WD-50

  • 4.0 star rating
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4.0 rating over 7 reviews

50 Clinton St
New York, NY
(212) 477-2900 View the Menu
Website

Currently OPEN

Description: WD-50 is a American, Global, and Casual dining restaurant where most Menuism users came for a romantic date, paid more than $50, and tipped more than 18%.  Tags: , , and
   
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  • 15 dishes entered by diners
  • 11 users wants to eat here
  • 4 users loves this restaurant

wd~50 offers fine dining in a casual atmosphere on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Chef Wylie Dufresne (formerly of 71 Clinton Fresh Food and Jean-Georges) and Pastry Chef Alex Stupak (formerly of Alinea, Chicago) serve modern American cuisine renowned for its flavor, sophistication, and innovation. The dining room, which seats 70, is a contemporary space designed by the chef’s father, Dewey. The restaurant is open for dinner five nights a week, Wednesday through Sunday. wd~50 was awarded four stars by New York magazine, has a Michelin star, and in March of 2008 was awarded three stars by Frank Bruni of the New York Times. Wylie was nominated by the James Beard Foundation for Best Chef, New York in 2008. The restaurant accepts reservations for the a la carte menu and the tasting menu ($140.00 for nine courses), but not for dessert tastings (walk-ins are always welcome as are bar diners.)

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December 9, 2006

  • 3.0 star rating
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+7 2
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7 Votes
 

Cost of a meal would buy you 500 cans of WD-40

Very modern and creative food, highly engineered. Reading plenty of customer reviews on this place you’ll find a either a love or hate response, although most of the critics have praised it. Please note: these higher-end restaurants are for your taste buds, not to give you the equivalent amount of food that would feed 5 children in a third world country. Please stop complaints about portions! You want a lot of food for cheap, go to a buffet! That said, I do have a big appetite, and although I craved more food, I actually was content stomach-wise.

Décor/ambiance: Design is definitely unpretentious, maybe a little too much. Reminded me of a diner redone in darker hues.

Food/drinks: had the tasting menu with wine pairing.

Service: very good, as you would expect from a 4-5 star place. Your silverware gets changed after every dish. Our server was pretty knowledgeable about the food and wine.

Price: $105 for tasting menu, $65 additional for wine pairing

Overall: Avante garde food. Price is actually reasonable for a tasting menu in NYC … but though the artistic value lives up to the price, taste falls short.

Would I go here again?: No.

Dishes I tried:

Foie gras

  • 4.0 star rating
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The server will advise you to slice it in the middle. Out pours a red beet juice, so mimics you slicing some meat w/ blood pouring out. Thought it was kind of cool. The foie gras itself is tasty, very rich and buttery.

Shrimp tagliatelle, morcilla, risotto, pomegranate

  • 2.0 star rating
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Not much flavor. The risotto is, like, one grain

Miso soup

  • 3.0 star rating
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You get a squeeze bottle of liquid that when you squeeze into the soup forms sesame noodles. Very cool, but the soup itself is no different than at a typical Japanese restaurant, though more delicate and not as salty.

Carrot-coconut

  • 3.0 star rating
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Comes “sunny-side up” … meaning it looks like a tiny fried egg. Interesting, nice flavor

Fried mayo

  • 5.0 star rating
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Yes it sounds gross. Yes it is very tasty. My fave on the menu. Mmm fat. Shaped in little dice-sized cubes.

Beef tongue

  • 3.0 star rating
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Sliced very thin, so not at all difficult to eat. Tasted a little like Spam, which is a good thing for me but maybe not for others.

Crab roll w/ black bean, mint, ginger

  • 2.0 star rating
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Chocolate, avocado, licorice, and lime

  • 3.0 star rating
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Smoked eel

  • 2.0 star rating
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Guava jellies and cream cheese

  • 4.0 star rating
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Yogurt parfait

  • 3.0 star rating
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Squab breast w/ coconut pebbles

  • 4.0 star rating
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I liked the pebbles! Bird was decent.

Kabocha squash

  • 2.0 star rating
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December 19, 2007

  • 5.0 star rating
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+1 0
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1 Votes
 

This is a truly... "different" modern fine...

This is a truly… “different” modern fine dining experience. The decor is very unassuming, but it is very nicely done — in a very subtle kind of way. The bathroom doors were really interesting.

The food was really amazing in the sense that it was almost impossible to describe. I naturally went for the foie as a appetizer — which was much rare than usual foie in fine dining establishments.. the taste was very unusual and kept you on your toes.

The duck came with ginger granola, pomegranate, and mushrooms — a really interesting dish as well.

The food in general is very humorous, in fact the taste has actually made me laugh out-loud, which has never happened to me before.

Again, if you’re looking for a “fancy” romantic dining experience, don’t go here, but if you’re adventurous and want to try some real avant-garde cuisine, Wd-50 is excellent.

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September 1, 2007

  • 2.0 star rating
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1 Votes
 

I only ate here once, granted, but I had the...

I only ate here once, granted, but I had the chef tasting menu at the bar and it was completely forgettable.

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September 19, 2008

  • 5.0 star rating
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We tried this restaurant based on great...

We tried this restaurant based on great reviews that I had read and also from a recommendation from Q. The restaurant was super relaxed and very warm. The service was very good and we had an awesome view of the whole restaurant. While I semi regret not trying the 9 course tasting menu, the dinner was incredible anyways. Everything we ordered had incredible presentation and taste! I ordered the Wagyu style beef while Cat had the Lamb, both were the best cuts of meat I have ever eaten. The beef was just tender enough and prepared perfectly with espresso gnochi. The dessert was also incredible. It was my favourite meal until Sushi Yasuda on this trip.

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August 27, 2008

  • 5.0 star rating
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-1 0
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1 Votes
 

Great, reasonably priced tasting menu in a...

Great, reasonably priced tasting menu in a comfortable environment — not too stuffy. Very enjoyable.

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January 6, 2008

  • 5.0 star rating
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Play with your food - and pay for it.

I came here for the tasting menu, and had a great time with it. I try to go for a tasting menu if I have the money, the time, and someone to talk about it with. This left plenty of conversation options, and lots of fun with food. The desserts were excellent, and the lamb belly, eggs benedict, french onion soup, and squid with butternut squash were my favorites for the savory dishes.

Dishes I tried:

Eggs benedict

  • 5.0 star rating
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All the best parts of eggs benedict, in one place, without anything bad to speak of. Crispy Canadian bacon, soft gooey yolk cylinders, and little cubes of hollandaise sauce breaded with English muffin crumbs. Definitely worth the price of admission.

Knot foie

  • 4.0 star rating
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Very inventive, a knot of a terrine of foie gras, with kim chee puree, sultana puree, and cilantro stalks. An unusual flavor mix, but not really showcasing the taste of foie like one might hope.

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December 26, 2007

  • 3.0 star rating
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Come with an open mind but not a hungry...

Come with an open mind but not a hungry stomach. Portions are small and everything is more for tasting than feasting. Food is definitely not enough to share although we did our best to since it was really pricey. The food is innovative and for that I’ll give it 3 stars. I had wagyu beef with coffee gnocchi and this sweet cream. I liked it, it had good, interesting flavor but it wasn’t something that I could eat again and again (after a few bites, you’re satisfied due to the sweet flavor of the dish). The dessert was the most notable part of my meal, I had this white chocolate concotion with beer ice cream. Yes. Beer in Ice cream form. I thought the flavor would be subtle but no, it really is like ice cream hoegaarden. So yes, if you’re gonna go, you gotta try this.

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