Flat Top
“On a wonderfully shady street block of Morningside Heights lies this rustic cafe.”
“The bone marrow was giant and came with toasted brioche and salt and we really enjoyed that.”
“We had spectacular beef marrow ( to scrape out of the bone and smear on heavenly brioches; excellent mushroom risotto ).”
Flat Top
Takes Reservations: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
PokéStop Nearby: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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Came for lunch and this place was delicious! It's a cute small restaurant with a pretty small menu but everything on it was pretty delicious.
I had the bimbimbap and though it's not authentic in a stone bowl it's still pretty tasty. Plus points for the cute decor and mason jars.
Prices are a bit steep but if you accept that going in you won't be disappointed.
Went here for lunch a few days ago. It was very crowded, but we were seated quickly.
The restaurant is small, and the tables are very close together. If you are sitting along the tables with bench seating, you will have to have the table scooted out so you can be seated on the bench side.
Given that the establishment is very close to Columbia, the restaurant was very busy during lunch. Our waters came out quickly, but it took about ten minutes for us to flag down any employee to ask our waiter to come by the table. I noticed that the table next to ours was also having trouble getting their check delivered.
I tried the following dishes:
Vegetable Curry (Potatoes, Carrots, Onion, Celery, Broccoli, Squash, Zucchini, Pickled Ginger) (4/5): Tasty curry dish that comes with an ample serving of rice. I really enjoyed the mix of vegetables, and the curry base was well-spiced and flavorful, although it was a little sweeter than I typically like. Overall a very tasty dish.
Tofu Bibimbap (Fried Egg, Tofu, Carrots, Spinach, Daikon, Bean Sprouts, Shitake Mushroom, Gochujang) (3/5): Solid bibimbap dish. Comes with chili sauce, but not very spicy unless you add extra sauce. Although we asked three separate times for extra chili sauce, it never arrived.
While I enjoyed the food, the service left something to be desired. Although it was evident that they were busy, the difficulty of flagging down any employee was frustrating.
This place definitely has one of the best decor and atmosphere of all the brunch places in the area. Such a charming, cute little restaurant.
Came at 12:30 on a Sunday and had to wait around 20 minutes, but that was to be expected. They have 3 wooden chairs outside the restaurant so people can sit while waiting to be called. We were seated at a community table, but it was fine. I loved that even though the place was packed, the restaurant's noise level wasn't high so you could hear your friends without having to strain.
Water is served in cute little mason jars with handles. I got an Iced Americano with Shrimp & Grits while my friends got hot black coffee with the Lobster Rolls. The Americano was pretty standard, though not the best I had. I loved the bacon pieces in the Shirmp & Grits, the shrimp were all fairly plump, and the grits, not too heavy. You won't get a true Southern experience with this dish (I lived in Atlanta for 4 years so trust me on this!), but it's still quite good. I had wanted the Lobster Roll as well but the waitress informed us that the restaurant only had 1 left for the day- so I'm guessing they're super popular. If you're gluten free like me, you'll get the lobster roll without the roll, no free substitutions 🙁
The reason for not giving this a five star review is because of the prices. Given brunch, it's a tad too pricy to make this place a regular. Also, food took what seemed like 40 or so minutes to come out (this might have been because the restaurant was packed though)? Otherwise, I'd recommend this place to friends and visitors!
Flat Top you are one of my favorites!
First, the atmosphere is warm, rustic, and homey. Next, the menu is fabulous. My girlfriend and I split the burrata appetizer, brussel sprouts side dish, three-mushroom risotto entree, and bread pudding dessert! The burrata dish was heavenly with a generous portion of creamy delicious burrata served over arugula splashed with a vinaigrette and heirloom tomatoes. The brussel sprouts were sweet and delicious – roasted with brown sugar chestnuts and cranberries. The three-mushroom risotto was perfect – filled with tasty mushrooms and topped with a parmesan foam. The bread pudding – typically one of my favorite desserts – was kind of anticlimactic. It was ok, but didn't taste fresh. Next time, I'll order the chocolate mousse with rasberries that I saw go by several times during the night.
