Kat & Theo
“The octopus seems lightly fried so the outside has a crispy texture while the inside is super soft.”
“Trout skin crisped to perfection and expertly seared foie gras, quite possibly the best I've had in NYC.”
“I will say the portion sizes are smaller so perfect for women, men may need to order a bit more than the usual appetizer, entree combo.”
Kat & Theo
Takes Reservations: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$$ Price range $31-60
8 reviews
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Got chicken caesar salad for lunch through MealPass. Salad itself was really great but came in small portion. Chicken confit was dry and rather flavorless. When I walked in the hostess was nowhere to be found, and the MealPass takeout orders were sitting near the kitchen and had not yet been packed up.
KenScale: 6.5/10
I get somewhat suspicious nowadays when a restaurant touts its chef's background working at the world's acclaimed restaurants. Having worked at a place like elBulli doesn't mean the chef gained all the experience and skills there and doesn't necessarily reflect his or her culinary genius either. When Kat & Theo opened, it tried to really stress its chef Paras Shah's background having worked at elBulli, Per Se and Momofuku Noodle Bar. It also emphasizes that the food at the restaurant resembles nothing like the gastronomic ingenuity of the renowned elBulli but is more accessible Mediterranean food. People would still notice, though, when you bring up magical names like elBulli. That doesn't necessarily mean, of course, that the kitchen is delivering high-quality food, and Kat and Theo was generally very underwhelming.
The menu consists of starters, main dishes and sides. They consist of pretty straightforward Mediterranean crowd-pleasers that frankly you are not supposed to go wrong with. Well, charred octopus with gigante bean puree, orange and oregano was crisp on the outside but was surprisingly overcooked. Mackerel with black garlic, scallion and black lime was more successful, but it wasn't particularly memorable either and was a bit too salty. Lobster with grapefruit and hearts of palm was simple disaster; I never had lobster as tasteless as the one from the kitchen here before. The mains were slightly better but really not by much. I remember nothing about trout that came with almond, crispy ham and sage brown butter. NY strip steak came with onion, foie butter and soubric turned out to be almost medium even though we specifically asked for medium rare. The most successful dish was the gigantic lamb shank that came with fig and roasted vegetables. I did like the tender texture of the meat and its seasoning was more consistent than other dishes; still, let's just say I've had better lamb dishes elsewhere in the city. For desserts, I did like the maple and milk dessert that came with brown butter and fennel pollen, with a very refreshing taste that soothed by disappointment with earlier dishes somewhat. Carrot cake with candied pistachio, yogurt and espresso was also solid, but not particularly memorable.
Getting a reservation is relatively easy although the dining area was quite packed throughout the course of my meal. The restaurant has a full bar with surprisingly large wine selections. It seems the restaurant is perhaps more interested in drawing crowds than showcasing the kitchen's brilliance, with the trendy décor that would naturally draw a lot of young, hip crowd looking for a meal before they hit up bars. Too bad the food just didn't deliver…
Six stars! We were treated like royalty here. The decor is cozy and modern. You can sit here for hours and enjoy the people you're dining with. Chef Paras is a worldly (and witty) foodie extraordinaire, a creative genius, and miracle worker. His food is incredibly delicious. Everything. From the inventive handmade pasta with salmon roe, zest, and squid ink butter, to the Spanish brûléed French Toast, to the crispy papas bravas doused in authentically-delicious sauce and aioli, the char-broiled lamb burger, and the twice fried chicken. I could go on…. And the cocktails were lovely. Especially the one that comes with fruit leather, as well as the alcoholic milks, made with goat milk. The place is a true gem, it runs like butter, and you should run here!!!!!
I was hesitant to try this place after a slew of negative reviews but I forged ahead anyway. We had a rese on Friday night but showed up early to see if we could be seated. Although the place was packed we only had to wait about 10 minutes to grab a booth. This is what I'll have to say about the service, the busboys are overzealous, the waitstaff seems a bit inexperienced as did the Somm, but everyone was very nice. As soon as we were seated a bowl of olive oil was dropped on the table but after about 20 minutes and already placing our order we had to ask for bread? The Somm started the conversation by saying that they didn't have a lot of bottles that were on the list. I went with a Bordeaux blend from the Medoc which was pretty fabulous. We decide to split the "flat bread" and the frisée salad. The flat bread was more akin to steamed buns stuffed with anchovies and charred peppers, meh. The frisée salad was probably the worst iteration I've ever experienced and I really wanted to send it back. There was nothing on the plate but a sparse amount of frisée…no lardons, no nothing…all for I think $14. My friend ordered the trout which she enjoyed although I think the prices are way out of line. A small fillet with nothing else for close to $30. My other friend ordered the steak which she said was fine. I ended up ordering two sides, I was feeling a bit Vegan-ish. The cauliflower was not bad, a bit on the sweet side and the sautéed greens were ok but cold. The place is lively and nicely decorated but they really need to work on the price to quality ratio. I won't be returning.
