Dame

One of the best solo dining experiences I've had this year. As someone who has attempted quite a few ways to cook an oyster and orders every dressed oyster variety available at a restaurant, Dame's Hollandaise preparation might be the absolute best.What they're churning out in this tiny space with a kitchen the size of a toddler's playpen is probably best enjoy by solo diners, but you'll wish you could bring the whole family. Apparently, making a reservation for more than six people requires a restaurant buyout.The smoked trout/uni appetizer and the monkfish skewers were also outstanding. Fantastic restaurant.

Cute cozy small space. Oysters were bomb tuna tartar super yum. Fish and chips crispy and light. Skewers also were yum' gave me izakaya vibes. Our server recommended the monkfish over rice as well - first monkfish experience was pretty tasty but the real star there is the bed of rice it's served on that has a nice saucy component. I hear it's hard to get a table but if any of the above sound good go for it!

"this is my favorite spot in the city right now" - my girlfriendsmall place, great vibe, great staff, creative food well executed --what more could you ask for?Came here for a spontaneous date night. Found a 9:15pm reservation at the counter and they were super accommodating when the 6 train was 15 minutes behind.The crew behind the kitchen is as small as the restaurant and promotes a warm, cozy feel - especially when you're sitting at the counter.The menu is short and sweet, with an equal portion of heavy and light dishes. The chef clearly made a concerted attempt to lighten otherwise heavy offerings which is important because I'm sure literally everyone gets the fish and chips and it would be difficult for a party of two to enjoy another heavy dish.The dishes were creative and fresh, and the fish and chips was spectacular. Nothing special - just a really good fish and chips.Dinner came out to ~80pp with t/t and a drink. This is a bit high for the style of food but it was worth it.

worth the buzz, and struggle to get a reservation. Dame is excellent. this place is tiny and more suited for a cozy date night than a large gathering. we ordered the grilled oysters, raw scallop, fish of the day and the fish & chips. everything we ordered was delicious but the tuna tartare was probably the best i've had. excellent fish and chips, light, crisp, and not too greasy. pimm's cup was also delicious, will definitely be back.

I've been wanting to visit Dame for years, but reservations continue to be exceptionally hard to come by*. Now that I've eaten here, I totally get why: casually competent service, cozy/intimate environs, and exceptional execution on the cuisine round out a truly delightful dining experience.As evidenced by the special callout on their menu, the fish and chips are easily the star of the show. Having lived in London for a couple years and enjoying this dish around the UK and Ireland, I can confirm that Dame's rendition is superb and deserving of all the praise that's already been lavished upon it. There must be some chef-y alchemy at work to execute the shatteringly crisp crust on each fillet. It's even more impressive that the batter sticks so well to the meat. More often than not, once you bite into a dish like this, you rapidly end up with two disparate entities on your plate: naked seafood and an empty starch wrapper. That wasn't the case here. Also, I'm assuming the tartar sauce didn't come out of a squeeze bottle. Even that offered layers of flavor that surprised and delighted.Assuming we manage to score seats on a return visit, I'd skip the blowfish tails. They were novel, but didn't awe to the level of our other dishes. The other highlight of our meal was the tuna tartare. It was easily one of the best versions I've had in memory.Dame's a super cute neighborhood spot that I hope sticks around for awhile. I'd come back in a heartbeat (especially if someone else is willing to go through the hassle of snagging resos).* I suspect that the only reason we were able to score last-minute day-of reservations was because the weather was unseasonably warm for early November. Perhaps Dame wasn't anticipating it'd be nice enough to set up outdoor dining until the last minute. We ended up taking advantage of sidewalk seating and comfortably dined in t-shirts. I guess that's a silver lining to climate change.

Had heard excellent things from the NYTimes and The Infatuation about Dame so figured I'd give it a shot now that the hype and difficulty of securing a reservation died down. The restaurant itself is still extremely small, with about 20 or so seats and I appreciate that Resy gives you the heads up on your table experience. Unfortunately, they don't tell you that the non-back chairs means sitting at a communal table (of about 6 people) which would have been helpful to know - especially if you're the unlucky one in the middle of two pairs.On the food, the skewers were excellent and filled with umami flavor. Perfectly cooked, they were extremely juicy and a great pairing - even at $14 a pop. Their most notable dish, fish & chips, was excellent as well and was fresh and flavorful. The fish was cooked well, without being too dry or crispy and the chips (fries) were large and satisfying. Unfortunately I couldn't say the same about the other dishes, such as the curried crab rice which fell flat and was extremely one-dimensional. Dessert was tasty, although not the most visually appetizing and the lobster salad could have been passed on as well. I'd recommend Dame but not if you have to go out of your way to book a spot here.

