You are going to NYC? Wow! Don’t come back without going to The Plaza food Hall opposite Central Park, it is amazing.” With a sell like this there was no way I was going to miss going here. Just to state, the sell was from a highly regarded foodie who had read and heard great stories about The Plaza Food Hall.
The sell was perfect, it is a go-to destination. You go, you discover, you fool around, you settle down, you adjust to premium placed on concept, you order, you eat and you tell yourself I will surely comeback here, maybe not to eat. Yes, you can come here, buy stuff for home and walk off. There is a whole lot of stuff out here, all kinds of food and all kinds of chatter, give yourself around half an hour to figure out what is what and where you are. Once done, you are the King, they want your money, so everything works out perfectly. Courteous hostess, friendly wait-on staff, fancy shapes, colorful food, I bet there is not going to be a dull moment. But then this is not a review of The Plaza Food Hall anyway, I am to talk/ write about Atlantic Grilled salmon, right? Here we go…
Fact one: I have had Grilled Atlantic Salmon at more places than I have had Butter Chicken. Fact two: I have had Grilled Atlantic Salmon at least two times more than I have had butter chicken in last seven years. I am aware, I need to explain why I am measuring my consumption of Grilled Salmon on a measurement scale of Butter Chicken, and the reason is: Being a Punjabi I am expected to live on butter chicken, which fortunately I don’t. Now that is where it gets difficult for the Plaza Food Hall, I know my Salmon and I know my good Salmon from my not so good Salmon and this was not so good Salmon, could have been better. It is plated so well, only if it was made so well, I would have flown all the way from San Jose or New Delhi just to have it. They get the last mile wrong.
Fish Quality: Perfect. Was it Atlantic Salmon? Yes, it was.
Portion: For a $28 + + tab it could have been better.
Composition: Excellent – I liked the way they made it up as a dish, the accompaniments were perfect, they complemented each other and presented a flavorful option to me: Aioli was very well made and tweaked with mustard; Salad looked great and very fresh – Grapefruit, Arugula, Hearts of Palm and all; Salsa Verde had the choicest extra virgin olive oil and fresh Italian Parsley and all herbs were in place, perfect.
The Grilled Salmon – The chef was not the chef, he was the helper. I would have paid a few dollars more for that perfect grill. Everything was perfect the only thing which was needed was expert handling of the Salmon. It was slightly overcooked from the outside and slightly undercooked from the inside. I have had it like this before but wasn’t expecting it here. I wouldn’t say it was bad but would surely say a well planned dish needs to be cooked well too.
In my humble opinion – Chefs/ Cooks need training or maybe they need better hands. I do suggest a visit but I would like you to make sure they turn it out perfectly for you.