Date Night @ The John Dory Oyster Bar at The Ace Hotel

This weekend we were originally planning on making our way to the Lower East Side to The Meatball Shop; however, at 7:00pm on a Saturday night and already a 90 minute wait in a very tight and crowded place, we decided that The Meatball Shop would have to wait for a day when its either much warmer than 20 degrees outside or if we can get ourselves there around 5:00pm. So, we decided to head to midtown to The Ace Hotel's The John Dory Oyster. Neither place took reservations, but with The John Dory with a 45 minute wait plus the bar at The Ace Hotel, we decided to opt for the later.

The John Dory was a crowded place and we ended up getting seated by the door (which I absolutely hate), but decided to accept our fate anyways rather than ask to wait for the next table as who knows how long that would actually take.

The bar at The John Dory

The menu is filled with much variety and we sampled a bit from each section.

From the raw bar, we got a few oysters each and the Cold Poached Lobster with Tomalley Vinaigrette. It was half of a Main lobster with a vinaigrette made with the intestines of the lobster, which is essentially the green stuff. It was good, but nothing to rave about.

Cold Poached Lobster with Tomalley Vinaigrette

Next, came the Razor clam ceviche, which strangely, had the texture of scallops but tasted like clams. It was good, but Marcos was not really a fan.

 Razor clam ceviche

From the small plates, we selected a few items. The one we absolutely loved was the Burrata Cheese with Trout Roe. It is a fresh Italian cheese made from mozzarella and cream. There is an outer shell that is solid mozzarella and the inside is a mozzarella and cream mix. The burrata with the trout roe was delicious! A must-have dish!

 Burrata Cheese with Trout Roe

We were also in love with the Oyster Broth Soup with Uni Spread on Crostini. The uni spread on the crostini was divine. Several others ordered this same dish. I would definitely go back for this. The oysters were huge and the broth was delicious. We loved everything about this dish!

Oyster Broth Soup with Uni Spread on Crostini

The last dish was the Octopus with Potatoes and Aioli. The octopus tentacle was huge with a bit of spice with the mashed potatoes. This dish was not particularly outstanding as many places do serve this as well. The interesting part was this was the hint of spice. 

 Octopus with Potatoes and Aioli

Overall, the food at The John Dory was pretty good. The experience was okay. We weren't pleased with the service as the place was being run by hipsters that were more concerned about looking "cool" than providing proper service. The service was below subpar - when our table was ready, the hostess (whose look reminds me of the Asian Hipster Grifter) called my phone twice and hung up before she actually didn't hang up and told me our table was ready. When I was speaking with her I told her that we were right where we said we would be in the waiting area, then she responds with "OOH" and hangs up. Incredibly rude and her gross appearance didn't help.

After we went home, Marcos wanted to make a gluten-free cheese pizza. This is something he's been wanting to try for a while and first attempt was success. He took a unique approach - layered on parchment paper mozzarella and baked it at 350 degrees until it was crispy. Then, spread a layer of marinara sauce with another layer of mozzarella and sliced pepperonis. Baked again at 350 degrees. In a short amount of time - viola! Cheese pizza! Delicious!!