NYC Guide: The Noortwyk

The Noortwyk

Address | 289 Bleecker St, New York, NY 10014

On Mother’s Day eve we ventured to a little corner of the West Village to try The Noortwyk restaurant. Too be honest, The Noortwyk came on our radar when reservations at a handful of other West Village spots we’ve been wanting to try were impossible to secure. The Noortwyk has good reviews and is run by EMP alumni Chef Andrew Quinn and sommelier Cedric Nicaise so we thought it would be a fun spot to try.

The seating is disappointing, our three top consisted of two two top tables slid together with an awkward seam and that was the standard for 3 and 4 tops which I didn’t love in terms of ambiance. On the bright side, the large open air front gives a nice breeze and a view of passersby enjoying the Village evening. Wanting to grab a second dinner of Joe’s Pizza, we ordered relatively light. We started with the Seeded Parker House and cultured butter; a Kale Salad with apple, toasted pine nut, and 7 year gouda; and Burrata roasted beets and grilled bread. The favorite was the seeded Parker house roll so definitely order that. It was a nice airy pull apart bread, warm and buttery. Very enjoyable. The kale salad and the burrata were nothing to write home about but they were tasty dishes.

For the mains we shared the Torteloni mussels and spring greens; and the Hanger Steak with grilled romaine and spring onion. The pasta was solidly executed. I liked the way the steak was cooked and the quenelle of the condiment that was on the plate, but I didn’t really care for the grilled spring onion and grilled romaine.

This was a rare occassion where we had room for dessert by the end of the meal. We ordered the Strawberry Eton Mess Bugey-Cerdon and cajeta; and the Warm Chocolate Mousse lavender mint ice cream. The timing it took to get the desserts to our table was rather extended. Both desserts had nice complex layers of flavor making them interesting. The Strawberry Eton mess was my favorite. While I did enjoy the warm mousse I thought one component was too salty.

All in all, The Noortwyk was a nice meal but I’m not sure I’d be motivated to make a second reservation.