Blue Smoke - Not one of Danny Meyer's Finest...

So the other week our company decided to take our Japanese partners to dinner at Blue Smoke during their first trip to NYC.  I guess it was to give them a taste of "American food?"  Is that what Blue Smoke is supposed to represent? 

Anyhow....we booked a table for 10 and were greeted with a dining room that made me think this was family night out for many of New York family!  Kids everywhere! I guess that's what happens when you go to an "eat with your hands" kind of place :)

Well enough of the ambiance, onto the food.  Now I caveat this review by saying that I do think dinner might have been better had it been ordered individually from the menu. However, we were pressured into a fixed price pre-paid meal for our large party, which unfortunately resulted in pre-made, pre-processed food that reminded me of high school cafeteria days...

Especially when the mac'n'cheese came.  Definitely don't recommend - this was yellow cheesy Kraft style (which I already am not a fan of - especially not at pricey NYC restaurants). 

Caesar salad was served on large dishes which made it a bit soggy by the time it reached your plate.  Onto the veggie sliders - who eats veggie sliders???  Needless to say there were many leftover....

The chicken wings fared better, but were the buckets on the table for the bones?  Someone should have told us that!

Brisket sliders could have done better with some melted cheese to add some moistness...

Onto the main dishes.  Ribs - dry dry and more dry!  Chicken was a highlight though - moist and juicy, while the strip steak was served cut up.  Remember, family style?  One thing to note - this strip steak should not have been pre-cut...doesn't that just mean all the juice runs out?

I heard good things about the salmon...but honestly who comes to a bbq place for salmon?

Sides - the sweet potatoes fries were enormous and served with the skin on.  Nice touch.  Cornbread was pleasant, but the mac and cheese was downright terrible.  Enough on that.

Finally onto dessert.... Key lime pie tasted too much like the processed kind, but the apple crumb cobbler and rum raisin ice cream served to be a highlight of the meal.

Thank goodness that landed on my side of the table!  Poor guys at the other end never got a taste!

On the bright side...beer was a plenty resulting in our Japanese partners being happy as a clam by the end of the meal.  That's all we could ask for, right?

Blue Smoke
116 East 27th Street
New York, NY 10016-8942
(212) 447-7733