5 Ninth

Oh well… you win some, you loose some!
Recently my partner, my sister and a friend spent a weekend eating our way through NYC. I try to find restaurants that are off the beaten path a bit. We found 5 Ninth on Open table, looked at the menu and decided to give it a shot.
Friend ordered: a salad and the grilled hanger steak from the appetizer menu. The salad was meh, but the steak that was served was not the appetizer portion, instead it was the full dinner portion. Appetizer was priced at $ 12.00 and dinner was priced at $ 24.00. Although the steak was well prepared, friend only ate half of the portion. We had been very specific when ordering the meal that she wanted the appetizer and not the dinner portion, and when we addressed this when the check came, the waiter really could have cared less.
Sister ordered the crispy salmon which had a nice sear, but was way undercooked in the center. Sister nibbled on the ends of the salmon which were cooked, but left the majority of the dish alone. The waiter did not notice the meal was not eaten, or just did not care to ask if there was anything wrong with the dish.
Partner and I ordered Wild Mushroom Oreccietti with mushroom, roasted walnuts and garlic… neither of us found a walnut, which is a shame because the dish could have used the texture of the nuts. Over all this dish was not great, and this was one of the dishes highly recommended by our waiter.
The inattentive service and the mediocre food would put this on my «do not try again» list.
Oh well!

To

The ambience here on the second floor is excellent. There is great spacing in between tables so you don’t feel like you are on top of one another. If you can snag the table next to the fire place that is a plus.
The reason why this is a 3 and not a 4 is because the food was ok. It was well done, but nothing to write home about. The pasta was good, but not nearly as good as the many restaurants in the area. Meat was done well but nothing was exceptional.
The staff were nice, but were not extending of themselves.
There was live latin jazz on Wednesday evenings which is a definite plus.

This is a fairly nice restaurant. The food is good, we had the branzino, the lamb meatballs (excellent) and churros for dessert.
Their wine list isn’t great, but their cocktails are quite good. The service is friendly and accommodating. The bathroom didn’t have toilet paper in it — just a pile of napkins on the tank. Call me a snob but I consider having TP in the bathroom a given in a restaurant.
i don’t think we will be coming back as there are much better restaurants in the area that have toilet paper.

Initial experience started off poorly. Made reservations ahead of time and we were seated on the first floor, basically between the bathroom and coat check. As you can guess, it is the worst possible seating with people coming with a bunch of coats and knocking you over, or rushing to go pee-​pee. Oh, and not to mention the breeze passing by on a 15 degree winter evening.
We asked to be reseated after much thought. There was hesitation on the host, except when we got to the 2^nd floor, it was… completely empty. Nice.
Food was good. Thus the 3 stars, even though my waiter got my wine wrong (if there is no riesling, please tell me instead of trying to pass another white wine as riesling) and my Brandon had few pieces of bone in it. We had 2 apps, 5 entrees, 2 wines, and 2 beers. Came out to 55 per person, which is not too bad considering the neighborhood.
Would I go back, probably not. There is a great seafood restaurant right around the corner on 13^th.

Lovely place with great music and fab bartenders.

Ended up here after a Sunday stroll on the High Line and headed into the Meat packing district for a little Sunday brunch. There was no wait to be seated unlike the Standard (over an hour at 11:30 pppshhhh, New Yorkers aren’t even up at that hour on a Sunday puleeze). Anyhoo, they sat us out in the back enclosed courtyard. Lovely with open sky and on a beautiful September Sunday a great day to sit outside. The server took our order and all seemed well…
We waited for our food, which seemed to take a while, seeing other folks getting food. Though we had worked up an appetite walking. Then finally after what seemed like forever our server comes to our table and apologizes telling us he fell carrying our food down the stairs! Yikes!?! «Are you okay» I ask. «Oh yes, knees a bit scuffed but I’m fine. But they have to remake you breakfast. Sorry». Okay… hmmmm, what are you gonna do but wait for the new food.
They did seem to get that cooked pretty quickly, I’d say 10 minutes that showed up. Unlike the 25 minutes or so we had already waited for the first round. I mean I did feel bad for the dude, really.
But when we got the bill they didn’t even comp us anything for what happened. I mean a good restaurant would have comped the drinks or coffee or something for that faux paux. It was kind of like «oh well». The food was good I had a steak and egg breakfast and it was tasty, though I was so hungry I inhaled it when I did finally arrive.
The outside seating was really nice, I’m just not that impressed with the service.

