply
    1. re: pate man

      I went a couple months ago with a couple of friends. We had the large seafood platter, crudo sampler, sherry duck liver mousse, and seafood chowder. The seafood platter wasn't the freshest (though it was acceptable), and everything else was fine, but nothing blew us away. They have a great selection of Belgian beers.

      1. re: Jason

        This won't work anymore, there is only the last 40 posts on the page, and few if any will mentino crudo. Google: 'crudo+site:chowhound.com'

      2. I live near by and have been several times, and I am a huge fan of the food and the space. The crudo is amazing, especially the arctic char with horseradish and tobiko. The only personal disappointment as far as crudo goes was with the yellowtail, but I think that was an abberation as others have raved about it. I haven't tried any of the hot dishes, too hard to not get more crudo. I have had some oysters and the cheese plate, both of which were good. They also have some great Belgian beers, my favorite being the Tripel Karmeliet (750 ml, $13). Not exactly the ideal pairing for crudo, but they have a short wine list if you want a better pairing.

        The only downside can be the speed of the service. Upstairs especially, the wait can be painfully long. The three times I was upstairs my total time in the restaurant was over two hours each time, for the amount of food the time could have been half that. I wasn't in a hurry to leave but it takes an incomprehensibly long time for them to bring out the dishes, especially the crudo. Sitting downstairs is only a slight improvement. If you know what you're in for and not in a rush, it isn't a problem. So, despite the speed of the service, I still happily go back. I hope you'll like it as well.

        1. I had dinner there earlier this week, and while I liked my meal, I wasn't overly impressed. The crudos were good (we tried three of the four on the menu), especially the Arctic char. I tried a couple of oysters and they were good. The mussels were quite disappointing, as was the sherry duck liver mousse (too sweet).

          Overall, I'd say it's a good place for the crudos, on a night when you're not too hungry, but not quite a destination restaurant.

          1. Went to Bar Crudo this past week for a really lovely birthday dinner. We had the large seafood platter, the crudo for two and cold marinated mussels. It's hard to go wrong with a plate of chilled shellfish - I found the clams and the mussels to be exceptionally good. Oddly enough, the separate order of mussels were in a different marinade than the ones on the platter and weren't quite as good. The crudo were all interesting combinations of flavors and flawless fish, although I found that the cirtus-fennel accompaniment to the scallops interfered a bit with wonderful fatty taste of plain scallop. The real standout were the tuna cubes - oh, and the hint of cucumber in the water. The night we went, there was a slice of lemon cucumber in the water that gave it a really pleasant, cooling taste. That water was actually a better accompaniment to the meal than the Albarino wine we had, which I found a little cloying for shellfish.
            There seem to be a lot of complaints about the service, but we didn't have any problems at all. The waitstaff was attentive and the food came with no significant delays.