Whitehall

Bar view from my seat

After my meal at the new gastro-pub called Whitehall last week, I can’t figure out why this place hasn’t blown up in my niche of food media. Google Whitehall, NY, and the first thing that comes up is a link to the “birthplace of the U.S. Navy,” followed by links to maps, Police Department, and Amtrak routes. I google Meatball and the first thing that comes up is “The Meatball Shop” (though search is now more personalized, what’s up with that?).  The place has the quintessential West Village restaurant feel – sophisticated, warm and stylish, with splashes of playfulness like chalkboard menus and black park benches. The menu is packed with easily sharable sides, appetizers, and main courses inspired by British fare. I dined there with two of my work friends, both whom I like to believe enjoy food as much as I do. It’s always more fun to eat dinner with those who truly  appreciate food – there’s really no arguing that – because we don’t just order what we need, we order anything that looks remotely enticing (and end up finishing it).

Before I launch into the laundry list of food items we tried, the cocktails deserve describing. These “House Concoctions” are mostly labeled by number, which actually forced me to read the ingredients to make an educated, thoughtful drink choice as opposed to just jumping to my usual favorites. I started with the No. 4,  which combined gin, lemon, orange bitters, and ginger, and graduated to a delicious No. 8with mezcal, ginger, grapefruit, lime, and soda. I normally can’t stomach sweet cocktails, but since they accommodated my pleas for less-sugar, I guzzled four of them.

No. 4

To start, after a small warm roll with creamy butter, we shared two wonderful salads – the Whitehall Salad – which was somewhat of a breakfast with lettuce, crispy bacon, poached egg, cheese, and hazelnuts, and the Spiced Butternut Squash Salad with lemon feta and watercress.

squash salad

We couldn’t resist the description of Pan Roasted Squid, which came with chorizo, fingerling potatoes, and what Whitehall freakishly calls “gentleman’s relish.” Although it was flavorful, and the squid pieces were cut in pieces manageable enough to chew gracefully, the sausage grease was hard to ignore and a bit unsightly.

squid and bread with...gentleman's relish

For our main course, we dove into a Whitehall Burger with cheddar, pickled onions, lettuce, and of course, an egg. Yes yes, you all know that I’m not a burger savant, but I know what tastes good and this was undeniably delicious. I am extra pleased when a chef actually prepares the meat the way you ask for it, and this was perfectly medium rare as we had hoped. With the egg, the brioche bun, and the garlicky fries, I was smiling in a haven of gluttony. To balance out our meat, we also shared the root vegetable and lentil curried stew, which was exactly as it sounds – hot lentils with some roasted vegetables. Nothing special, but a decent break from the burger.

whitehall burger

lentils and veggies

delicious fried brussel sprouts

Mushy pea fritters

Aside from the delicious mushy pea fritters above, my favorite, as always, was dessert. Despite being stuffed to the brim we had no hesitation ordering three  – the honey crisp apple charlotte, the butterscotch pot de creme, and the chocolate fondant cake with earl grey ice cream. The salted caramel ice cream served with the crisp was insanely good, and the butterscotch pudding was warm, perfectly salty, and subtly sweet.

horrible lighting but yum

I can’t wait to go back to Whitehall – perfect for both a quick meet up and a long drawn out dinner, it has definitely been added to my list of “go-to’s” in the area.

Grade: A
Location: 19 Greenwich Ave @ 8th Street
Website: (a great one) http://www.whitehall-nyc.com