So I had heard that the thing to get here was the roast chicken. And I love a good roast chicken. I love it so much that I was happy to wait the 20 minutes they require for it. No problem.
But after the waiting was done, what was presented to me was not roast chicken. It was much more like mostly boneless, pan fried chicken schnitzel. Sort of. It was good though, I liked it, but I wanted roast chicken.
More highlights include the bartender lightly rinsing his shaker, making a drink, lightly rinsing it again, and then making mine. Then my drink had in it, remnants of 2 drinks prior (a small piece of mint). The bartender was also not able to transfer a bar tab to the table.
Moving on the sides were uninspired and small, the pasta was average, as were the meatballs. The calamari was pretty decent, and the wine list was better than expected.
Oh and there was a band playing in the bar that sort of reminded me of John Mayer. But with bongos…

I swear I must have walked past this restaurant a dozen times and never known it existed! The inside is adorable — a totally awesome date spot if you are looking for one with a cute little patio in the back. It wasn’t difficult to walk up for brunch and they had plenty of seating in the garden. We did the unlimited brunch drinks which I recommend against because the bloody mary was almost unbearable to drink and the mimosas were glorified orange juice but my spinach and goat cheese omelette was heavenly. I don’t know who they gave egg so much taste! I would definitely come back and try this again — maybe for dinner this time.

I enjoyed the décor of 5 Ninth, and the space seemed to go on forever because there was an outside portion as well as multiple floors. We came only for drinks though, and I wasn’t overly impressed with my cocktail (the Ace of Clubs).

Good restaurant, and I certainly recommend! We had a table of 10 out on the back terrace. Awesome atmosphere out on the terrace. I got the scallops, which came with a succotash. It was good but didn’t knock my socks off. The wine could have come out more chilled as well. Also, the cheese platter was not the type of cheese platter I am used to as it had greasy Spanish meats and little cheese. And what Spanish Cheese and Meat platter doesn’t have Manchego?! :)
It was a fun night and the food was good!

I actually love this place because it’s – as other Unilocalers mentioned – a gem in the meatpacking district.
3 floors, with 2 bars – lovely outdoor area & comfy lounge areas :) It’s a great place for a more chill night, just to have a few drinks and talk with friends, or even meet a few new people. Definitely a good place to take a break from the clubs in the area – or if you can’t get into one!

I had brunch on Father’s Day with my two kids (16 and 18) at 5 Ninth. We ate in the outdoor courtyard. I had a Seared Yellow fin Tuna with Avocado, spicy aioli on tostada. It was an amazing interpretation of a gourmet fish taco. My son had the best challah French Toast I’ve ever had (he agreed) and my daughter had Seared Salmon on Sourdough with Tzatziki sauce, cucumbers and baby arugula.
The restaurant is both rustic and beautiful inside. The courtyard is so beautiful. We all were incredibly surprised by how good the food was.

Came for brunch last weekend, did the $ 32 AYCD with 1 entrée.
Stayed at the bar until our party was complete and the bartender was great. Our waiter was another story. He was horrible, did not even mention the special (heard about that via the bartender) and was extremely slow on the refills! Food was mediocre.
Oh, and watch out for the chairs. Some girls chair spontaneously broke while she was eating. I would have died.
Wasn’t great, atmosphere was cute with the outdoors area. Wouldn’t come back and wouldn’t suggest it. (for brunch) Dinner might be good. we’ll see.

I really wanted to love it here… and I did… unfortunately, the service was horrendous and the fact that they were out of a good portion of their menu knocks them down a few stars.
A Savored feature brought me and a small group of girlfriends here on a Monday night to celebrate a birthday. I was immediately charmed by the space and the old country-​house feel of the upstairs area especially won me over immediately. We ordered presecco and their sancerre – the latter was excellent but unfortunately, they informed us, they were out of the bubbly-​sigh ok, champagne it is – luckily they had a similarly priced brut (which wasn’t on the menu hmmm?) so all was not lost and toasts were had.
Granted, it was a Monday, but when our waiter ran down the list of about 6 or 7 dishes that they were currently out of, we were slightly wary. Nevertheless, once our apps/​small plates arrived… the quality of the food made up for any naysaying.
The seven of us shared:
Several orders of the beets, the quinoa, heirloom tomato salad, onion and fennel crostini and a few of us also went for the octopus.
EVERYTHING was sensational. The octopus (very similar in style to Enoteca’s app) was a hearty, tender portion of grilled goodness. Other specific highlights included the crostini which was reticent of a scrumptious fancy-​shmancy onion bagel and cream cheese, as well as the balsamic reduction on the heirloom salad…
We literally licked every plate clean.
We were still both thirsty and hungry (this wasn’t helped by the blatant lack of disregard for refilling our glasses, bringing new dishes, cleaning plates, etc had by our waiter).
Anyway, moving on to the entrée round: We each ordered our own and it came down to a mix of the mussels, the seabass, fluke and their highly lauded strozapreti.
With the exception of the mussels, the portions were extremely small – which was disappointing given the more robust appetizers – yet, once again, the dishes were delicious. The seabass was cooked perfectly, the mussels succulent (with great fries for dipping) and the pasta – with garlic, wild mushroom ragout and pecorino, – was absolutely moorish – the fluke was a bit underwhelming and fishy – the shrimp almost too small to see – but that was the only semi-​low point foodwise.
When it came time for dessert, we ordered one of each (4 total)…only to be told about 20 minutes later as we started to wonder whether they had lost the candle we had brought and were looking for alternatives, that they were out of 2 of the 4.
Hmmm…ok…so we’ll have 2 bourbon walnut cakes and 2 chocolate panna cotta. And, after waiting yet again, the amazingness of both desserts knocked us out. The flan was definitely slap-​your-​mama delish-​not too heavy but just right, but it was the cake, mmm the cake, that was truly out of this world.
In the end, the food was spectacular so I give 5 stars to the chef, as well as the designer while we’re at is because the place really is a gem inside… For the slow, tedious service as well as the poor menu planning (and even though it was a Monday the upstairs was completely full at several points) and the hefty price-​tag (prime real estate I know, I know) 3 stars will have to do.

