Bridges

Phenomenal new restaurant in lower Manhattan! Everything is so delicious, but the standouts for me were the uni custard, duck, and chocolate tart. The ambiance is sleek and modern yet still very warm and inviting. The private back room is jaw-dropping and an excellent choice for your private dinner parties. The cocktail menu is inventive, wine list extensive, everything you could want in a fine dining experience. Run don't walk to bridges!

The food is amazing. As good as Estella. I love the duck breast and the sea urchin custard with shrimp the best. The crab is amazing too. The smoked eel dumping isn’t for me.

Bridges, a new restaurant located in Chinatown is serving uniquely delicious food in a sleek environment. Eel Dumplings, Comte Tarts, King Crab, Uni Custard. For delectable descriptions check out: https://ifthedevilhadmenopause.com/building-bridgesnyc-restaurant-review/

I'd heard the hype around Bridges before I even knew what it was, which is always a curious thing. Personally, I'm not a restaurant trend chaser, especially in this day and age when the chase feels more manufactured than ever, but when my wife scored a reservation on a Friday night, it seemed too good to be true. Overall, I'm not sure how to feel about my experience. Let me start with what most are here for: the Food. We had the sardines, the comte tart, the eel dumplings, the salad with trout roe, the king crab legs, the turbot. The tart and dumplings were very talked up beforehand and while good, I honestly did not think either was hype-worthy. At the risk of being offensive, the first thing I thought when I bite into the comte tart was an Entenmann's coconut custard pie with some chanterelles. Tasty, but not hype (or price) worthy. The eel dumplings were also tasty but as I enjoyed them, all I could think was "Wow this taste like normal delicious dumplings". Again, not sure where the hype, price, or eel (!) is here and think had I been served these under a blander name, I would have balked at the cost for the taste. Let's get to my biggest disappointment: The sardines. I'd *also* heard lots about these and generally quite like sardines, but all I could think as I bit my way through a 4-inch slab of sardine and basic cracker was: Shouldn't these be cut into smaller bites? Why is the sardine so fishy and without much of the savory unctuousness I like about them? I don't know if these just aren't for me or what, but as the dish I was most looking forward to, I was let down hard by how much these felt like someone cutting a piece of fish, putting it on a cracker, and calling it a day. That's fine for a picnic in Paris, but for $22 for two pieces? Nope. But hey, it's not all bad news: The king crab legs were fantastic and even at $42, I'd wished we'd ordered two of them. Amazing leg meat and the "kani miso" / head meat was the best I've ever had. It's a crime there's sauce and garnishes because these are wonderful all by themselves. The turbot too was quite good, though a piece or two of bread to soak up the herby goodness at the bottom of the bowl would've elevated them from very good to great. Our trout roe + endive-y salad (I forget the greens there) was tasty too, but roe and salad is an odd combo for me; I'd prefer if the roe was just on the side to dash on the greens and add salinity as wanted. But still, it was good and worth ordering. Oh, and we almost ordered the duck and then found out there was pork in it, which I don't believe was mentioned on the menu. Weird. I don't eat pork out of choice and I can imagine someone avoiding it for religious or health reasons would be a lot less pleased than I was. But whatever. Drinks: Solid, for sure. Cocktails were good, wine was tasty, though as I say these days, I don't know how to assess wine prices anymore. But the crisp, mineral-ish white I had was excellent, and I'd easily have it again. Atmosphere: Cute, modern, very gentrified Chinatown / Dimes Square. Think cherry wood and steel and repurposed glass block tiles. Table spacing was good, noise level was good, lighting amazing. Nice and cozy and worth popping into, even if just to grab a drink. Service: This is where Bridges lost me. Service was... fine. But for $250+, you expect something a little more than fine, especially when the food isn't all 10/10 bangers. Specifically, I found it to be a little aloof (distant, unengaged), the busing service very rushed (taking plates as soon as they were empty), and the timing of plates to be herky-jerky (sardines came out in 90 seconds, dishes were brought out to crowd the table when we weren't even done with previous ones). It was a little weird to be done with our meal in an hour and I don't know if that was to turn over our table or just the service in general. All in all, I'm not sure what brings me back to Bridges. Maybe a glass or two of wine + king crab legs at the bar, which is a nice snack but of questionable value at $65-85 with just bar service.

