O.K. So just over four months ago, I posted on this blog about moving to the Upper West Side of Manhattan. I got a lot of responses and recommendations as to where I should eat once I move here. One that was mentioned a few times, and then later by iEatDC (review found here), was Kefi. I love Mediterranean food, but most of the time the menu is pretty average, boasting the simple, yet tasty, classics. Not here. Kefi really offers a lot of different dishes with their own spin.
The restaurant appeared to be a small place based on the online pics, but it is in fact pretty big. The upstairs is bright and open with a bar up front and large eating area in back. Downstairs, where we sat, was also very bright considering it was downstairs. The decor is very modern and inviting.
Aside from the menu options, the prices here are very reasonable. Most dishes, if you include the sandwiches, are priced between $10-15. There are some more expensive options like lamb chops, bringing you around $20.
We started with a couple cocktails. I got their sangria, which wasn’t too sweet and nice and strong. Also ordered a cucumber vodka martini, which was tasty, and not too sweet. For appetizers, I had a hard time, with about 10 things I wanted. I went with the crispy sweetbreads and my wife went with the potato and green bean salad. Both were perfect and my wife actually said it was one of the best salads she has ever had. The sweetbreads were crispy, but not at all oily. The sauce included olives and lemon juice along with roasted tomatoes that were bursting at the sight of the fork.
For entrees, I picked the papardelle and pulled rabbit pasta and my wife the sheep milk ravilolli. Both were topped with crispy onions, which one might not expect with pasta. However, as weird as it sounds, it was perfect. The crispy onions complimented the tomato sauce and soft rabbit. The rabbit was tender and not at all dried out.
Aside from a few of the very fancy places I have eaten at since I’ve moved to NY, this was by far the best meal I have eaten in the City. For the price, for the quiet location, and most importantly, the food, you can’t beat Kefi.
So glad you liked it. It's such a steal! I'm totally getting the rabbit next time. You've got to try the lamb sausage + sheep's milk dumplings.
That's what I'm going to get next time.
I love pasta and I would like to try that sheep milk raviolli, sounds interesting. I'm not exactly a big fan of rabbit, but I've tried a really yummy rabbit dish before and I realized it really depends on how you cooked it. So now, I'm more open to the idea of rabbit on my plate, lol, but of course there's just got to be vodka martini. Any dinner, whether we dine out or when I cook at home, I always have vodka martini! Hubby is more the beer type of guy 😉