Verlaine
“My cousin introduced me to this place and I must say it's one of the best happy hours in NYC – til 10pm.”
“He made our night memorable & fun…the tapas here are delcious as well, chicken satay was very yummy as was the coconut curry chicken…..”
“If you're looking for a after work happy hour spot with a great atmosphere in the LES Verlaine is the place to be.”
Verlaine
Takes Reservations: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Happy Hour: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
PokéStop Nearby: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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I've been meaning to pop in here for awhile now. Once I came at around 9:30 pm on a Saturday night mistakenly and was met with a fully packed bar and seating area. The space was so tight that we left immediately upon entering. Lesson learned: do not come here at such times. Instead, I revisited with a friend at around 5pm on a weekday. Much more casual and much less claustrophobic. The vibe here is interesting at that time though. The restaurant-y part is supposed to be more Asian, but they were bangin out Hispanic music? Interesting. But the happy hour prices here are great. Now, $6 lychee martinis and whatever else was on the happy hour menu.
The lychee martini was pretty forgettable. Perhaps, it tastes better at night with a different bartender. But I didn't think any of the other cocktails were memorable either. However, their happy hour is a high contender for me returning and hoping to stumble upon better drinks. Service was pretty good, but my friend likes to be spontaneous and the waiter could not offer a spontaneous drink selection for the life of her.
Nothing can beat Verlaine's happy hour!!! Being a New Yorker means taking the subway constantly, trying to find the best drinks for happy hour, and also stay fit most of the time.. After work, I love to head to the gym first but most of the happy hours stops at 6 or 7.. You are lucky enough to find 8pm.. Can't believe Verlaine has happy hour everyday till 10pm!! 6 dollars for lychee martini and sangria!!! Since they brag and promote so much on their lychee martini.. I came here twice and always wanted to come back for more!!
I expected 6 dollars martini to be watered down but I am wrong!! It was strong and I felt it after 2 glass.. I love the bartender.. Chill and friendly.. Our friend couldn't drink much so she drank slow but some of us just finished and ordered another glass.. The bartender made more and pour the rest to our friend's glass and say she should keep up and joined us because the lychee martini is delicious.. Nothing wrong for more right???
I have been telling all of my friends that came to New York to get some lychee martini when they are around in the area.. My friends love it!!!
Why don't more bars don't offer happy hour seven days a week??? As someone who has only been to your typical 5pm-8pm happy hour twice (I know, I know), I miss out on specials. And that makes me sad. Because why pay more money when you can pay less money? Seems simple enough, right? In any case, Verlaine, as the 1200 other reviewers have already reiterated ad nauseam, offers an unbelievable happy hour. Not only does it apply seven days a week, but it also goes until TEN FREAKING PM. That's your pregame right there. Due to this shining star of an idea, it's not surprising that Verlaine uncomfortable packed up until, well, TEN FREAKING PM. But in my opinion, it's still absolutely worth a trip.
Came to Verlaine with a friend at around 8:45pm on a Saturday night for dinner and drinks. What. A. Scene. At the front of the venue, there are a handful of larger "party" tables that looked like total free for alls. Drinks and food a-flowin. The bar, despite being the main draw here, actually doesn't have much seating. So if you come here during the evening/night, you'll most likely see a bunch of small clusters of people congregating in the long, narrow area between the rest of Verlaine's tables and the physical bar itself. In retrospect, I'm seriously glad we opted for food/table service. Up until 10pm, the space was all kind of loud and packed. Guess it's part of the experience? And then as mentioned, it became eerily empty in the blink of an eye post-happy hour. Pretty comical realization.
More about those small tables. They initially told us that there was a 30 minute wait but we were actually seated almost immediately. The space is essentially a thin rectangle, meaning most tables are small and line an entire wall. This would be fine (and makes sense given the layout), but it became abundantly clear when they couldn't even scrounge up a second menu for us that bar/party service was quite a bit faster/more efficient than table service. That was my only serious qualm of the night. Our cocktails came out quickly, yet we needed to virtually beg to get water glasses. As fantastic as those drinks were (I'll get there), ya gotta have some water with your meal. And, you know, hydration. This kept up until happy hour ended–flagging down our waitress was serious burdensome and borderline offensive. Otherwise, our experience was fantastic.