Amazing new addition to the Bowery! Duck, cracked crab, and uni custard are absolutely stellar!!

Absolutely fantastic!! Every dish was exquisite and the cocktails were unique and perfectly balanced. Highly highly recommend the duck as a main, and the seafood dishes and salads cannot be missed either! The interiors are stunning and the service makes you feel at home. Run run run to Bridges!

End to end perfection from the moment you walk through the door. Everything at Bridges is meticulously thought out — from the menu to the sconces and all in between. Not a single shortcut taken! Go to celebrate the talent and stay for the sardine toasts. Truly the essence of hospitality. Plus, easily the best looking restaurant staff in NYC.

Bridges was excellent!! From the bespoke service, to the beautiful ambiance, to the delicious cocktails, unique wine list and insanely good food - it was truly a singular dining experience. This is one of the most inventive and delicious menus I have seen in NYC in many years. Bravo to the Bridges team! Everyone must go before it's impossible to get a reservation!

Phenomenal new restaurant in lower Manhattan! Everything is so delicious, but the standouts for me were the uni custard, duck, and chocolate tart. The ambiance is sleek and modern yet still very warm and inviting. The private back room is jaw-dropping and an excellent choice for your private dinner parties. The cocktail menu is inventive, wine list extensive, everything you could want in a fine dining experience. Run don't walk to bridges!

The food is amazing. As good as Estella. I love the duck breast and the sea urchin custard with shrimp the best. The crab is amazing too. The smoked eel dumping isn’t for me.

Bridges, a new restaurant located in Chinatown is serving uniquely delicious food in a sleek environment. Eel Dumplings, Comte Tarts, King Crab, Uni Custard. For delectable descriptions check out: https://ifthedevilhadmenopause.com/building-bridgesnyc-restaurant-review/

I'd heard the hype around Bridges before I even knew what it was, which is always a curious thing. Personally, I'm not a restaurant trend chaser, especially in this day and age when the chase feels more manufactured than ever, but when my wife scored a reservation on a Friday night, it seemed too good to be true. Overall, I'm not sure how to feel about my experience. Let me start with what most are here for: the Food. We had the sardines, the comte tart, the eel dumplings, the salad with trout roe, the king crab legs, the turbot. The tart and dumplings were very talked up beforehand and while good, I honestly did not think either was hype-worthy. At the risk of being offensive, the first thing I thought when I bite into the comte tart was an Entenmann's coconut custard pie with some chanterelles. Tasty, but not hype (or price) worthy. The eel dumplings were also tasty but as I enjoyed them, all I could think was "Wow this taste like normal delicious dumplings". Again, not sure where the hype, price, or eel (!) is here and think had I been served these under a blander name, I would have balked at the cost for the taste. Let's get to my biggest disappointment: The sardines. I'd *also* heard lots about these and generally quite like sardines, but all I could think as I bit my way through a 4-inch slab of sardine and basic cracker was: Shouldn't these be cut into smaller bites? Why is the sardine so fishy and without much of the savory unctuousness I like about them? I don't know if these just aren't for me or what, but as the dish I was most looking forward to, I was let down hard by how much these felt like someone cutting a piece of fish, putting it on a cracker, and calling it a day. That's fine for a picnic in Paris, but for $22 for two pieces? Nope. But hey, it's not all bad news: The king crab legs were fantastic and even at $42, I'd wished we'd ordered two of them. Amazing leg meat and the "kani miso" / head meat was the best I've ever had. It's a crime there's sauce and garnishes because these are wonderful all by themselves. The turbot too was quite good, though a piece or two of bread to soak up the herby goodness at the bottom of the bowl would've elevated them from very good to great. Our trout roe + endive-y salad (I forget the greens there) was tasty too, but roe and salad is an odd combo for me; I'd prefer if the roe was just on the side to dash on the greens and add salinity as wanted. But still, it was good and worth ordering. Oh, and we almost ordered the duck and then found out there was pork in it, which I don't believe was mentioned on the menu. Weird. I don't eat pork out of choice and I can imagine someone avoiding it for religious or health reasons would be a lot less pleased than I was. But whatever. Drinks: Solid, for sure. Cocktails were good, wine was tasty, though as I say these days, I don't know how to assess wine prices anymore. But the crisp, mineral-ish white I had was excellent, and I'd easily have it again. Atmosphere: Cute, modern, very gentrified Chinatown / Dimes Square. Think cherry wood and steel and repurposed glass block tiles. Table spacing was good, noise level was good, lighting amazing. Nice and cozy and worth popping into, even if just to grab a drink. Service: This is where Bridges lost me. Service was... fine. But for $250+, you expect something a little more than fine, especially when the food isn't all 10/10 bangers. Specifically, I found it to be a little aloof (distant, unengaged), the busing service very rushed (taking plates as soon as they were empty), and the timing of plates to be herky-jerky (sardines came out in 90 seconds, dishes were brought out to crowd the table when we weren't even done with previous ones). It was a little weird to be done with our meal in an hour and I don't know if that was to turn over our table or just the service in general. All in all, I'm not sure what brings me back to Bridges. Maybe a glass or two of wine + king crab legs at the bar, which is a nice snack but of questionable value at $65-85 with just bar service.