I had never heard of this place before going for an early dinner, but was pleasantly surprised.
The decor is a dream. I want my dream house to look like the interior.
Food was delicious. My favorite was the octopus (cooked to perfection), but the lamb shank didn't disappoint. I tried the Maple dessert, which was an interesting and unexpected from a typical dessert.
Service was very attentive. I didn't get to mention it to my server, but I was enamored by her jewelry! Some sweet bling on those digits.
Highly recommend if you're in the area, looking for something casual but sophisticated.
I ate here last night for a business dinner and was less than impressed. After eating in NYC most of the week at delicious and fun restaurants this was a big letdown.
First off, the decor and ambiance of the restaurant is well curated and beautiful. It's nice and cozy, lots of cool dim lighting on beautiful steel curved beams, fireplaces, and wooden floors. If I could move in here to live just for the decor, I would in a second.
We were greeted by a friendly host, who seemed a little lost, but was nice. We were seated at a comfortable booth overlooking the kitchen. We promptly received menus and looked over what they had to offer. The menu is a mixed bag, Mediterranean with some dishes, classic American date with others, and then some random items thrown in. None of the waiters really described the dishes well when we asked what to get, nothing seemed super appetizing.
During the meal we were waited on by about three different people and it was very clear they didn't communicate very well. They were each constantly coming back to our table asking us, have you been helped? Did someone take your drink orders? Did someone take your orders? Etc. They seemed stressed and it was a relaxed Sunday night with only a few people in the restaurant. The kitchen was out of four of the items listed on their menu, which was frustrating.
One of my colleagues asked for a drink at the beginning of the meal, had to ask someone else to check on it, and finally received it when she was finishing her main course. It also took forever to get our main course, we probably waited 45-50 minutes after we had received small plates, to get dinner.
The food. Meh. I can't remember exactly what the name of the menu item was we had for small plates, but it had sardines and mushrooms on flatbread. It was okay. A little bit too salty, a little bit too mushy.
For my main course I had the duck. They recommended it served medium rare so that is how I got it. The skin was delicious, the duck itself was just okay. Also it was very chewy, being medium rare and at times I felt like I was cutting it forever, trying to get a piece. I needed a steak knife. The sauce and berries on the plate that accompanied the duck were not that great and didn't really add to the flavor. My colleague got the snapper and she was not impressed. There wasn't a whole lot of food on the plate. For $34 we expected a little bit more.
We also ordered dessert and it was less than impressive, only a few bites were taken of each dish. When desserts are good and tasty, the plate is usually empty. Once again the lack of food on the plate was a letdown for the prices.
A highlight of the dinner was when one of our waiters gave us a glass of wine for free.
Came here for a friend's birthday celebration drinks. This place kinda went under my radar for a while, so I was glad to have the opportunity to try it. The outside is decorated with a lot of faux branches with LED lighting, which was a nice touch. The inside decor is pretty modern and sleek, and the back dining section is pretty nicely laid out, but I also really liked sitting in the front area near the open kitchen.
To start off, the drinks weren't very strong, nor very expertly made. I saw the bartender make 2 of the drinks in front of me, and he kept having to start over, after forgetting some of the ingredients. Woof. Even after starting over, the final product was still overly sweet, and just not very well balanced in general. After one cocktail, I started going with draft beer, and I didn't regret it.
We got a couple dishes to share, most notably the charred (fried) octopus, and the mushroom tortellini. Since the octopus was fried, I assumed it was going to be very chewy, but the texture was actually pretty tender, and the crispy outside worked very well. However, the crispy gigante beans were vastly undercooked, and were left relatively untouched throughout the meal. The mushroom tortellini was pretty standard but had a nice texture and earthy flavor.
Service was very attentive and friendly, and I really applaud them for being able to do separate checks, especially since our party consisted of a lot of people coming in and out of the restaurant at one time. Prices were decent, especially for the area, but this isn't the place to get bespoke cocktails, so I would stick to beer/wine if possible.
Overall, Kat & Theo is pretty solid, but nothing quite outstanding, which is fine. Since I'm guessing that reservations aren't too hard to come by here, I'd probably only come back if I were in the area and saw that there was no availability elsewhere.
The ambience and the service was great. The restaurant itself is really cute – it has a cave like cozy feel with a roaring fireplace. However I wasn't impressed with the food. I found it quite bland and under seasoned. Our table ordered the octopus but it seemed to be slightly over cooked. The butternut squash agnolotti was probably my favorite but could have had more cheese or herbs. The trout was alright but definitely not as flavorful as trout almondine would be at a good French restaurant. On the other hand the cocktails were creative and delicious and the bartender himself served them to us.