Don't Waste Your Time And Money
TLDR: Dame suffers from an over-applauding press. While this hole-in-the-wall English seafood restaurant puts out some very high quality dishes, it is hard to imagine it in the same category as other “best in NYC” restaurants. I’m glad to have tried Dame, but I don’t think I would go back – especially knowing how hard it can be to get in.
Image credit: damenewyork.com
When I hear “British food” my first instinct is “run”. Heavy, gloopy, flavorless food comes to mind, along with a sloshy beer belly. Perhaps that’s why I’d never been that disappointed that I couldn’t get into Dame, another one of these restaurant darlings the RIG (Resy, Infatuation, Google – it will catch on) adores. Well, I finally got in at the bar and I must say it wasn’t what I expected.
On entering the restaurant it becomes obvious why it’s so hard to get in – the place is just tiny. There’s maybe 25 seats max, and I can’t imagine trying to book for even 4 people because with less than a handful of large enough tables the odds are simply not in your favor. Dame is known as an English seafood spot, so I guess I was expecting more of a pub vibe, but it falls squarely into the “new age restaurant with vague Scandinavian influence” category; clean lines, warm lighting, pop music blasting – you get the picture.
Similarly, the food doesn’t resemble the British mush I may have imagined. It’s got quite the bite – in fact, it may be too acidic. As someone who could handily eat a jar of pickles in one sitting, I’m surprised to admit that the intensity of the food at Dame was too much for me. It’s rare I leave a meal feeling worse than when I got there, but that volume of high-acidic foods combined is just not kind to your body.
I wouldn’t try to argue that Dame has bad food. Each dish stands on its own quite well, but somehow when you added it all together it became too much. Perhaps because I had it first, my favorite dish was the grilled oysters, which were served slathered in some seriously tangy hollandaise sauce – yum. We followed that with the squid skewers, cabbage with mussels, and the famous fish and chips to end the meal. I was a bit disappointed by the fish and chips. They were way too big for my liking (basically two whole filets), but they did have a delightfully light and crunchy batter. Smaller pieces would have let you get more of that crunch in every bite.
My main gripe with Dame is that nothing really stood out to me as “wow, that’s amazing”, when I had been led to believe that it would be amazing. The hype for this place is out of proportion to the experience. If you find yourself there, enjoy what you’re eating and maybe pop some Tums in between courses. At the end of the day, I just don’t see Dame as a restaurant worth waiting for.
Totally agree! went once and was like, 'meh'.