So, just be seriously redundant, I'll give some gratuitous praise to these holy Lychee Martinis. I'm guessing they're not even that complex, but holy hell are they delicious. And for six bucks, holy hell are they dangerous. If you've read any of my other reviews, you know I like trying as much as I possibly can at restaurants/bars, whether it be drinks or food. But these cocktails were both so good and so cheap that we each got two, despite the rest of the drink menu looking pretty impressive in its own right. But seriously, don't pass these up. The hype, for once, is absolutely warranted.
Food-wise, our waitress told us we'd be full after three small plates (I'm used to ordering 4-5 at tapas spots). We were suspicious, but followed her guidance. As it turns out, I was hungry a few hours later. Which is not good when you've already been drinking. At least we ordered some tasty fare! Below:
Summer Rolls: Apple, mint, jicama, carrots, vermicelli noodles wrapped in rice paper (A)
As fresh and light as it gets. Perfect for summer, as the name would suggested. Fresh, flavorful and comes with some yummy dipping sauce. The only problem here was the premature removal of said dipping sauce. I was still eating, kind sir, and I would like proper dunking material.
Shrimp in chili/lime/some other stuff: B+/A-
I never know how to rate shrimp. Sometimes shrimp is just shrimp. This was very good shrimp. Have I said shrimp enough? It was a simple preparation (this plate isn't on the online food menu so I can't remember all components) but spicy and slightly tangy. They've got a lot of shrimp on the menu, so they better do it will. If this dish is any indication, the other shrimp options probably follow suit.
Steamed portabello/spinach dumplings: A
Seriously delicious for "just vegetables". Couldn't tell you what else was in the filling other than the two main draws, but the bite as a whole was seriously yummy. 5 or 6 to a plate. If I had to choose, this was probably my favorite dish of the night. Because we finished these last, I had the benefit/consolation prize of this using the dumpling dipping sauce for my summer roll. So the positives for this dish quite literally spilled over into those of another.
Final notes:
-Come here with friends. This place is far too loud/hectic for a date.
-Our food and drinks actually came out quite quickly considering how bad the service was otherwise. Basically, the speed at which you get what you want is very much correlated with the speed at which you track down your server. If you can optimize that, you'll be good to go.
I had "dinner" here and really was underwhelmed. The plates are tapas-style. I ordered the calamari, a spiced wing dish, the lo-mein, and steamed Dublin. The dumplings and calamari tasted as though they were previously frozen. Yuck! The wings were OK. I enjoyed the lo-mein mostly but even that was mediocre.
This place has a sweet happy hour deal that features $5-$6 cocktails from 5-10 pm, so naturally it gets packed very quickly. I like that the deal is not restricted to the bar like other happy hour deals.
The food was good enough, but the Lychee Martini was definitely a highlight. It appeared to be what most ppl were ordering. We actually saw very few ppl eating.
This is a great place to drop by for a cheap cocktail or pre-game. I shall return.
Verlaine serves my FAVORITE drink in NYC – the lychee martini.
I recently came here on a weeknight after 4-5 years since the last time (sorry!) but their lychee martini is tasty and strong like I remember it. On an empty stomach, I walk out half-drunk after 1 drink. There was a slight increase in the Happy Hour price from $5 ($4 on Mondays) to $6 but as long as their HH hours are still until 10pm everyday (and the bartender is cool), I'm a happy lychee martini girl!
The decor may seem a little too classy and sophisticated at first but the bartender and staff are really friendly and chill. I felt right at home when I slipped into a seat at the bar and was greeted by the bartender.
Note: they have other drinks on their HH menu and their food is overpriced for their size but 5 stars for their HH lychee martinis!
This place can get really packed and noisy so it was quite hard to chat with friends for me. Had to speak really loudly to each other. Tables are so close to each other you can almost feel the stranger next to you breathing on you or talking to you. However, they do have great lychee martinis and other drinks as well. I've tried some of their food too and it's not bad but could be pricey. Definitely not the place you want to have dinner, maybe a snack or something to chow on while enjoying your drinks.
Came here for happy hour drinks last night (8-10pm). At night, the place is pretty trendy-looking. I really like the pink lighted ambiance and appreciated the lively atmosphere. Also, maybe it's a good thing we came at night because I realized the flooring was TILE (blech), but it was totally disguised during the night time. ALL OF THIS DOES NOT MATTER, HOWEVER, BECAUSE THE LYCHEE MARTINIS ARE ONLY $6 AND SUUUUPER GOOD.
It's a "girly" spot, but who cares. $6 lychee martinis. So delicious, smooth, and perfectly sweet.