Tatiana By Kwame Onwuachi – Afro-Caribbean Restaurant in NYC

by chainwaxologist

2 Comments

  1. chainwaxologist

    Went to Tatiana last night after a lucky Resy snag a couple of weeks ago. Overall I give it 4.5/5 stars. It was great! Was fun to huck the kids into a babysitter’s lap on the earlier side and get out of our usual zone a bit – we live downtown and mostly just go to your standard downtown NYC spots. 7:30pm reservation – arrived right at 7:30pm and had to wait about 15-20 mins in the entryway to be seated. Place was packed and buzzy. All-in was around $350.

    **Ambience – 4.5 stars:** Stunning interior – we were seated 1 table away from the perimeter, which had ceiling height chain ‘curtains’ as a visual barrier between diners and the throngs of Lincoln Center show-goers on the other side of the floor-to-ceiling glass walls. Bit of a club-like atmosphere with hip hop bumping and everyone taking photos for their instas (/reddits) . Super cool blue artwork chandeliers that look like clouds – you can see in the background of one of the pics.

    **Service – 4 stars:** Staff was friendly and professional. Our waiter was attentive but struck a good balance between attentiveness and letting us enjoy our meal. He was knowledgeable about the menu and affirmed our selections.

    **Food – 4.5 stars:** Great food. We rarely eat this cuisine so it was fun to mix things up. We got 2 starters, 2 mains, 2 cocktails each, and 2 Jello Shots for dessert (lol).

    * **Starter 1: Egusi Dumplings – 4 stars** – fantastic dumplings but not overly creative. Delicious!
    * **Starter 2: Curried Goat Patties (like empanadas) – 5 stars** – not too goat-y and were amazing with the chutney and light white sauce which together softened the savoriness of the dish
    * **Main 1: Short Rib Pastrami Suya – 5 stars** – fun dish! Fancy pastrami. They key was making little bites combining the short rib, slaw, and roll all in one go. Best eaten with the hot (hot!) sauce.
    * **Main 2: Braised Oxtails – 4 stars** – also delicious but the sauce was a bit thick and sweet for my taste. Still glad we ordered this.

    **Drinks – 3.5 stars**

    * **Cocktails – 3.5 stars** – I had the old fashioned to start which was meh tbh (a standard old fashioned) and then the other 3 cocktails we had were the spicy margaritas which were good! Sweet and salty, little kick but not too much – 4 stars on those.
    * **Jello Shots: 4 stars** – these probably deserve 3 stars because they weren’t flavorful and couldn’t detect any alcohol. But I love that they’re on the menu and were a fun way to finish the meal. And they were beautiful! They looked like little slabs of marble.

    Overall 4.5 stars and def recommend going to anyone who can snag a reservation. Love that this place came onto the NYC with such force – well-deserved and happy to see this restaurant shine on the biggest stage.

  2. inamilos11

    One of the only “tough to get” reservations in NYC that meets the hype imo. My girlfriend and I still dream about the oxtails and the pastrami. We had a long wait too but the service more than made up for it. Glad you guys enjoyed.

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