The Penthouse

Fabulous Valentine’s Day ambiance! Candlelight, skyline view and smooth romantic jams by the DJ set the tone of a very romantic evening. It was a prefixed menu which doesn’t work for my vegan lifestyle however the manager Isabella called me personally to say the chef would design a fully vegan meal just for me. It was delicious beginning to end. Vegan ceviche with a spicy kick of Jalapeño sweet potato sushi and a very tasty vegan risotto. There was a chilly breeze that made several guests get the coat from the coat check but other that’ll end that it was beautifully done.

The food was not as great as expected. The service was horrible; we were at the restaurant for about three hours from being seated to receiving dessert.

The ambiance was good set for a romantic dinner great view. Did not wait long to be seated. Unfortunately the section we sat in was very very cold, making the stay unpleasant and unbearable. The food would get cold so fast. The waiter was not the best, we had to wait a long time between drinks and service. Making it not the best experience we have had at penthouse 808.

We have been here before but the Valentines price fix was our worst experience here.
The food was okay, nothing to Write home about. The appetizer of “scallops” was a plate with ONE overcooked and chewy scallop. Next, the salad came, and it tasted incredibly salty. Both mine and my husbands were inedible.
Main courses were good, and dessert was fine
But the service. Wow. It has never been so bad.
It took over 25 minutes when we ordered our first drink. Our waitress did not check on us once during the meal. The runners dropped off the food and we didn’t see her during the meal. But we did see her checking on other tables. We ordered a second round of drinks during our meals, and another half hour passed, that we ended up having to get up to find the waitress to cancel the drinks and just bring us our check.

1. $15.00 for valet parking, not including tip was a terrible start.
2. Mandatory coat check was a huge negative, especially after what came next.
3. Hostess was polite, but told us that because we arrived late, due to traffic, there might not be a table for us, even though it was already paid for. Luckily, she found a table for us. 4. The dining room was freezing...not enough heaters to make it comfortable.
(Why was there a mandatory coat check in a
freezing restaurant?)
5. The food was just ok, but the portions were a joke.
6. My date politely asked for an appetizer substitution, but was met with a very stern “No, we don’t do substitutions for pre-fix dinners.” It’s understandable, but it doesn’t cost anything to be polite about it. Also, please note that going the extra mile to make the customer happy in a service industry, will reflect on the tip at the end of the night.
7. Finally, the check came. I noticed they had already included a 20% tip with the option to tip additionally. Is that a joke??? How do you justify that with such poor service, and an uncomfortably cold temperature in the room? Needless to say, I did NOT feel compelled to tip additionally.

In short, I would never in a million years recommend this place to anyone I cared about. Management needs to take a close look at all the negatives, and fix them. This is definitely not just the staff’s fault. The fish stinks from the head down.

Food was bland for the prefixed price, the ambience was excellent but the place was extremely cold. The waiter was great but they couldn’t handle the amount of people in the building. We missed part of the prefix meal. Overall the view was beautiful but they good could have been better.

For such an expensive meal... you would think it would actually taste good. Came for the valentines dinner; the whole place was freezing. Went to request for a change of tables and they attended us pretty quickly. The staff looked all out of whack and confused. Noticed they kept bringing wrong orders to different tables. As for food quality it was decent; the seared scallops came in a small portion but tasted too fishy, the Salad was pretty fresh, I had the roasted chicken and although the chicken was good I would say the plantains was the best part of the meal; so hot and moist! Lol. I also had a 1.5 lb lobster and that was fresh as well. That chocolate soufflé though... terrible. It was for me and my date to share and it was no bigger than a rock. Not only that it was also cold and wet like a napkin stuck in a hot shower. I looked at prior reviews and I’m usually not one to judge a book by its cover but please if you read this don’t make the same mistake as me. I don’t care what chef they claim they have. Safe to say, more than likely I will never be coming back ever again.

It took us 1.5 hours in between each course to get our food. The food was bland and tasteless, and our 6:15pm reservation got us out of there at 10. TERRIBLE. I asked to be seated near a window, was told "no sorry, those are reserved" and later saw other couples being moved there after asking, and then moved again to different tables. The only thing we were offered after our meals being screwed up 4 times were glasses of champagne on the house. The entire establishment is horrendous, the food was not worth the price, not to mention the roooftop heating situation was extremely poor. Do not run a Valentines Day special if you have absolutely no qualified individuals running it. Our waitress, hostess, and seemingly the managers had no clue what they were doing the whole night, the busboys were acting as waiters, and we could not wait to get out of there after paying our check. Even after being offered our 'complimentary champagne' we had to wait 45 minutes to get it. We HADN'T EVEN GOTTEN OUR SALAD AFTER 1.5 HOURS AT THE RESTAURANT. Someone legitimately tried to give us dessert before we had been served our salad and entree. I'm warning you - no matter how gorgeous the views, the service is the worst I've ever experienced in NYC.

Great food and service! Loved the view. Only problem was that they seated us against the window and it was freezing. There was a hole at the bottom which just let the cold air in so we had a hypothermic Valentine’s Day.

