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After waiting two hours to get in I expected a good meal..There were only seven choices for a main course and about the same for appetizers. I had the duck soup which was subpar. The chicken with fontina cheese was not good either. My friend said his entrees were mediocre to poor as well. He had the gnocci as an appetizer and the halibut. There are so many great places is the West Village. This was not one of them.

Ah, yes, the food. THE FOOD. Well, food is too common a word. This was culinary art at it’s finest. I started with oysters ( because if you tell me they are available, I will order them. And roll my eyes with delight every time I taste one ) and then went on with the Grilled Artic Char. Delicately presented on a warm bed of creamy leeks (now seriously, I did say at the time that this was a bed I would gladly sink into. I was in love ) and topped by golden, crispy thin-as-can-be fried onions, the fish had the crisp, smoky bitterness of the grill on the outside while still being perfectly tender, almost lusciously raw on the inside. That mix of texture ( softness of leeks and pinkish flesh in contrast with the crisp of the onions and of the grilled outer layer of the fish ) was a perfect balance that was only enhanced by the glass of wine that it was served with ( name of which has slipped my mind, sorry! Well proof enough that it was great wine ;). The taste of that perfect first bite still lingers in my mouth. Oh, and of that perfect last bite too. And of everything in between. Mark my words, I will spend a great deal of time trying to recreate this amazing palette of lingering flavors at home. Oh, yes, I recommend it. But please, if you go, take me with you!

I usually look at a menu and know right away what I want to order, but Market Table had so many interesting items. I finally decided on Chickpea & Roasted Vegetable "Falafel." It was excellent. I might as well have licked my plate clean. My dining companion had the pancakes and they were excellent, too. I will be back to try some of the other menu items. The wait staff was helpful with my indecisiveness and attentive.

I recently had dinner at market table and decided to pop in for lunch. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the food and service at lunch was on par with their dinner service. The food at Market Table is excellent and now its officially one of my favorite restaurants. I had the burger which was amazing--those old bay fries really sealed the deal!! I also had a slice of the polkadot cheescake-YUMMY! If you haven't been there for lunch, you should go!! I just found out that they are now taking reservations for lunch which is PERFECT as I'm always in need of a place for business meetings.

These guys deserve the raves - not a single thing showed up on our table that didn't impress, and the service was great, too. Gnocchi were delicately deliscious, lobster and shrimp risotto was nice, and most impressive was the hanger steak, which came out looking too medium-rare and therefore I expected it to be rubbery (as that cut of beef has a tendancy to be), yet it was as tender as filet mignon - except with much more flavor. Can't wait to go back.

Yet another example of marketing hype over good food. The staff was fantastic and the ambiance low key and welcoming. But the food it was not even okay. We had soup that was way too salty, sardines without any taste or character, pork with even less taste, lamb chops that were ordinary at best and uninspired wine. Even the bread was less than okay. It's incredible to me that restaurants of such low quality get good reviews and draw customers. Good PR is the only explanation.

So I have to admit this place has the best burger/fries ever (not on the menu). I dine in and dine-out pretty regularly. However, I stopped recently given that the staff no longer takes phone orders for take-out. You have to actually walk-in and wait. This is Manhattan no one particulary cares to wait for anything ... even a burger du jour!