Duet Restaurant 37 Barrow Street, Manhattan, New York 10014

"Amazing Birthday Celebration at Duet Restaurant. I was impressed with everything that was on our table. The food and presentation was amazing. The owner and manager are both very easy to deal with. We had no issues or problems. This place deserves 10 stars !!!!"

"I don't know what happened but given the decent Yelp and Google reviews, we were pretty excited to try this place out. They were having 50 cent oysters that night which was a pleasant surprise and so we ordered 2 dozen of them for the 4 of us and thought that'd be a fun way to start the evening. 45 minutes later and after asking several times what was going on the oysters finally arrived. They were fine, but given that there were only 4 or 5 other tables in the restaurant (we got there relatively early at 630), we simply had no idea what the story was... The wait staff was impressively incompetent. We had two different women for most of the evening who seem to have never read the menu before. When we attempted to order drinks, the first person asked for an old fashion (listed on the cocktail menu, so not a random request she might not know) and she said "which one?" he repeats the order and she says, "I'm sorry, which drink do you want?" Again, there's almost no one else in the restaurant so it's not loud and hard to hear. He finally points and she says "oh, you want an old fashioned?" and he nods. Next person orders a drink and she says "I'm sorry, what would you like?" we stop speaking and just point to the cocktail list. They were all too sweet and rather weak. Luckily I didn't order one. And then the food. Ordering the food was about as complicated as the drinks. Apparently several of the main items come with a side even though this isn't said anywhere on the menu. Given the communication problems, we weren't sure whether we'd end up paying for an extra side for 3 of our meals or not, but at this point, we just didn't care. Two folks ordered duck and weren't given an option of how it would be prepared. It came out very overcooked. I ordered the venison, medium rare, which had a lovely presentation but was somewhere between medium well and well done. The food was mediocre at best. When the bill came, we had no idea what to do about tip. I worked restaurants for several years, so I rarely leave below 20 and normally do 25-30, but the service was so bad a 10% tip would be too much. When I'm in a situation where I'm unhappy enough with the service that I'm going to under tip, I generally speak to a manager so they a) know about the problem and b) understand the low tip isn't because I'm a jerk or don't know better, but because I had a really bad experience. In this case, given that we tried talking to several people about the oysters and no one seemed to care and there was no one resembling manager walking around, we just tipped 15% and left. Comically, they wanted to give us all loyalty cards when we left. Why in God's name would I ever eat there again?"

"Nice atmosphere to relax and chill 5/5 for that. Service 4/5. Food isn't that amazing for 5 stars. I had omelette which was a safe choice. My friend had eggs Benedict, he said it was cold. The only bonus were the potatoes on the side, it the only hot dish on the table."

"Dining at Duet Restaurant is like being transported to another time and place. We had a party of 15 there for my birthday earlier this month and I don’t know what to compliment first! The upstairs room had a warm and decadent feel to it, the service was above and beyond what anyone could expect and the food is some of the best in the city. The chef is not only incredibly talented but also very nice and attentive - I could not have celebrated my birthday at a better venue. Thank you, Duet, for making our night so memorable and special.. we will be back soon for dinner or brunch!"

"Had an amazing dinner at Duet last night! A true gourmet trip around the world. Chef Rodov is a culinary genius varying his menu and putting out incredible dishes that are spectacularly nuanced in flavor and presentation. The downstairs dining room is cozy and elegant, with attentive staff and friendly service. Prices are also quite reasonable."