Permanently Closed - Henry at Life Hotel

Our server was AJ and he was superb! He explained all of the dishes. I had the “Afropot” which is a seafood stew, great spices. In fact, all of the dishes had very flavorful spices. Not hot at all. But different and oh so yummy! I highly recommended this restaurant! I dine out a lot, this is a winner.

Best tuna tar tar
Succulent short ribs fell off the bone
The jus in the Afropot was outstanding. Wish we’d had some bread to sop it all up

Big flavors and super quality. We had four dishes and three of them were excellent, the fourth being merely dull. The con con (eggplant curry on broken rice) appetizer was delicious, the mushrooms elegant and different and the Afro-pot a real showstopper at an incredible value for what you get and how creative and intense the flavoring. The "jerk chicken salad" was a misnomer and not worthy of the rest of the menu, being a boring, pallid, somewhat dry half-chicken with some arugula salad next to it. Perhaps somewhere else it might be a life-line, but no reason to have it at this outpost of great, flavorful cooking.

Consistently unique and amazing food! Try the lamb kebab appetizer and short rib main. 👍

Food was vibrant and interesting with excellent presentation. The Con Con was unbelievable and truth told I have had many of Short Ribs in my life and this was easily the best I have ever had.

Great wait staff, fantastic food! We will be back next time we are in the city. We have already had friends go after our visit and they felt the same way. Don't miss this spot if you love "soul" food.

Great food-generous portions and super service. Waiter was very knowledgable about the food and encouraged us to go out of our comfort zone by saying if you don't like it -send it back. We didn't send anything back. The beef ribs were superb and the jerk chicken was really moist. Would have liked to see more veggies on the menu but overall it was an excellent experience.

Great food and attentive service
Really like the ribs
Music playing in the background is a plus

The food was truly inspired and the price tag quite reasonable. They had run out of my two first choices and by the end of the meal I had forgotten that! Too bad I am not in New York so often anymore I would go again and again.

Fantastic food, great cocktails, good vibes. I can't wait to come back!

We were very satisfied with the attentive service, and the food was good. The one thing that reduced our praise was the desert. The choices was limited, so we ordered the sweet potato pie. It was terrible; the consistency was very heavy, the color was very dark brown, and the taste was really bad. It was more like mud pie. The wife and I have totally different taste buds, if I like something, she does not, if she likes something, I don't. Both of us really disliked the pie.
It was overall a good evening.

Great menu. Lot's of interesting dishes and flavor combinations. Could use a vegan entree.

I was amazing food, atmosphere, and service... Plan on going back to enjoy again....

The food was amazing. All three of us raved about it and we have different preferences. Make sure & get a taste of every dish. We ate the shrimp & pork dumpling, watermelon/jicama/peanut sauce salad, Concon, pan-roasted scallops, jerk chicken, & Sweet Potato Pie. We also loved the cocktails & wine selection. AJ was a warm & friendly host.

Unbelievable bold flavors and attentive service. The bar was set with the cocktails and didn’t skip a beat thereafter. No pun intended! Highly recommended to anyone looking for an amazing pan-African experience coupled with Caribbean influence and exciting rich flavors. Chef JJ didn’t disappoint and you immediately feel like you’ve been there several times, albeit was my first.

Mouth wateringly delicious food, not your usual menu! Cool atmosphere and amazing service. Really perfect, my friends and I will be back soon.

Excellent, creative dishes.
Every dish we ordered was a hit.
High volume hard core rap music is more of an acquired taste than the food.

Food was ok but portions for the shared plates were so small and not justified spending $15-$18. Had heard a lot of good things so we were disappointed.

Wonderful food that was way more interesting than the usual NYC restaurant. The lamb kabob app was probably my favorite. I could have made a meal of them. But the other app we shared was the Shrimp and Pork dumplings which we also loved. The African seasonings on everything were so different but so damn good. There were three of us (2 men 1 woman) and we shared the Short Ribs and the Scallops. The scallops were yummy but the short ribs were outrageous. We had to take food home the ribs portions were so big. It was a little pricy but well worth it. And, I rarely feel that way.

Excellent. The lamb is not to be missed and the branzino was fantastic!

Menu is small but it’s a very interesting and delicious blend of food and spices. Our server Charlie helped to make it a wonderful time. Would recommend this place.

Great food overall, African-Caribbean infused, giving way to an inventive and original cuisine

Fun, lively atmosphere in the lobby (literally) of a somewhat seedy-looking hotel in NoMad. Dishes were creative and fun, somewhat unevenly seasoned, but definitely new concepts for all of us. The tuna tartare was very tasty. The mushroom yassa was a great vegetarian dish, with interesting umami flavor (and quite rich). The short rib main was the star - it was delicious, but rich and very very large. The server told us it was for 2, but it easily serves 3 very hungry people and 4 moderately hungry people. We had a really enjoyable dinner here!

I recently read an article that was very enthusiastic about the new chef here and I made a reservation knowing we would be near by; it’s not a pretty area of NY, but this hotel’s lobby and dining area doesn’t try to be something bigger than it is, and brings in some young and not so young interesting looking people; the restaurant was just filling in as we left and the bar was almost full; African inspired menu was just fabulous and I look forward to trying more of the small plates next time; service was very cordial, competent and good humored!

What a delicious surprise right near MSG!
Amazing service and great devotion to detail - very attentive and gracious!

everything tasted even better than it looked - and it was beautiful!

So amazing!!! My new favorite place in NYC! Superlatives....on the food, it was delicious and our server was very knowledgable and helpful. We kept ordering more food, somehow the chef makes flavorful food that doesn't feel heavy, portions were ample, so we just kept eating more out of pure joy!!!

Really great, unique food. Everything was delicious. Thoughtful service. Chill atmosphere.

What a great night of delicious food! The food was fantastic and the service was warm and attentive. It is a fun menu that works really well for sharing. Can't wait to go back!

Food superb. Service, even better. Highly recommend. Great atmosphere.

We loved everything about this restaurant - the ambience, friendly/skilled service and most especially the food. We had the Piri-Piri Clams (which every table was ordering), dumplings and then shared short ribs. All of it absolutely exquisite.

The food was unique and very delicious! The service was also outstanding! We can’t wait to go back again!

Everything was delicious

Bit into a plastic metal piece in my food, which is not acceptable at any reputable restaurant. They did offer to make a new dish, but I had lost my appetite by then. Also, significantly understaffed. Way below my expectations & my previous experience with the Chef.

This is a special place with excellent service and great food.

The food was amazing. From the tuna tartare to the jollof rice to the dessert. Couldn’t have had a better experience.

Braised short rib amazing. Servers super helpful and friendly. Excellent playlist

Read New York Times review and was excited to try this place but was slightly disappointed. Did not live up to the hype. Service was very good but food was just a little better than average. Also chicken came out undercooked first time but sent back and it was better when they brought it back.

Amazing, totally unique food. Very attentive service. Almost too attentive. They refill your water so often that it starts to feel disruptive. But it's a great experience overall.

Chef JJ never disappoints! Great atmosphere, the beats are off the chain! I would recommend this spot to anyone looking for a upscale, chill vibe.

The food here is amazing. I tried the collard green salad, tamarind jerk bbq chicken, roti with spreads, lamb kebabs, and the sweet potatoes pie. If you are watching your salt intake don't order the collard green salad. I didnt love the roti with spreads but it was tasty. Service was great and the server gave us great recommendations. We were there at around 6ish on a Tuesday and it wasnt crazy busy but we did make a reservation. Around 8 it got a bit busy. Also the music here had me jamming in my seat - 90s hip hop and r&b. Overall a thumbs up! I will be back again.