Last time I dined at Indochine, I was so impressed not only by the restaurant’s food but also by its service. We were dining outside, being bitten by mosquitoes. Our server actually went down the street to buy insect repellent for us. Now that’s hospitality! Hospitality as described in “Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect” by Will Guidara.

This time, we headed down to the NoHo restaurant not for a show at The Public, but for restaurant week, when they offer an amazing $60 3-course menu featuring many of their popular items. Unfortunately, the hospitality was lacking from the moment we were seated, as we did not receive menus or a server. It felt like the staff was annoyed that we all chose to order from the restaurant week menu.  They even removed one dessert while we were still eating it. As an apology, they offered one gratis coffee, then charged us for it.

The food?  We enjoyed the apps, including a delicious kale salad with crisp shallots and a miso-ginger dressing, prawn cakes with a sweet chili sauce, fried vegetable spring rolls and Asian-spiced grilled baby back ribs.

The Restaurant Week entrees are smaller than regular portions, our server said. Two of us ordered their purportedly famous Shaking Beef of hanger steak with scallions and chili, which none of us liked. One had pan-fried seabream in a turmeric-and-ginger marmalade, which was also underwhelming.

The sautéed shrimp, though, was tasty with long beans, cherry tomatoes and holy basil, the only entree we’d recommend.

We finished with a lemon tart and coconut flan.

I do not recommend a visit; I do recommend that management read Will Guidaras’s book.

Indochine
East Village
30 Lafayette St
New York, NY 10003
(212) 505-5111
indochinenyc.com