Amazing new addition to the Bowery! Duck, cracked crab, and uni custard are absolutely stellar!!

Absolutely fantastic!! Every dish was exquisite and the cocktails were unique and perfectly balanced. Highly highly recommend the duck as a main, and the seafood dishes and salads cannot be missed either! The interiors are stunning and the service makes you feel at home. Run run run to Bridges!

End to end perfection from the moment you walk through the door. Everything at Bridges is meticulously thought out — from the menu to the sconces and all in between. Not a single shortcut taken! Go to celebrate the talent and stay for the sardine toasts. Truly the essence of hospitality. Plus, easily the best looking restaurant staff in NYC.

Bridges was excellent!! From the bespoke service, to the beautiful ambiance, to the delicious cocktails, unique wine list and insanely good food - it was truly a singular dining experience. This is one of the most inventive and delicious menus I have seen in NYC in many years. Bravo to the Bridges team! Everyone must go before it's impossible to get a reservation!

A five-star experience should be obvious. If you're not sure, it's probably four stars. Growing up in a baseball family, my dad always said "it's not called the Hall of the Very Good". Bridges is absolutely fast tracking it to the Hall of Fame -- a no doubter, to stay with baseball terminology. Everything here is truly excellent. Drinks, food, service, vibes. But *especially* the food. It is French-leaning but there are a variety of other European influences that come through, which is probably why I liked it exponentially more than straightforward French fare. Because life gets in the way, I haven't been able to dine out as much as I'd like to in recent months, and Bridges was a celebratory return to what remains my favorite pastime. We came here at 9:15 on a Saturday night. I could tell the vibes were excellent from the moment I walked inside. It's a gut feeling. The other gut feeling I had -- which is not one I can say I've experienced often despite living and going out in Manhattan for the entirety of my 20s and now early 30s -- is that there were several celebrities of some caliber dining here. This was not confirmed nor denied, yet it was a strong feeling that I had. And when I shared this with my partner, he too had the same intuition. I don't know what this means exactly, other than the fact that the ambiance at Bridges and the crowd it attracts must create the essence of importance and esteem. In true form, I absolutely ran to order the Salt & Pepper Vesper (Gin, Vodka, Vermouths, Pepper), despite it being a vodka-based drinks. I swear I saw at least half of the patrons drinking it, and it was the closest thing to a martini I could find on the signature cocktail menu, so I had to try it. As I had hoped, it was excellent -- clearly popular for a reason. With the majority of the food, I went with a skin contact wine which was delicious, but I can't remember which one it was. To finish the meal we split an Old Fashioned (Bourbon, Coconut Water, Benedictine, Bitters), which was a perfect nightcap. The abridged food review: 4.0 GPA, A+s across the board. Everything was flavorful, elegant, creative but unpretentious. We ordered a mix of small and larger plates to sample as much as we could, and while we were reaching peak fullness at the end, it was definitely the correct order. Eats, below: Sea urchin custard with shrimp: A+ Pure decadence, no other way to put it. Just a fluffy little bowl of heaven, rich and umami, a little goes a long way. Lettuces, asian pear and trout roe: A+ Lettuces were crisp and fresh was light and creamy dressing, always love some seasonal produce in the salad and the asian pear was a crisp, bright addition. The roe was a fun touch, can't say it's something I typically see in a salad but I'm not mad about it. Kabocha squash and puntarelle with Brabander: A+ Don't let the bad picture food you - this was shockingly excellent. Again, loved the seasonal spin, the squash was sweet and earthy and paired so well with the coarse greens and mild gouda. Clean flavors, still exciting. Grilled king crab with Béarnaise and daikon: A+ A worthy splurge for sure. The crab was so tender and juicy, perfectly cooked. I wasn't sure how this was going to be served from how it was described on the menu so I appreciated the little radish skewers and Béarnaise served on the side to add some movement to the plate. Roast duck with cabbage and XO: A+ Always thrilled to see duck on a menu, our excitement for this dish seems to have precluded a picture being taken. I can tell you that it was well-executed served with worthy and reliable accompaniments. Roasted cabbage in the colder months is a no-brainer.

