A.O.C.

New York, New York, United States

AOC Restaurant

A.O.C. is a French restaurant located in the Greenwich Village area of NYC. The restaurant has a slightly upscale feel, but is still pretty casual. The interior is actually quite large - there are a number of tables in the front of the restaurant, and even more in their "garden area" towards the back. Behind that, there is an outdoor dining area, but it was too cold for that when we visited.

I was quite impressed with the overall quality of the restaurant. Menu items were a bit on the expensive side, but they offered good value for the quality and amount of food that we received.

Dress

Casual, or "smart casual". Jeans are fine - many of the waiters are also wearing jeans. Some people were slightly more dressed up, but casual clothes are fine.

Cost

A bit more expensive than average - most entrees were over $20, appetizers ranged from $12 to $20.

Service

Pretty good - the staff ensured our glasses were always full of water. The waitress who took our order had a hand held device that she entered our order on. I'm not sure if this helped our food arrive any faster, but it was neat.

Reservations

Probably not required. We visited around 7:30pm on a Saturday evening, and didn't have to wait for a table (although the restaurant was quite busy).

Items Ordered

Bread

Bread

We received a basket of bread and a cup of butter after ordering. The bread was a nice French bread (white) with a thick crust.

Beignets de Crevette

Beignets de Crevette

These fried shrimp had a big thick batter on them. There was probably just as much batter as shrimp! They were served hot with a sweet sauce that had a hint of spice.

The shrimp also came with a side salad. This was unexpected, but quite nice with a sour dressing.

Vegetable Risotto

Vegetable Risotto

The vegetable risotto was pretty salty, but tasty. It had a good amount of vegetables in it, and was quite creamy. The vegetables were grilled and went well in the risotto. There was also a noticeable parmesan flavor.

Filet Mignon de Porc

Filet Mignon de Porc

The pork tenderloin was very good. It had a nice glaze on it that was very flavorful, and was cut into a number of thin pieces. The pork was well trimmed - there were no fatty pieces.

The potatoes were also delicious, and went very well with the spinach and the port reduction. These were an excellent combination, and were incredibly flavorful. I was quite impressed with this dish - it was delicious, and offered excellent value.