Ouest

2315 Broadway, Upper West Side, NY

7.6

map & more

Neighborhood
Upper West Side

Cuisine
American

Nearby
American Museum of Natural History
Beacon Theatre

212-580-8700

Official Website

By Andrew Steinthal
December 19, 2011

A fixture on the Upper West Side for the last twenty years, Ouest is a clubhouse for the 65 and up crowd. Think Cabin Down Below, but for old timers. There’s also a sense of community around here. My guess is that all the gentleman ponied up to the bar come here often and know each other well.

I’m embellishing a bit. It’s not all white hair and hearing aids at Ouest. This is a very solid restaurant. It doesn’t look like much from the outside, but Ouest is crazy spacious, a comfortable and friendly environment for a meal on the UWS. The service is tremendous and most of the food is refined, quite delicious and typically expensive. It’s an ideal Dinner With The Parents location, especially if they’re paying. Ouest’s compact, circular booths are highly conducive to conversing. Mom and Grandma often complain that it’s too loud at many of the downtown restaurants I guide us to, but the set-up and acoustics at Ouest are perfect for their fleeting hearing.

As a high quality Upper West Side option, we approve of Ouest. Especially when dining with parentals. The only problem with dining here is that by 7:30pm, they’re sold out of multiple menu items. Damn, old people eat early!

Food Rundown:

Cauliflower Custard with Butter Poached Lobster
A solid starter, albeit a bit on the pricy side ($18). The lobster pieces were plenty tender and paired quite nicely with the cauliflower custard.

Salmon Gravlax with Chickpea Pancake, Caviar & Mustard Oil
It shouldn’t come as a big surprise that a restaurant on the UWS knows how to do smoked salmon dish, but it is a nice surprise to it see on dinner menu. Delicious.

House Smoked Sturgeon with Frisee, Lardons, & Poached Egg
…and it’s not just salmon Ouest makes magic with, the signature smoked sturgeon appetizer gives Barney Greengrass a run for their money. This guy is a must order.

Roasted & Marinated Beet Salad
A nice beet salad with chevre, toasted hazelnuts shaved fennel.

Braised Pork Shank with Kale, Linguica & White Bean Ragout
Overall the entrees weren’t as impressive as the appetizers. That being said, this was one of the more successful offerings. We loved this huge shank sitting in a bed of kale, linguica and white bean ragout. It’s definitely worth the order if you’re really hungry.

Roasted Leg of Lamb with Rosemary-Garlic Sausage & Lamb Bacon
This one was a big fat miss. The lamb was serverly undercooked and way chewy. Skip, especially at $36.

Lightly Smoked Salmon
If you like your salmon rare, go for it. My mom loved this. I, on the other hand, was very so/so on it. The random combination of potato salad, fried clams, celery and gribiche that the fish sat on was tasy,but I just like my salmon cooked through a little more.

Pan Roasted Chatham Cod
A well executed cod dish, and one of their more popular entrees. We enjoyed this, and like many of the menu items here, the presentation with vegetable puree, bacon, walnuts and balsamic vinegar was thoughtful and impressive. My one complaint? For $32, it’s a tiny serving size.

Grilled Free Range Chicken with Mashed Potatoes
Impressive presentation, but the chicken was a bit overcooked, and the mashed potatoes were hard. That’s never a good thing. Skip it.