It is not my first time at Nusr-Et, the Eponymous restaurant of fame Chef better known as Saltbae made famous by his exaggerated gesture when putting salt on meat, the salt dropping on his forearm into the meat (not so sanitary). The place was quite busy for a Tuesday evening with few large tables and even with a reservation, we were invited to wait at the bar until our table (that was not occupied finally, would be ready. A good trick from restaurants to have you order drinks. 10 minutes after the time of the reservation, we finally got seated. Yes, crowded and not so loud at the beginning despite the presence of a DJ but loud at the end as they started to play music loudly after 9pm, customers and staff dancing (I wonder if to get hired to show them some moves...), mainly men in fact, the restaurant having very few women on the payroll.

The food there is mainly for non-vegetarians with few salads and sides for vegetarians: the star there is meat, the Chef being a butcher originally. They even have a $1,000 gold coated Wagyu tomahawk that I consider a shame personally.

Lots of people come to Nusr-Et to see the Chef do his moves and either take a photo or a video of him, but he is not always there (the best way to know is to check his Instagram), so they amped up a bit the way they prepare or serve the food by having the staff make their own gestures, with the same spirit. When the guy prepared the steak tartare table side, I admit that I was really impressed by his knife skills: he cut the piece of filet mignon at such speed! It is a quite good tartare in fact, where they add Dijon mustard, shallots, cognac, capers, chili sauce and crispy shredded potato for an added texture.

The steak of course is the main attraction: seeing them cutting the tomahaw (aka Saltbae tomahawk) is always entertaining and as you expect you get the weird salt pouring at the end, the person doing it Probably thinking for few seconds that he or she will have a moment of fame. Pricey, the tomahawk is good though: tender, juicy, nicely charred, they will cook it medium rare unless you ask otherwise.

Wit it, the perfect sides are the fries and the sautéed mushrooms.

Then you cannot leave without dessert: their baklava served with goat milk ice cream is one of the best I ever had, perfect with a Turkish coffee.

You may wonder what I drank with my meal: the Saltbae old fashioned (nothing special there, not even a bacon rub but good) and a glass of red wine, “Red blend Murrieta’s Well The Spur, Livermore, California”. They do have Turkish wine that I was curious to try but not by the glass...

So yes, Nusr-Et is a bit of a scene and gimmicky but at least the food is delicious. This is a good place to go if you do not like Broadway shows but are looking for an evening of entertainment!!!

Enjoy (I did)!

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Nusr-Et - 60 W 53rd Street, New York 10019

Nusr-Et Steakhouse without Saltbae

Jean-Philippe Gerbi