Cafe Renaissance

"Earlier this week a friend asked me to drive in to Brooklyn and check out this new restaurant called REN located on McDonald Ave. downstairs in the World Spa building. Our Captain Mark was most informative about the style of food and the ideas that chef Ronen had when creating the menu and dishes for REN. You see this isn't a restaurant with a set menu. Rather its a dining experience where you need to be open minded to try new things. The menu changes every few weeks, so that dish you liked last visit won't be on the menu the next. They also have an amazing selection of wines, whiskeys, bourbons etc and a extremely talented bartender. I started off with something called the Mahane Yehuda which was believe it or not spicy. We started off with our appetizers which consisted of the Lamb Bolognese Raviolo with morel mushroom stock and celery creme, the Shiitake Risotto with shiitake sauce black truffle mushroom basket, the Chicken Caesar with lettuce caesar vinaigrette, baby chicken breast, capers, Thai basil, toasts and almond parmasean (insane right?), Rye Beats & Fennel which is a demi-sec beets, beet ribbons, fennel seeds, pistachio white winter truffle and the Tom Yom Soup with tomato, ravioli rice noodles, beans, chili interest and fresh grilled Halibut. We were two grown middle age guys, and we were demolishing this Caesar salad. It had a grilled Cornish hen breast underneath and they use the whole heart of the romaine not just the leaves like in other restaurants. The almond parmasean was amazing!Now the Tom Yom Soup which was poured on top of the ravioli rice noodles table side enabled the ravioli to loosen up a little. The fresh grilled Halibut on top was mouth watering and had some really nice grilled smokey flavor. Really love the soup. The Shiitake Risotto was next. This dish was delicious. The risotto perfectly cooked and the thinly cut shiitake layered on top of the risotto like scales on a fish were a delight. Lastly the Lamb Bolognese Raviolo was so soft and velvety underneath the celery creme and the morel mushroom stock. Now we were ready for the main. First came the Aged Duck Long Island which consists of a 14 day dry aged duck breast with tart apple creme, apple confit and pickled mustard seeds accompanied with grill bok choy and a sweetened duck jus. The duck had an amazing sear on the outside and was soft and bursting with flavor on the inside. I have never had aged duck but you can bet that I am going to ask for this next time. The Tomahawk Ribeye is a 35 ox 6 week dry aged ribeye, with these amazing Jerusalem artichoke chips and rock salt served and sliced table side. The waiter wheeled in a cart with this perfectly cooked Tomahawk on it. It was sliced table side by one of the staff and then laid out beautifully on a platter. It was cooked to perfection. Then we were shown by the wait staff who were wearing gloves of course, that we needed to crush the Jerusalem artichoke chips and sprinkle them on top of the steak. I have never tasted meat cooked with butter, however that I what I assume it would taste like. It was buttery soft with the perfect amount of salt and pepper and the artichoke chips added a depth a flavor that I didn't expect. Needless to say I was having an amazing time. Chef Ronen and his sous chef Israel who is also a pastry master. We started with the Lemon Tart which is a lemon cake with lemon patisserie with lemon confit which is rendered with sugar and olive oil, rimmed the top with a mint cookie and dollap of lemon patisserie cream and little mint leaves. This dessert was so fresh and delicious. I immediately felt my palate cleaned and brightened with them lemon goodness. Finally we had the Ferrero Rocher with chocolate biscuit topped with chocolate creme and chocolate praline dusted with a rich coco powder accompanied with a essence of popcorn sauce sweetened with vanilla and soy which cuts the richness and adds a dimension and topped with chocolate tuiles shaped as leaves. This was a meal to remember. From the ambiance to the staff to the food five stars all around."

"Fav Saturday night vibe in our community. Service is quick for a small spot that caters to a huge crowd. There are constantly parties and birthdays held here on weekends which makes it the place to be. The wait for a table can be long if you come after 9 PM. However, off peak, you can get a table and waiter pretty quickly They have iPad menus which is great because you can see your food before you order it. They have a pretty long menu. So they will fit a diverse range of preferences. My personal favs are: - Table bread with olive dip. Freshly baked, on the house! - Mozzarella basket. Great sauce, grilled veggies, fried cheese and the crunchy bowl are not found in other cafes in the area. - Penne vodka - fills you up. Tasty. - French onion soup, melted cheese and fried onions work well for me! - Village salad with no seeds. Great mixture of dressing, cucumbers, mushrooms, lettuce, and other veggies. - lemonana pitcher. Didn’t order this time around because I was only with two. - pizza. Takes a bit long to come out, but worth the wait. They have a brick oven and make the pizza from scratch. - I’m no dessert guy. Sorry you’re on your own. They look good though! Price is moderate for a kosher midline cafe. Best food, service, and vibes that you’ll find in the area. There are some other cafes around which I’ve reviewed if you’re looking for something cheaper or higher line."

"The service was not horrible. We were seated quickly and got our menus quickly, but when it comes to paying, it was chaotic. The atmosphere was loud and messy making it hard to converse with my friends. The food on the other hand, was horrible. It was not presented in a way which gave me high expectations making it worth the exorbitantly high prices. The taste was that of which my little sister would make. I can make it better in my own kitchen."

"Large kosher dairy restaurant. There is plenty of seating though it can fill up so you may want to call ahead to RSVP. We were seated real quickly when we came and given tablets with the menus. The tablets had nice clear pictures of each menu item. After ordering the food came pretty quickly. The wait staff was quick and courteous. Everything we ordered tasted amazing. Would definitely come back when we're in the area again in the future."

"Wow I have so much to say about this place! 1. The food is exceptional. Taste, temperature, presentation, quality ingredients, portion size. I enjoyed every bite and even got to take home leftovers! 2. The customer service. The waiters were just perfect. Smiles, attentiveness, quick. 3. We were also greeted by the owners who were present the whole time. The place was packed and they were available if necessary. For me the prices here are a bit high but for the quality and excellence overall they are very reasonable! I wish I could afford to come back every week!"