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Before 9/11 the River Cafe & Top of the World were considered the best restaurants from which to see New York. The River Cafe remains as a singularity, filled with exquisite flowers & nestled near the waterline of the East River. Some time ago I took friends there to dinner. They live on a high floor of a building on East End Avenue with outstanding river views. They were captivated by the proximity to the water. The ships that look like toys from their windows were huge and seeing them cut through the water against the outgoing tide was a real thrill, especially with the Brooklyn Bridge and its swags of light looped above them. Moreover, the restaurant is not just a pretty face. The food and the wine list are really excellent and the service impeccable. My only problem is that for vegetarians this is not a hospitable place, especially given the prix fixe cost, but, then, most haute cuisine restaurants in New York are similarly ill-suited to the humane crowd. When I go to The River Cafe, I tell myself that I have to be prepared to give up my ethical objections to eating meat for a brief moment in time. In cosmic terms, it is well worth it.

A place for rich tourists! If you have a couple of extra hundred bucks to spend, i reccomend it cause of the view. The food wasn't all that good. We were sorrounded by richsters and goldiggers, so it isn't the most classy place.

We, two couples, celebrated two of our 60th birthdays at The River Cafe last night. The view, food, service, ambiance, were unsurpassed. None of us would have changed a thing. We will remember the experience and will be talking about it forever.

My wife and I Love this place! Excellent food and ambience. Just bring your wallet!

My friends ordered the duck dish recommended by the server and I ordered the sea bass. I was happy with my entree but my friends found the duck to be undercooked and gamey and left most of it on the plate. The food seem to be a hit or miss. The view was great but I would think twice about following the server's recommendations... The view was enjoyable but is it worth the hefty price??

I have to agree with the anonymous reviewer below. I went for brunch with a friend, just to check it out, and while the setting and view were spectacular, the food was only so-so, and very expensive for what it was. Truly, it felt like I stepped through a time warp into the 80's. The food was the same, the staff was uptight and took themselves very seriously, and the place was loaded with tourists. It was a prix-fixe for $55, appetizer & main course. I had the Smoked Rainbow Trout, my friend had the salad. The salad was nice, but nothing special (how can you screw up salad, really?). The trout was hot (I'd the impression it would be cold) and again, very nice, but nothing to get too excited about. For main courses, I had the Maine Lobster Omelette, she had the Scottish Salmon. She seemed to like her salmon, but I only got about half way through the omelette - it was very salty, with very little lobster in it, mostly gooey cheese. The best part of the meal were the desserts; she had the goat cheese cheesecake and I had the Chocolate Toffee Sticky Pudding. She seemed to like the cheesecake, and I can definitely say the pudding was fantastic. Service was fine, a bit of attitude, but nothing too obnoxious. All in all, except for the view, there are so many places with better food that cost less. Go there. As I said in my title, this really strikes me as the Brooklyn equivalent of Tavern on the Green, where everyone goes for the setting and no one goes for the food, even though it's horribly expensive, and no local will be caught dead in here.

It's sad, given the gorgeous space, the beautiful view, the ambiance, that the food is just not quite up to where it's price thinks it is. You're paying for that scenery, no question, not what's on your plate. The food is good, mind you, just not $98 prix fixe good. That's a higher PF than Gremercy Tavern, even higher than the recently four-starred Eleven Madison Park. Is the food at River Cafe on that level? In a word, no. There's hasn't been a chef at River Cafe who equalled the surroundings in quite some time. The days of Charlie Palmers and David Burkes gracing the kitchen are long in the past. They seem geared towards producing quality high-end food without being terribly inventive now - the chefs who pass through are blue-chippers on the way up, but no one that's going to set the culinary world on fire. Certainly no one who warrants a $98 Prix Fixe at this point in their career. Simply put, there's no reason to pay the price for dinner at the River Cafe except for the view. For foodies, there are too many restaurants where you'll get a better meal for a lower price. It's become a restaurant that coasts on its "legendary Old NY" status a la The Four Seasons or The Russian Tea Room. It would be great to see a really talented young chef - one with a bit of a pedigree and a little name recognition who wants to take things to the next level - come in and shake things up a bit. And lower the price to a more reasonable $75 or so - or perhaps go a la carte - putting it in line with equivalent menus elsewhere. Until then, it's a "don't bother" as far as I'm concerned.