Overall felt quite expensive, probably because I didn't like it that much. Fish and chips should not cost ~$30, especially if there is nothing special about them. Having been to London many times and eating fish and chips there, I personally don't see anything special about the fish and chips here.Anyways here is what we (4 people) ordered - fish and chip: just mediocre. Skip this unless you are some big fish and chips fan. Fish was okay and the fries were nothing special- Manila clams: was ok, felt quite salty though and I wasn't a fan of the flavor combo- squid skewer: the best thing we got. If I ever have to come again, I am going to only eat this- tuna tartare: nothing special, just a solid tuna tartare. Ranked second in all the things we ordered- cucumber salad: flavor was ok but there was so much dill. As a person who doesn't really like dill, this wasn't my cup of tea- bread: just some mediocre bread but somehow tied as the second favorite from this meal lol

Having spent a good amount of time in England, I truly never thought a place in NYC that specialized in fish & chips would be all that special. Dame proved me wrong.The menu is a bit limited and it's mostly (all?) seafood, which I am for. The space is very small (especially apparent when you try to use the bathroom!) so definitely need a reservation. We sat at the kitchen counter seating and the service was shockingly quick (especially how quickly the food came out).They recommend 4-7 dishes for two:Started with the grilled oysters: these were delicious and torched before our eyes. However, at $5 each, could've skipped.Squid & scallion skewers: this is apparently all the rave and I get it. The char of the squid was excellent and the sauce (no clue what it is) did wonders for the scallions.Whitefish croquettes with the chili oil sauce: This was my favorite of the night. The outside was so perfectly crispy and the inside so perfectly soft yet not mushy. And the chili oil sauce was a fascinating choice that worked well with what could be a blander white fish.Heirloom potatoes with the lobster: This was mintier than I expected but appreciated the mix of tomatoes used. Wish there were more lobster pieces, though. The crunch was unexpected but seemed necessary.Grilled blowfish tails: This was probably my least favorite, mostly because I hate small bones in fish. You're given the option of eating like a chicken wing or using utensils and I recommend the latter. The flavoring is quite nice once you get the meat off the many small bones.FIsh & chips: Truly amazing. The chips were so nicely done and it was a good portion of them (surprising since some of the other dishes were on the smaller side). But truly the star was the exquisitely fried white fish. So tender but with an amazing crisp. Added some malt vinegar just for fun but really could have eaten the fish as it.The price is on the heftier side but not terrible for the area (albeit we did not venture into drinks as the prices there were astronomical). Absolutely worth the try.

I had much anticipated dinner at Dame, with a friend this evening.The wine recommendation was excellent. There was a vast selection of wine, but I will note there was not a lot of glass options. We had a bottle of chenin blanc and it was excellent.We ordered one oyster each because we were not sure about the flavor profile. It was excellent, but I couldn't eat too many of those. Tuna tartare: I loaded every element of this dish. The tuna was fresh and plentiful. The toast was thick and crispy, and the sauce was tasty. The perfect bite. My friend said it was too salty for her taste, but I had no complaints. Squid skewers: delicious! They were cooked perfectly and the sauce was delicious Cabbage and mussels: this dish was super flavorful. The textures were perfect and the sauce was super flavorful. My only complaint? There were not enough mussels to justify the price. Poached trout: we almost skipped this one, but I'm so glad we didn't. The fish was perfectly cooked and the mashed potatoes were an excellent. The perfect bite. My friend thought it needed pepper, but I was fine with it as is.Fish and chips: this one really surprised me. The reviews on yelp was great. The fish was soggy in the middle, lacked flavor and the batter was burnt to a crisp. The fries were tasty, but something is off. Some were soggy. To add insult to injury, half of our fries were over fried fry butts. We shared this with our waiter and he offered us a new batch, but it was too late.Butter bean salad: it was ok, but not memorable. I'd skip this. It was underwhelming. Poached pear tart: this was light and delicious. The texture of the cream was excellent. It tasted very clean. Maybe like there was no added sugar. I'm not a big dessert person, but I really enjoyed it.

We visited Dame on a Wednesday evening for a 6 pm reservation! I am pretty torn on what rating to give Dame; while the food is overall pretty good, there are a lot to be desired service wise.We got the scallop, tuna tartare, the oysters, and fish and chips. I highly recommend the oysters and the tuna tartare, they were our favorites! Dame is famous for their fish and chips but was honestly a let down; it was pretty good, but I don't think it was good enough to warrant the $29 price tag. I do not recommend the scallops.Service was good from the start but they ended up spilling the left over oil from the scallop dish on my partner's pants :/ We all make mistakes, but we were left with a rag to wipe the table all off ourselves. Our server also gave us mysterious liquid without any explanation post the accident -- turned out to be club soda to wipe the stain off, when we chased our server down to ask. It's worth noting though that they ended up comping the scallop dish on our final check.Maybe will be back for the oysters, but nothing else.