Aldea

Every year, my husband and I give each other a special dinner out for Christmas. The person receiving the gift is required to choose a Michelin rated restaurant and has 364 days to book a reservation. This year, I chose Aldea and we could not have been happier. We opted for the tasting menu with wine pairing. Everything was absolute perfection. The food, the service, the wine, everything. Too often, when we’ve done a tasting menu in the past, the meal may have been great but the pacing made us feel somewhat rushed. Not so at Aldea. The staff allowed us plenty of time to enjoy each course (there are seven not counting the chef’s offering at the start) and take a small breather in between. I may very well make this my standing Christmas gift every year, I see no reason to look further.

Lack of focus in service and execution
They seemed in the weeds. Food was lacking in flavor and style, temperature off.
Disappointing and nowhere near the $300 tag.

Incredible innovative Portuguese food with attentive service.

Creative food, but it was hard for me to say that I felt like I got a good taste of what Portuguese food is like from the menu. We sat at the chef's table and it was fun to see the kitchen staff in the rush. Service was attentive and would revisit to try different dishes.

Every course was tasty and good but.... I found the cost a little excessive.

Had a fabulous birthday dinner. Chef Mendes is really hands on in the kitchen and he makes sure that EVERY dish comes out to his standards. Really accommodating and superb food and wine!!!

No bars in the area apart from the loud Karaoke next door. Arrived early and had pre dinner drink at the bar, accompanying pop corn superb!
Service from start to finish was exceptional. We both had the 4 course with accompanying wine selection. I'm not a white wine lover and they altered the selection to accommodate my Red wine preference with the Entree and cheese courses. The Mythos a standout.
We shared all courses and the highlights were the Diver Scallops, Bacalhau A Bras and the Fois Gras terrine. Overall very satisfying, if a little pricy in comparison to other equal standard restaurants we have eaten in.

We were two friends having dinner and the food was excepcional.
The service was very atentive and the servants really friendly.
We will definitively come back to it some day

An excellent dining experience accompanied by attentive service from the moment of arrival. Aldea presents contemporary Portuguese cuisine executed at the highest level. The 4-course prix fixe menu ($84) provides good value inasmuch as it includes foie gras, grilled squid and lobster options. Highly recommended for the creatively prepared and presented food, the superb service, an interesting Iberian wine list, as well as the comfortable ambiance.

Very pleasant dining experience. I would call it new Portuguese. I grew up in a modest Portuguese home where the food was simple but hearty. These dishes speak to my Portuguese upbringing but in a very modern way.

Chef’s table was amazing. Food beyond great. Can’t wait to go back

Great food, outstanding service amid a wonderful atmosphere. Highly recommend!

Excellent experience! My wife and I both took the 4 course dinner with wine selection. Outstanding courses. I especially loved the charcoal grilled octopus. Definitely recommend this restaurant to anyone, be it for a romantic dinner for 2 or even a business meeting. Big surprise were the excellent Portuguese wines..apart from the port wines that I already knew.

Loved reliving our trip to Portugal at Aldea. Great service and food/wine that elevated the Portuguese cuisine. Would definitely recommend.

A rare case of mains being just a delicious as starters (if not better). Top food for its level, and reasonably priced. A suggestion would be to improve the wine list: 1) perhaps include a brief "style guide" for the Portuguese (and Spanish?) wines on the list people are unlikely to be familiar with; and 2) the French selection is underwhelming, many ordinary producers at high prices - perhaps that's just NYC pricing and what the market will take, or Aldea should find a better wholesaler!

Lovely little restaurant with great service and good food. The sommelier was very knowledgeable on the wines and recommended a good Portuguese wine to go with the food.

The food was beautifully presented and very tasty. I wish the Sea Urchin toast was bigger as I could have eaten more of it.

My wife took me to Aldea, one of our favorite NYC restaurants, for a wonderful Birthday Dinner. The food, wine, and service was great...and the always cordial Chef Menedes completed a delightful evening. We very highly recommend as first courses the foie gras and butternut squash soup, as second courses the farm egg in cod custard and the shrimp alhinho, as third course entrees the cod and the diver scallops, and for dessert the hazelnut mousse. Enjoy!!! We will be back very soon!!!

Enough portion and the food was nice.

My birthday!

We loved everything about Aldea. We did the four course prix fixe. All of the dishes were wonderful. The wine recommendations were well matched to our dinner, and the service was impeccable. Highly recommended!

The wine pairings skewed unusually sweet, otherwise everything was absolutely perfect. 8-course tasting menu is worth the time and expense, service was pleasantly brisk without making you feel rushed in the slightest.

We visited Aldea for a birthday celebration and decided on the tasting menu. The service was incredible and the food was outstanding. I highly recommend it.

Food is great! Both tasty and creative. Also got some surprises given for free, which is not on the menu. Pricy but worth it!

Had a 9pm reservation and wasn't seated until 9:30pm. At that hour, that's really pushing it. Food and service otherwise were phenomenal.

Pretty simple, don't schedule reservations you can't keep. I would have picked a different place if I knew I'd be seated at 9:30pm.

They were very attentive during our experience. The staff was so friendly and great. They accommodated my husbands mushroom and seafood allergies. They made our anniversary very memorable.

Absolutely charming! Went with my sister to get a little flavor of our homeland of Portugal in New York and was not disappointed. Although some dishes has some Asian influence the true Portuguese dishes were off the so sumptuous in flavor. The Pasteis de Nata were almost like the originals from Belem, Lisbon. Which is hard to achieve!!

Fantastic restaurant with steady quality, service and overall satisfaction. Well done! 👍🏻

Such a delicious and fabulous meal! I treated my husband for his birthday - and while a bit expensive, worth it! Amazing cocktails, too.
Thank for a great experience.

Some dishes delicious, some just fine, lovely server.

Delicious and creative food and wonderful wine pairings. Staff is attentive and friendly.

Great food, with friendly service. Wait staff had a great knowledge of the menu and the wine list, and could provide good recommendations. Despite being very busy, it was all very efficient. Noise level was low, so we could hear each other talk. Great price for the quality of the food.

Beautiful, delicious, Michelin-star menu for a completely normal Manhattan dinner price. I took my (very picky) boyfriend there for his birthday, and even he was impressed with every plate. The scallops + foie gras entrée just melts in your mouth, and the egg tarts at the end blew us away.

Service was excellent, wine menu - especially the dessert wine menu - was perfect, and the food was inspiring. The $89 four course prix-fixe menu is an absolute steal. We'll be back!

Food is delicious but a bit much in price. Spent $250 for dinner for two.

The foie gras dish is excellent. The menu is quite limited.

Great food and wine pairings at a reasonable price. Staff were knowledgeable and friendly

Excellent food and service. Food's presentation is also nice. Staffs are very patient with questions, and the kitchen gave us small treat as well. Decoration and lighting is relaxing. Definitely recommended.

Inventive take on traditional foods that was very well done. Price still reasonable for the food quality.

Perfect food, at a good price with excellent winepairings. Unexpected!

Excellent food and service. I highly recommend it. We enjoyed all the 4 courses on the fixed price menu.

This was my first visit to Aldea and I was impressed with what Chef George is accomplishing in the kitchen. My favorite dish was the diver scallops, which came with a bit of torchon of foie gras over each scallop. The quality of these ingredients was incredible, and they were both melt in your mouth perfect. I also love the new 2 story mural which is painted along the entire wall between the entrance door and the dining room, containing artistic renderings of wisdom and faith sketches from Portugal. The entire staff was very friendly and professional. My only complaint was that the seating in the first booth had worn out padding, which should be replaced to keep up with the otherwise exception dinning environment.