Some friends and I recently dined at 221, and despite the great atmosphere and excellent service, I can't hold back expressing my disappointment in the food. After reading the description of the foie gras appetizer, I was excited and intrigued. The execution of the dish, however, was down-right boring. The foie gras had no flavor except that of the gas burners on which it was grilled. Foie gras is such a treat that it should be prepared to perfection or left off the menu entirely. One of my friends had the corn bisque w/ smoked trout. I believe the delicate sweetness of the corn was intended to be paired perfectly with the smoky saltiness of trout, however, since there were only 4 pieces of fish in the entire bowl of soup, there were only 4 perfect bites. The rest of the soup was abandoned as without any other flavors, it was just sickenly sweet bowl of creamed corn. The main courses were equally disappointing. My trout was overcooked and unbearably dry. The accompanying ravioli were in desperate need salt and so lacking in sauce that they all stuck together and were visually unappealing. My friends had the duck and the soft shell crab special - nothing extraordinarily horrible, but nothing to rave about either. We were all disappointed that a restaurant with such an enticing menu, great atmosphere, and great reputation just couldn’t execute great food. Maybe the dessert would have made up for the lack of performance in the other dishes, but at that point, we weren't willing to risk another disappointment.
