The Members Dining Room at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC was one of our NYC Restaurant Week Winter 2017 picks for where to go. Normally you do need to be a Member of the Museum to make a reservation, so NYC Restaurant Week was a good chance to give the restaurant a try as we're not currently members. Visiting New York? See all of our posts tagged NYC.
Members Dining Room at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Location and Hours
The Members Dining Room is located on the 4th floor of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which is at 1000 5th Avenue, entrance near 82nd Street. You'll need to be a Met member (or be dining with a Met member) unless it's Restaurant Week. During Restaurant Week, make your way to the Members Desk on the right hand side of the hall, mention you have a reservation at the Members Dining Room, and you'll be given a Museum ticket sticker to wear.
Next, cross over to the other side (left hand side) of the hall and go towards the Greek column. When you get there, take a right and go all the way to European Sculpture and Decorative Arts, where you take an elevator up to the 4th floor.
The Members Dining Room is open for lunch Monday – Friday 12noon to 2pm, Saturday 11:30am-2pm, and Sunday 11am-3pm. It's open for dinner Fridays and Saturdays 5:30-10:30pm (last seating at 8:30pm).
The Scene
I was there for lunch on a Friday, and although it's a large room, the dining room was packed, no doubt due to Restaurant Week in addition to regular patrons. The crowd skewed older, with a number of senior couples and friends, although there were a few younger couples and solo diners as well. I didn't see any families or kids on the day that I dined.
The Members Dining Room at the Met Lunch Menu and Food
When I arrived, I was asked by the hosts for my last name, and one of them helped me check my coat. I was led to a table in the very back of the room, which was fine, as I was dining solo. If you're celebrating a special occasion, be sure to mention that when reserving, and request a table by the window, although these are very much in demand.
The host seating me also gave me the menu, which included both the Restaurant Week lunch menu and the regular menu:
My server arrived soon after to ask about my water choice, and I ordered right away as I knew what I wanted…or at least I thought I did, although soon after ordering the steak I changed my mind, found my server, and changed my order to the fish, which fortunately wasn't a problem.
Along with my water, I was soon brought a glass of breadsticks, soft butter (which I ignored) and a delicious creamy pesto sauce. Only after asking my server did I learn that it was made from broccoli rabe, so presumably nutritious as well as tasty.
My appetizer arrived fairly soon, and will it was a modest portion, it was extremely good: the tuna tartare was spiked lightly with harissa as well as preserved lemon, although with a light hand, so it didn't overpower the very fresh tuna. Apart from the small portion size, my only criticism is that one of the lentil wafers was quite burned on one half, but everything else about this dish was perfect.
The main dish, Wild Striped Sea Bass a la plancha (cooked on a plank) very much lacked the beautiful plating of the appetizer, but it was cooked perfectly, moist and not overcooked, and what it missed in presentation was almost made up by the flavorful trio of sauces that accompanied it. My favorite by far was the romesco sauce on the right, although the tomatillo sauce wasn't bad. I'm not a huge fan of regular horseradish sauce, so I left that one and instead used the last bit of broccoli rabe pesto on some of the fish.
When there's a choice of dishes for Restaurant Week and one is on the regular menu and the other isn't, I nearly always choose the one that's also on the regular menu. And since Apple Pie Bread Pudding was at the top of the regular dessert menu, I chose it over the Chocolate Caramel Puddle Tart. The Apple Pie Bread Pudding was tasty, but also a very small portion. Perry St (and Nougatine, which also serves the molten chocolate cake for Restaurant Week lunch) has The Members Dining beat in the dessert department.
The Verdict
I'd seen at least one scathing Restaurant Week Review, with the reviewer panning every aspect of his meal, although he apparently ordered the other choices and not the ones I chose. Personally, I was happy with my meal, especially the tasty broccoli rabe dipping sauce, the tuna tartare, the perfectly cooked striped bass (although I grant it wasn't very photogenic) and the trio of sauces, especially the romesco sauce, and the apple bread pudding.
Portion sizes were on the small side, so it's probably just as well my husband couldn't join me due to work, as he'd probably have still been hungry after the meal, particularly since the slender bread sticks weren't as filling as the bread that's often served. The regular menu looks good, albeit pricey, especially if portion sizes are similar to the Restaurant Week ones.
My main criticism was that it took a long time for my main dish plate to be cleared and for dessert to arrive, even though I mentioned a couple times that I did need to leave soon. So the Members Dining Room is not a good choice if you don't have at least a full hour for lunch, particularly during peak dining times.
If you've dined recently at The Members Dining Room at The Met, what was your experience?
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