The View

We went last Sunday on our last night in NYC. Our waiter couldn't have been nicer! He brought us a couple of different wines to try as we couldn't decide. The food was hot and very tasty and the desserts were wonderful. The staff were very thoughtful and attentive. We had a great time to end off a wonderful trip! (and noone looked at us twice with our tons of bags from shopping from the day as we couldn't get back to our hotel before our reservations!)

We returned to NYC again last weekend with friends from England. They had heard about the restaurant and we went for them with great hesitation. Nothing has changed except the price which has gone only higher. The wait staff was friendly, but didn't make the cold small portions any better. Limited menu and unimpressive. The water cost was over the top. We will not be back.

We went last weekend, after seeing a beautiful Broadway show. We were staying in the Marriott Marquis anyway, and thought since our stay cancelled out the cover charge, why not go have a taste of the dessert bar and take in some views (it was late, like 11:30 at night at this time). The atmosphere was quiet and you almost felt a little out of place (and we were all dressed up). The place was clean. We went in with 3 children and 4 adults, and immediately, the waitress said, that there was a 1 drink minimum, but bottled water counted. Great, we thought. We can just let the children have bottled water and then we can each get the dessert bar. The dessert bar was nice... not as big as we had hoped. 3 or 4 types of cheese, 2 types of crackers, pretzel sticks, cookies, strawberries, chocolate fountain, mini cupcakes, several little types of mini-cut cakes, grapes, etc. But when you are eating such rich and sugar filled foods, most of us only went up once, which made it a VERY expensive plate (a few chocolate covered strawberries and a cookie for 20 dollars!) Well, after it was all said and done, we had a price tag of almost 300 dollars for 7 dessert bars and 7 bottles of water. Very unexpected for what we actually ended up eating. Then to find out the bottled water is sold at Walmart... what a shame. The waitress was nice, and took pics of us. The view was ok, but we weren't sitting right near the window either. (window tables only have 2-3 seats so we wouldn't fit since there was 7 of us) No nausea at all, it moved so slow. But finding your way back to the table if you get up can be a bit challenging. Overall, not a disappointing experience. Dessert bar was tasty, albeit expensive, but won't waste our money on water again, since they cost as much as a glass of wine.

We decided to go here after a Broadway show for the dessert and cheese buffet. First of all, getting to the View Lounge itself can be a little confusing: you have to get an escalator to the first floor before getting an express lift to the View Lounge – easy when you know how, but with so many people milling around waiting for lifts and obscuring the signs, we had no idea where we were supposed to go at first. Once we finally got there we asked for a table by the window and they kindly obliged. Our waiter was very friendly, giving us advice on how to find our way back to the table from the buffet, what we could see, etc. The view on the night we went was not spectacular, but then it was raining and foggy, which obscured most of the buildings – I imagine that by day or on a clear night it would be lovely. The décor of the Lounge itself was nice. The buffet itself was pretty good. There was decent variety, with three different cheeses, two types of cracker, pretzel sticks, a lot of different types of cakes and desserts, fruit, marshmallows and a chocolate fountain. Everything was nice but inevitably you can only eat so much rich food. The cocktails were amazing – I ordered Long Island Iced Teas and only two of them gave me a nice buzz! It’s quite expensive though. We knew in advance that there was a $8 per person cover charge so that didn’t bother us, and we knew how much the buffets and drinks would cost from the website, but complete with service charge it all adds up to more than you’d thought somehow. Also be warned (and to be fair I think they do mention it somewhere on their menu) if you’re using a debit card/pre-paid credit card they will put an hold on some money on your card that, in our case at least, still has not been released a full week after our visit, even though the charge for the total amount for the bill has been finalised for a few days. I wouldn’t necessarily mind if it was only a small amount but in our case it’s around $49. Still, all in all, it was an expensive but good experience. The revolving aspect put a bit of a unique spin on it (no pun intended) and it was great fun – it didn’t make either of us nauseous at all, as others have complained about. If you’re thinking of going I would recommend ensuring that it’s a clear day/evening, be finished by 8pm when the cover charge kicks in and use a credit card to pay if you can.

Something had changed the last time I went to The View in 2008. Since my visit in late 2007, new management had taken over, and they and the staff treated my guest from out of town and me as if we were beneath them. Up to this point, it has always been a fun, elegant but not overly formal place to go for drinks or the buffet, the prices were on par with the area, and the staff was always polite. However, this changed, and on my last visit the staff had new uniforms, prices had gone way up, everyone who worked there talked to customers with an icy, condescending tone, and the atmosphere of the lounge itself had become more cold and reserved. I would not recommend it.

Drawn by the revolving restaurant and view...unfortunately. Revolving cool. But that is about it. The view was intersting but not great. So much clutter on the roof top the view sits on it is not attractive. The food was tasteless. The scallops tasted like mush. The drinks were operpriced. 19 for a mixed drink. A vodka tonic at 15. Seriously!! Waistaff impersonal. Prixe fix menu doesn't make it cheaper when you add in the drinks.

Ate in View on Easter Sunday. Starters were average but entrees very poor. Prices outrageous. Waiters indifferent. Rip-off because of novelty of location. Same view from top of Rock for 20 dollars. Had beautiful dinner following night in lovely restaurant for approx half the price. Was my 1st visit to NY and View was only downside. Would not recommend it to anyone.