Eleven Madison – best restaurant in the world in 2017

The restaurant is one of the most famous restaurants in New York. It has got 3 Michelin stars and back in 2017 it finally reached the number one spot on the list of the 50 best restaurants in the world – it has dropped to number 4 on the 2018 list but it is still the highest ranked restaurant in the western hemisphere. When a restaurant has become this famous – bookings can get pretty hard to come by.

So when we had booked the plane tickets to New York the first thing I did was checking out if I could make a reservation to this restaurant – it turned out I couldn’t do it right away since they hadn’t open for reservations yet for the days we were in town. I noted which date and time they would open reservation and sat waiting online when it came online – thanks to the time difference it was actually at a decent hour in the afternoon. Fortunately I managed to get a table for our first dinner in New York – hoping we wouldn’t be falling asleep during dinner due to jetlag.

You have to pay for the dinner when you book the table and there are no refunds so you better show up – there are two different options. You can go for an 8-10 course menu in the main restaurant for $315 or you can go for a lighter 5 course version served in the bar for $175. Unlike most restaurants in the US the price actually includes service but not taxes so you don’t have to worry about a huge tip when you go and visit. Considering we had to pay for the plane ticket and a fairly expensive hotel room in New York we went for the cheaper menu instead of the full experience.

When we get to the restaurant we are quickly greeted at the door and taken to our table in the bar area. the tables in the bar area is a bit closer together compared to the restaurant so we are sitting pretty close to the people next to us – a bit unfortunate since we could observe one of the women on the table next to us during the evening – it was a mistake on her behalf to have both a drink before the meal and the wine menu to go along with the dinner. Fortunately she limited the spillage to her own table and nothing came our way.

The waiter ask for our drinks orders quickly and the drinks arrives and shortly afterwards the first course comes to the table. I had expected some snacks before the actual meal would start but here we went straight for the first course. It was a little serving of potatoes with lobster sauces and caviar served on a spoon. The dish was pretty tasty and a good start to the meal.

For the second course there were different options – I went for a dish with foie gras which was a great choice and I was very happy with the taste. Yunni was somewhat less happy with her serving of fish tartar and was tried stealing my food if I didn’t pay attention. Fortunately I was very observant and managed to save most of the foie gras.

For the third course there was no choice either – so we both had lobster – so there was no need guarding the food for the moment. The taste of the lobster was very delicious and we had some nice warm bread to go along with it.

Next up was the main course – and again there were different choices. We went for duck and beef. Both were pretty good and the beef was very well made and tender. The duck was great but Yunni found the portion to be on the small side – luckily she doesn’t like beef so she didn’t steal my food to fill up.

Last up was a dessert which it was a serving of ice-cream and caramel coming in two small portions shaped like a drop. It looked a bit like it was prefabricated but the taste was very good so when it reach the mouth it was clear it was made right in the kitchen.

After the dessert we got coffee and tea. The hot drinks came with complementary cookies and a drink of apple brandy.

Over all it was a good experience in the restaurant and we were happy with the meal. I don’t think it is the best I have ever had but it was up there close to the top and the restaurant claim to fame is justified. So if you got a chance you should drop by for a meal.