Great food and views but incredibly poor service:
- We were given the prix fixe menu, talked through what it includes, and then told we couldn't use it as needed to be minimum of 8 pax. Why give it to us then?
- Wobbly table that they didn't seem bothered to correct until we insisted
- Four different waiters/waitresses; only one of whom was particularly efficient/good
- Wine left on next table with no wine bucket for ages. Eventually brought bucket and still just left it on next table out of reach so we kept having to get up to top up our glasses as none of our servers bothered even once
- Long wait between starters and mains

Horrible service, we had to ask for everything twice or more

Absolutely NOT the place to go for a romantic dinner. The music was dance club loud, the wait staff was horrible. It was an hour and 15 mins from our arrival until we got our food. I’d never go back.

Food wasn't really outstanding,but we come here because of the view. It's very pricey but that's what you expect with the view. Of NYC. We will still go back. I had a surprise private party for my husband 2 years ago and all of our guests loved the view. We always come back here every few months.

Awesome views! Drinks were a little too sweet.

It’s ok for drinks but food I was not really happy with. We ordered 10 dinner items and they all came at different times. Food quality not up to par. Price is not justified.

Terrible. Seafood was terrible. I felt like the food was just swimming in dirty water. I payed for drinks before hand and I wasn’t able to even receive them because they believed I had a fake ID. I had both a city ID and my student ID with me. No Reimbursement. The penthouse sucks.

Great experience. Only complain is that it was too cold.

We went for my birthday and enjoyed. It was Halloween night so the place was decorated nicely. The food was great but a little bit pricey. Not too many items on the menu. The service was a little slow but we really enjoyed the ambiance and would definitaley go back!

Dinner at the Penthouse was a great one. The view was beautiful, the staff was friendly and the food was delicious. I would definitely invite my friends to have an experience and I would visit again.

I loved everything about this place! Sexy! If a place can be such a thing. The decor was chill. The food was excellent! Mmmmmm was reverberated with every dish. And the prices are sensible! You can hear each other speak but still enjoy the music. We had girl's night there but I'm definitely going back on a date! Thank you for a great evening experience Penthouse 808!

Food and Service was great.. Our server was awesome and nothing beats the atmosphere

Bonitas vistas,camareros amables y sushi fantastico

You can't beat this place for the view. But that's where it ends - food was just average. We ordered fillet Mignon and hot stir Fry. Very expensive and not enough staff.

Had amazing experience It was my birthday and I couldn’t of picked a better place service was amazing the people are wonderful the ambience was amazing love the view was spectacular the 59th St. bridge was lit up and I’m happy I made this my birthday destinations

Service was horrible. It took about 20 mins after seating to get water or even a menu. Far too loud to even have a conversation.

Awesome location, amazing view, great food and nice ambiance. Dress code makes it an amazing setting and the staff was very friendly and accommodating. Great for birthdays.

Food was great along with great service. Amazing views!

While the venue itself looked great and there was a nice ambiance. The food was mediocre for the price and the absolute worst part was that there is a dress code that was not mentioned at all on here. Luckily I just so happened to have pants in my car otherwise we would’ve made the 45 min trip for nothing.

beautiful scenery, great service, delicious food. the penthouse was a wonderful experience and I would recommend it to a friend.

Spectacular view!! Interesting and delicious food!

Place has an awesome view it wasn’t too packed. My waitress Rebecca was great everyone else that kept delivering our entrees were good but getting them to clear some space for us was hard. But overall a good experience for my girlfriends birthday 🎂

Deliciosa la comida, el sitio muy bonito, la atención pesima

Love love penthouse 808 it has become our favorite spot.

A notre arrivée au restaurant, nous avons attendu 45 MN pour enfin nous prendre commande... Nous avons commandé notre repas, le vin et avant tout l'apero...15mn après l'apero et le verre de vin est arrivé en même temps suivi de l'assiette de Mme mais pas moi pourtant le même plat. Au bout de 5mn j'ai appelé le serveur qui m'avait oublié... Résultat Mme a fini son assiette alors la mienne arrivée. Je continue ? Ouiii pour le dessert ils nous ont servi dune autre table et ne correspondait pas à notre demande... Bref en quelque mots ! Service 0/20 repas 10/20 cadre du lieu 18/20 c'est d'ailleurs cela qui nous a fais venir à ce restaurant. Conclusion le trajet en taxi +100€ aller retour et le restaurant également. Cela vaut t'il ce prix pour apprecier la vue sur Manhattan ?

It was my birthday dinner and by far the worst NYC service to date. The service was incredibly slow. The host forgot we were there and had to check back 20min later for our table. The sever only came around every 20-30 minutes. Not exaggerating. We just started ordering drinks directly from the bar. Every time any of us looked, we could never find a server. On top of everything, the sever never apologized or even acknowledged how slow and neglitful she was. Will 100% not recommend this place to anyone.

That day was Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival, my friends and me got together and hoped to watch the moon while enjoying delicious foods. The purpose of enjoying delicious foods is achieved. But the view here is not the moon direction. However, the Manhattan’s night view is so beautiful, thus we have no regrets.

We had a great time, delicious food and a breathtaking view. Service was a little bit slow but you’ll enjoy the drinks, view and food!!!

Amazing food, music was great and the views were spectacular!

Great food beautiful views, AP.

Amazing view of the city would have to go again. Nice for bday party.