SUCH a beautiful space! I’d been here for drinks but never even noticed the courtyard, until my multiple visits to paradou for brunch and kept passing 5 ninths MUCH cuter courtyard and wishing I’d chosen their bottomless brunch instead!
Finally made it out on a lovely Spring day 2 weekends ago, and while we had to wait for quite a bit despite our reservation, the courtyard was just as beautiful as I’d imagined. They ARE a bit slow with drink refills, but also let us sit well beyond the 1.5 hr limit, so I can’t totally fault them (although I was very sober when I left, and as my friend was going to the gym afterwards, I suspect she was also, so not very strong)…bloodies, mimosas and bellinis, plus an entrée is $ 32ish. My burger was absolutely horrible when i had it later that night (so i can’t say whether it would have been horrible had i eaten it earlier, but i suspect so, as it was bad enough i tossed the entire thing, and often order burgers at brunch to go for later)…but that being said, i still wanted to return a week later with a larger group and try something else.
All in all, burger is not to be compared to paradous AMAZING burger next door, but the courtyard makes up for it, so I’ll just order something different next time.
I suspect if you have a larger group they’ll give you carafes as many other bottomless places do, which would speed up the refill process.

The food was great — Jeff ordered the Rope Vieja sandwich (braised shortribs, black bean spread, cilantro mayo, and pickled red onion), and I got the Vermont Cheddar omelette, and we shared them both. Everyone liked the food so much that we talked ourselves into ordering dessert (which seems unnecessary after a big brunch). We all shared the St. Germain panna cotta «cheesecake,» which came topped with caramel and almond crumble. You couldn’t really taste the St. Germain, but the plate was clean by the time the waitress came back, so I guess it was still pretty good.
And all of this was to background of live flamenco jazz (they were quite good), in a place that feels very woodsy and cute — like a little cottage.

I am not so much a Meatpacking District kinda person, so I’m always kinda hesitant for a night in the neighborhood. Still I had it on very good inside information that Le Bain would be worth it tonight, so we had a warmup drink around the corner while we waiting for them to open.
This place is situated at the tip of Gansevoort and Little West 12^th, at the very base of Ninth Avenue. Further south and it becomes Greenwich Street. The building is one of those last three stories standing types, a rickety brick building that has been kept in such mint condition that it has tons of this old world charm. Step inside and there are three floors so we took the stairs all the way up.
Huge ceilings and a large dining room greeted us at the top, with a bar right next to the windows. I was still brooding a bit at this point, hesitant about this whole Meat Packing night out. Then I ordered a Junior, lil bit of Rye, lil bit of bitters, and that perked me right up. The music was pretty good too.
We were on the early side, here. Apparently it turns into a bit of a dance club on this top floor, so hey I might even come back who knows!

It’s meat packing… enough said — everything is overrated.
However, this place had reasonable prices — $ 21 – 30 for entrees. $ 8 sides and salads /​appetizers are in the $ 12 range.
We were a party of 6 and we shared most of it. we had:
Duck appetizer — eh not great. There was barely any pâté
Lamb appetizer — ok
Mac and Cheese — ok
Asparagus — very small, I prefer large asparagus but prepared well
Flank steak — ok
Pork — ok
Striped bass — I didn’t try it, but looked good.
We had two of the same bottles of wine — $ 45 for a good selection.
This is what happens when you try and get a table in the meat packing area at 730 on a Friday night. Overall, we could have paid more for a worse meal somewhere else.

5 Ninth is probably one of the most charming places at Meatpacking for a brunch. Either inside or in the outdoor terrace you will totally enjoy it. Comfy, pleasant, relaxing… But don’t expect nothing remarkable in terms of food. Its just ok, a kind of variable actually. I have been there in different occasions and sometimes is ok, sometimes it wasn’t good. You can be pretty safe with the eggs/​omelettes. Pancakes/​fruits are good but not enough. The salads and burguer/​sandwiches… hum mm it depends of the day. I have to say that the classic brunch cocktails are really good. The service is excellent. Nice and friendly. And this is what keeps me coming back: the place itself and the service but it’s only included in my «for visits» list, because the ambiance is something that visitors will be crazy about.
I also have been there once for a drink at night and I didn’t like it. I felt like if I was in a private party where I wasn’t invited and the drinks wasn’t that good. Actually, mine was pretty bad. Can’t remember the name but I know that it had so much black pepper on it that pardon me, who could drink it?
In summary if I come back it will be just for brunch, with friends visiting, and just if we have to be around afterwards.