All in all – such a great place to dine with a good friend :).
First off I want to say that the inside of this restaurant, while lovely and quaint, is very tight. We were seated at a table for 3 that really did not have enough room, that kind of sucked. On the other hand, the food was great, there were 2 for 1 bellinis, the wait staff was charming, and, there were complimentary cinnamon rolls before the meal. I WILL be back!
So, since my son's classes have resumed at Columbia University, we're back to our weekly city brunching. I found Flat Top on Yelp and the reviews looked promising so, we headed right over without calling up for a reservation.
As soon as we entered, we were seated at a 6-top table and the hostess informed us that we only had forty minutes to dine since they had a reservation coming. I figured that would be enough time for us to eat. I assumed that considering the fact that we had limited time, we'd be hounded to make our orders quickly but no one came and I had to holler at the hostess to ask her to send someone to take our order since we were being timed; my exact words.
One of the servers came quickly after that and we ordered everything at once. Hubby had A Coconut Oolong Tea with his Granola and Yogurt, my son had a Tarragon Limeade with his Lobstah Roll and I had a Bellini, a Latté w/Almond Milk and Shrimp & Grits w/o Lardons.
While we waited, our drinks were brought to the table as they were ready. Once we ordered, the service improved immensely. They have way more servers than you would think, helping with all the tables which makes it easier to grab someone. They give mini Cinnamon Rolls in lieu of a bread basket, so I was super happy about that. Most of the food was ok. Hubby's granola was good with fresh fruits and everything was served separately so that he could mix it how he wanted. My son's lobster roll was on the small side but was seasoned very well with big pieces of lobster meat. The side of fries were crispy and seasoned really nicely. My shrimp were seasoned well with a sauce that was slightly sweet and I'm sure if I had the bacon pieces, it would have tasted really good because of the salt aspect but unfortunately, I don't eat pork. Half of the grits were topped with the shrimp and sauce and the other half were topped with two sunnyside up eggs. Everything that had the sauce on it was tasty but the eggs and the grits that had no sauce needed a heavy hand with salt because they were bland and I'm assuming it's because the kitchen didn't make up for the absence of the salty Lardons. Also, the grits were a consistency I didn't care too much for. They were ok but I've definitely had better.
I would definitely come back here with better preparation and make an actual reservation so that we don't have to feel so rushed.
I've worked right next door for almost three years and never come downstairs to try the food offerings at Flat Top. I always wonder, "will today be the day?" Finally made it in to grab some lunch take out a couple weeks ago and I must say, I was pleasantly surprised.
The menu is your standard American fare, with a little bit of flare. I ordered my lunch to go, so I could continue working upstairs but from what I see passing by every day, it's a cute place to have breakfast, lunch or dinner. Wooden tables, mason jars for drinking glasses, and I think I once spied gingham table settings, but I could be wrong.
I ordered a half caesar salad and a fish sandwich on a brioche bun. The salad was great- lightly dressed, flavorful dressing, and I didn't even hate the croutons.
The fish sandwich was served with shoestring fries (I didn't eat them, but my work wife confirmed they were delicious). The sandwich itself was freaking HUGE! Two large fillets of lightly battered fish, stacked atop one another. Each half of the buttery brioche bun was smeared with house tartar sauce, and the actual bread was soft and definitely praiseworthy.
*I wish the fish had been slightly more crispy, but overall still outstanding. I wasn't even able to finish this monster of a meal, after eating the salad, but I do appreciate the quality.
I look forward to trying more of what Flat Top has to offer, especially given my location.
I went in for lunch today. The lunch menu is totally different from the dinner menu. If you want a non-sandwich, there are only two choices: bangers and mash, and shrimp and orzo. I got the shrimp and orzo and it was 4 shrimps on top of a huge plate of orzo. The dish was very bland. The least they could do was spray on some fresh black pepper. The dessert of chocolate pie needed more time in the fridge as it was still quite wet in the center. Overall I was quite disappointed, given my high expectation after reading Gael Greene's review.