It isn’t often that I head up to the UWS. And by not often I mean next to never. So when I had to pick a restaurant up there for a dinner with my aunt and uncle, I was at a bit of a loss. But a while back for my birthday a friend of mine had given me this pack of cards that have $10 gift certificates for dozens of restaurants in New York. Now I realize that it’s all paid promotions and what have you, but I figured, why not? I had the gift certificate after all. So off I went to meet my family at Henry’s on Broadway & 105th St. Little did I know that I was in for one of the most enjoyable meals I’ve had in awhile, and not just because I was in excellent company (my mother and sister were there too).
The food was good. It was very good in fact, but the service was EXCELLENT. The entire staff was so friendly, knowledgeable, and accommodating, that it made a good meal great.
But first: the food. Between the five of us at the table we ordered enough for and army, and one thing you should understand about my family and food is that nothing at the table is “yours”. Everything is shared, and passed and enjoyed by all. So as a table, per say, we ordered the following appetizers: chilled seafood platter for two, mezza plate, fried calamari. All were good. The seafood platter had a wonderful crab salad atop a bed of mango and avocado, some oysters and clams on the half shell, tuna tartar, grilled shrimp… basically a whole lot of very tasty seafood. It was only the second time in my life that I had ever had had oysters. The first time (in Florida fresh from the sea) I thought they were nasty. But since they were already there, I figured I might as well try again (it had been 6 years after all), and you know what? They weren’t half bad! Not really worth all the fuss that oysters seem to inspire, but not terrible. The crab salad though and the shrimp – now they were something special.
And before I get to the entrées,
I should tell you about the special that we had. It was braised short ribs, and despite the fact that short ribs are my favorite, and my mother’s favorite, none of us were in the mood to order it that night. So our waitress stood there chuckling at us each trying to convince someone else to order the special so that we could taste it, and in the end the chef – via our waitress – was so touched that we wanted to try all his dishes, that the restaurant cooked an order of the special short ribs and split it up 5 ways as a middle course. So we got to try it after all, and BOY was it good. Tender, and flavorful, a little smoky, a little salty, with the acidic undertones of the red wine it was cooked with. The mashed potatoes underneath were creamy and chived and soaked up all the wonderful juice of the tender morsel of meat on top.
Seeing as I’ve rambled on for quite some time already, I will tidy up. Main course: I ordered the pork chop, which was wonderful. It was pink and juicy inside and slightly crisped outside, with scalloped potatoes, some escarole, and lots of flavor. All of our entrées were good, but what really elevated the meal was the friendly staff and down to earth atmosphere. I highly recommend Henry’s if you’re looking for a nice place to eat up near Columbia.
UWS Dining
Henry’s
2745 Broadway @ 105th St.
UWS
