restaurant review: eleven madison park

Spring flowers at Madison Square - right across the street from Eleven Madison Park.

(New York, New York).  For years I have wanted to try Eleven Madison Park and during that entire time every single person I knew who went said the same thing - it was worth it!  So my expectations were quite high when I arrived for lunch.  

From the outside it looked like a stuffy office building across Madison Square (yes, where Shake Shack is located - and yes, I was tempted...).  Once inside, however, the mood and atmosphere becomes nicely elegant and formal (but not stuffy).

There were only a few other diners in the large dining area - in fact there were probably as many servers as there were actual diners.  Thus it was no surprise that the service was very attentive.

We chose to do the prix fixe lunch menu and ordered a bottle of rose - perfect for the oddly hot April day in New York.  And then the lovely parade of food and flavors began...

 

Upon arrival there is a gift box with 2 savory black & whites with apple and cheddar.... decadent

A gorgeous display of appetizer bites...whitefish salad, fava bean croquette, morel with creme fraiche and oyster with caviar

So beautiful - very fresh and perfectly fried

 

Make your own egg benedict with caviar, spring onion and ham

Cheesy rolls with cheesy butter...

Argh  - can't remember what this was, but so pretty!

hmmm what was this... too many courses!

was this the fluke marinated with peas and grapefruit?

butter poached lobster with morels and peas - delicious!

Two stalks of asparagus came from all this preparation and labor!

But it was a tasty asparagus (with truffles)!

spring lamb with romaine and garlic

new potato with flowers

morels?

More cheesy puffs!

We were too full but our server convinced us to try this refreshing sorbet.

"complimentary" chocolate game - guess what type of milk made the chocolate bar (4 choices)

More "complimentary" stuff - apple brandy and chocolate pretzels - what a way to finish lunch!

From beginning to end - the food and service were impeccable.  I would highly recommend this restaurant if you are looking for a very special occasion restaurant.  All that gorgeous food and service does come at a price ... I think lunch for two with a bottle of wine came to about $750.  Service is already included.  And they do give you a bunch of freebies at the end ... I wonder what they would have done if I drank the entire bottle of apple brandy?