Sazon

Having eaten at Sofrito uptown we decided to it’s sister restaurant Sazon in downtown Manhattan.   They share man similarities, such as the executive chef and being “cumpleanos” headquarters for Tribeca.

Placed a 9 PM reservation and as soon as I walked through the door I was greeted by a loud music!  I step up to the attended hosts stand and after a few minutes, one of the hostesses broke away from flirting with a guy to ask  “have you been helped?”  I gave her the “Obviously not, if you’re ass is not doing your job!” look.  She got the message.   Although we have a reservation, we’re told we need to wait.  So we step over to the bar which is 2/3 deep and the staff seems a bit overwhelmed.  We order a couple glasses of red Sangria, which are pretty good.

The space has a modern design with a mosaic bar against a reclaimed wood wall.  At the back of the space there is a pink tufted feature wall and chandelier throughout the dining space.  It’s eclectic but fits the vibe of the restaurant.  After 20 minutes we’re finally seated.

Seated in the nicely designed dining room.  Our waiter introduced himself, but had trouble with English.  We ordered the Carne Frita and Willie orders the Alcapurrias and Tostone appetizers.  We had to request water and bread.  In less than five minutes, our appetizers appeared.  The portions, here, like Sofrito, are huge.  The pork was over cooked and dry, not at all what I was expecting.  I love pork and under normal circumstances would have scarfed those down.  This time I left half on the plate.  The Alcupurrias was tasty and moist.  The tostones never arrived.

For entrees I ordered the Garlic Shrimp in white wine sauce and Willie ordered the Seafood Cazuela.  My entree was “OK” not the best nor the worse.  The shrimp was well cooked, but not remarkable.  The presentation was “blah”.  Willie’s stew on the other hand smelled and taste great.  It was extremely robust, flavorful and filling.  Oh....and the tostones showed up!

We didn’t have any dessert as we were both stuffed and couldn’t sit through another chorus of feliz cumpleanos.

Sason has potential, but right now I see this as a meeting place for a group or friends starting out their night.  Cramped bar but good drinks.  The portions are large so plan prior meals accordingly.  It’s loud and racous and in no way intimate, so I would not recommend this as a “date” restaurant.  The service is spotty and if you don’t speak Spanish the service level drops further.

Thats my take on Sazon, check it out and let me know your experience


Sazon
105 Reade Street
New York, NY 10013-3840
Phone:  (212) 406-1900
WEB:  www.sazonnyc.com