Delicious food with really interesting flavors! It's like there's a slight spin on everything. The place wasn't overly crowded, cute lighting and design, and the servers were so kind.

My friend and I dined at Bridges last weekend. The front of the restaurant is unassuming and on one of the many crowded streets of Chinatown. The entrance gives off the vibe of one of those old school classic Chinese restaurants that you probably went to as a kid with your parents. The inside is very minimalistic, with an open kitchen, but it works. The restaurant is pretty small, just like most New York restaurants. We ordered a variety of dishes. The highlights include, of course, the comte tart [$25], the roasted duck [$58], and the chocolate and hazelnut tart [$13]. Everything else we ordered was also very good: the sea urchin custard [$23], the cured tuna with tomatoes [$25], and the eel dumplings [$27]. The comte tart reminded me of a cheesecake, but savory. It looks dense but it's actually very light. This was probably my favorite dish. The roasted duck comes with cabbage filled with meat [duck parts?] and a side of mashed potatoes or gratin if we're fancy. Woof, the mashed potatoes were out of this world, so light and fluffy. They might even be better than the mashed potatoes at Libertine. The duck was also juicy and tender. The chocolate and hazelnut tart [$13] was extremely chocolate-y, maybe borderline a little too much, but I really enjoyed it. Bridges seems to do tarts very well. My drink, the Tequila Sour [$20], was phenomenal. It had some Asian flair with sesame and ginger, but it was also its own thing. A little sweet and refreshing. What I definitely appreciated about the service was that all the courses and dishes were timed very well and we were never felt rushed out like I feel at my many restaurants now. I paid $134 after tax and tip.

Bridges is a great new restaurant in Chatham Square. Chef Sam Lawrence of Estela is running the kitchen so you can be confident in getting amazingly tasty and creative food. The front of the house is run by Nic Mouchel and Josey Stuart who have tons of experience and that showed even on opening night. The Comte tart is amazing as are the king crab and turbot with clams. The atmosphere is buzzy so we are looking forward to heading back soon.

4.4 to be exact. Couldn't be more excited to try Bridges when I heard it opened in Chinatown. We, party of four probably ordered 60% of the menu items. Most of them were pretty memorable. The highlight for me was the custard with shrimp & uni, roasted duck with cabbage, and kombucha squash. The warm custard with the creamy uni plus the sweetness of the shrimp made a perfect appetizer. There's also a light kick in the background that it's definitely not boring or flat lol. I'm such a duck lover that I'd order every time I see duck on the menu. After the numerous duck I've consumed, I could say theirs could make it to my top 3 list. The parsnip puree with XO sauce that came with the duck was the bomb, too. Other dishes were a little salty to us. That's probably because we're not drinkers. The least favorite for our table was the smoked eel ravioli. It's too smoky for our palate and the texture of filling was not what we expected. Our server really took her time to explain the menu and provide helpful suggestions. Bridges is more like a wine bar with elevated food options. Come before it's impossible to grab resy lol.

Overall great experience. Place is a sweet spot in a kind of homely block. Food is interesting and delicious. Servers are courteous and leave you alone when it's clear you want space. It's loud in there, so kind of hard to have a quiet convo, but otherwise very highly recommend.

Bridges was excellent!! From the bespoke service, to the beautiful ambiance, to the delicious cocktails, unique wine list and insanely good food - it was truly a singular dining experience. This is one of the most inventive and delicious menus I have seen in NYC in many years. Bravo to the Bridges team! Everyone must go before it's impossible to get a reservation!