KO PRIME

A little while ago, I wrote about going to a party at KO Prime with Leah and my initial impression of the place. So on Friday, Leah, Tom and I decided that we needed to have an actual meal there, and we headed downtown. Leah knows Ken Oringer, the consulting chef, and we both name Jamie, the chef de cuisine. Unfortunately, neither of them were there that night (which was kinda surprising on a Friday night, only a few months after opening.) Sorry, no pics for this post. It was really dark inside, and as the evening wore on, at 8pm, it was still more light outside than it was indoors.

Upon arriving, we were shown to our seats quickly. As I've mentioned before, the decor is very cow oriented. The have these strange leather place mats at each seat, which kinda bothered me, because it kept slipping around. Leah and I also pondered a strange composition placed in the ceiling. We didn't really think it related to steaks, but oh well.

When we were handed our menus, we were also greeted by a very very enthusiastic, cheery waitress (but you know, it's that fake kind of cheeriness that's kinda annoying). Unprompted, she started going through the favorites and recommendations on the menu and the scurried off so we could actually peruse the menus ourselves. Not surprisingly, there are lots of cuts of meat, but there were also a bunch of interesting appetizers, sides and some fish entrees.

For Tom, the highlight of his meal were the appetizers. He ordered a half dozen of Wellfleet oysters, which had been recommended by the waitress. He also got the Crispy Veal Sweetbreads (listed as McNuggets style). He said the oysters were very good (though the shucking could've been done better, there were pieces of shell) and the veal McNuggets were just funny cause they were also served on little sticks (but both Tom and Leah found them well cooked).

Meawhile, I got the asparagus with poached egg and hollandaise. The eggs was well poached, so that when it broke, all the yolk leaked out on the asparagus. But it was a heavy appetizer. I was kinda full after I finished it. And Leah got the lobster bisque, which she also enjoyed. I found it far too salty the last time I'd tried it, but Leah likes salt and she found it quite good.

Onto our entrees. As you all know, I don't eat beef, so I ordered the duck breast au poivre. The waitress let me know that it'd be prepared rare, and I said I didn't mind. Meanwhile, she failed to ask either Tom or Leah how they wanted their steaks done. Sometimes chefs do this because they feel that the meat should be cooked to a particular temperatures, which is fine , except...Tom's NY strip steak ended up a bit overcooked. He said it was a good piece of meat, but he found it too hard to cut through. Meanwhile, Leah had ordered the skirt steak and she found it quite tasty. I'll also take note that both Leah and my meals come pre-sliced. Oh, and I did like my duck breast. It wasn't stellar or the best thing I'd ever had, but it was well prepared. I'll also let you know that if you want a side with dinner, you're gonna have to order it (unless you count the 5 cipollini onions that came with Tom's dinner a side). We shared a side of fries with ricotta salata, but we agreed that they weren't all that great. The fries were cut too large, so didn't come out crispy and the ricotta salata really didn't do anything.

And finally, onto dessert. We were all stuffed by this time, but I insisted that we share some, because that's what I do. We ordered two desserts to share, mint mousse with warm chocolate ganache center and a dessert featuring lemon curd. The mint mousse dessert was a disaster. Mainly because the chocolate ganache was burnt, and you could taste its bitterness the second you put it in your mouth. I let the waitress know, and the manager had it removed from our bill. Meanwhile, the lemon curd dessert was quite good. The lemon curd sat a top a little piece of cake and that formed the base for a tall cookie tower. The tower was filled with fresh summer berries, and the combination of it all was very enjoyable.

I felt the pacing for our dinner was a little rushed. With our 7:30 reservation, we were out of there before 9pm. It was enjoyable dinner and great to have an adult meal with Leah and Tom, bu I don't think any of us will be rushing back. It was solid food, but nothing stellar, and it was quite expensive. (Entrees range from mid 20s-mid 40s). Certainly a great place to go if your parents are in town, or if you're entertaining clients.