We recently went to check out the newly opened Irvington, at 201 Park Avenue South, and could not have been happier with the entire experience. You know it has been a good meal when, at the end, everyone has a different favorite dish but collectively agreed that the other ones were also just as good.

Market Fresh at Irvington

Irvington restaurant NYC is a market to table restaurant, right off of the Union Square Market, where they source most of their ingredients. At Irvington they are doing ‘Real food’ the right way, with lots of farm fresh ingredients and house made sausages, pasta and mozzarella. You can see and taste the care and effort in their food and drinks.

Irvington is making house bottled and carbonated beverages in house, and I was very delighted with their retro inspired presentation of all of their cocktails. I ordered the bottled sparkling negroni, which was refreshing and easily the best negroni I’ve ever had. Other awesome cocktails that we loved included the Girl Next Door and the Elyx Cup. Don’t miss out on the cocktails here!

Appetizers at Irvington

We were lucky enough to try a little bit of everything at Irvington. For starters we ordered the Roasted Cauliflower and Kale flatbread with pickled onions and Parmesan. Flatbreads are a dish I don’t usually order out because they tend to be the same, but the Irvington’s flatbread was unique and inspired, totally unlike any flatbread I’ve had before.

Another unique dish we tried was the crispy baby artichokes with salsa verde. This dish reminded me of a take on the Brussels sprouts trend. A small bundle of leafy crispy deliciousness that was a mix between a health food and something a little more decadent.  The salsa brought a freshness and bright flavor to the fried artichokes which I totally enjoyed.

Julie, our Eat Up New York Healthy Eater, and I are both huge fans of octopus so of course we ordered their octopus appetizer. This dish wowed us with presentation and with taste. The sweet potatoes created a bed for the octopus and were just calling out to us to gobble them all up. The octopus itself was charred, smoky and perfectly cooked.

Our favorite, of the first courses though, was the Marinated Beets and Cured Coho Salmon. Although I am not usually one to love beets, these were the holy grail of deliciousness kind of beets. The marinade managed to remove that extremely earthy flavor that irks me. We were given beautiful and generous pieces of the cured salmon, which perfectly balanced the sweetness of the beets with the saltiness of the salmon. The final touch, that made this dish excellent, was the toasted chopped almonds which added a textural dimension that took the dish to the next level for me.

Mains at Irvington

Going into the dinner I knew I wanted to try one of their signature dishes cooked on a rotisserie. We decided to go with the half free-range chicken with marble potatoes, grilled leeks and gremolata. This was the second time in the night that we were astounded by potatoes. The marble potatoes had been cooked with the fat drippings from the chicken, this is probably the only way potatoes should be cooked from now on. The chicken was moist with deliciously crisp and flavorful skin. This dish is a classic American dinner plate done perfectly at the Irvington.

We also ordered the Seared Scallops, which isn’t something I tend to order out because if they are overcooked, and not paid proper attention, they are huge let down. I’m glad I went with ordering scallops at the Irvington as they are everything you hope a good seared scallop would be; Golden brown but still somewhat rare on the inside, yum!

Dessert

By and large our favorite dessert were the Irvington’s homemade sorbets. The sorbet came in a variety of inventive flavors like cilantro pineapple (our favorite), mango carrot, blood orange and raspberry. Another stand out for us was their fudge brownie, which wasn’t your standard brownie sundae. The brownie at Irvington is dense and moist and the perfect end to a meal, it will leave your insides warm and happy.

As a food writer I often get asked “Where should I go to eat?” And although I eat at a lot of delicious restaurants I never quite know how to answer this question. Irvington will now be my go-to answer. Everything here is so good, including the service, which really makes the meal a total delight. The atmosphere at Irvington is the perfect mix of fun and romantic so anyone could enjoy his or her time there. You should head to Irvington as soon as you can, it is that good.

For more information on the Irvington restaurant NYC check out their website