Monday, December 14, 2015

EAT: FIRST LOOK AT ROW HOUSE ON FDB



Row House on FDB at the corner 115th Street opened up in the past few days and we had a chance to have an early dinner last week at the new restaurant.  For those who like a spacious dining destination, this new entry on the lower FDB corridor is sure to impress and the owners have done a great job with the layout which includes many comfortable curved banquette that add a bit more intimacy in such an open expanse.  The look is updated but has enough retro charm to be approachable at the same time.  A lot of families were actually having their meals together in the earlier hours so not having such a clubby environment does help with business from a day-to-night perspective but how was the food?



We actually ordered just three starters for the night from the New American menu and everything was pretty solid for the most part with one really great dish.  First off was the exceptional yellow fin tuna tartare which had just the right amount of seasoning but did not need to be overly dressed because of the quality of the fish. This is definitely the best version of this dish to be found uptown.  A Chicken Liver Mousse offering served up deviled egg style with candied mustard seeds will go over well with pate lovers but might be best served with slices of toasted bread on the side.  We especially like pate and are into low carb dining so eating it straight up was not a problem but this might just be too much offal for the average eater.

The last order of the day was a fish taco which pretty much has the same issue that we find with a lot of fish tacos uptown.  Summer dreaming of delicious fried fish tacos from Far Rockaway always come to mind when this is on the menu and the plate did look impressive with the red slaw on top. Unfortunately the cod came as a mash that was unrecognizable and the dish was just not well balanced in flavors.  We have seen better presentations of non-fried fish tacos which usually has whole grilled pieces but somehow the Harlem version is a bit less ambitious.

We definitely will be back to try the other menu entrees so stay tuned for more updates.

6 comments:

  1. Thanks for this. It looks pretty tasty. I walked by it this weekend and it looked very nice from the outside. Looking forward to stopping in for a bite. I have heard that the owners are the same folks who own Harlem Tavern, though I don't know for sure.

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  2. We ate there last night. Great space. Overall the food was pretty good food. I'm sure it will get better as the new opening kinks are worked out. We also had a chance to view their downstairs lounge. It is beautiful and has a great old school clubby feel. We look forward to spending time there.

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  3. row house is the bomb

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  4. LOOKS Amazing.

    and reasonably priced.

    when are you guys expanding NORTH of 125th ????

    We need you in the West 130s.

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    1. Agree, but this space is amazing and is a damn good start. I believe they are associated with Harlem Tavern, not sure

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  5. How late are they open? Do they serve food late night? Other than Red Rooster and Harlem Shake, it seems like all the kitchen close too darn early around here.

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