The East Pole - Kitchen and Bar

Wonderful macro platters
Short staffed?

Great location, very nice staff but crowded and noisy on weekends. Food was just average but it's a good and casual place for friends and brunch, substantial wine list and cocktails.

Absolutely amazing!!! We were in there today for brunch and everything was fantastic. The staff were super friendly and the food was even better. Our waitress was great. Very friendly and checked on us frequently. I wish I got her name. Highly recommend.

Wonderful food and atmosphere.

The Kohlrabi Gratin, served with a special but also available as a separate side, was terrific. Always love the vegetables here. Nice to eat in such a warm and comfortable place with so many delicious choices.

Wonderful dinner for our dinner

Wonderful experience all around. Great food and service, and the restaurant was lovely.

Our waiter was great and the duck was the best I have ever had!

Pleasant experience. Want to go again!

Small and uncomfortable... we were stuck in the middle of the restaurant and were bumped each time an employee walked - customers were more conscious of the small area. One of the wait staff almost took off my head as he flew by, i was lucky i ducked.

Oyster to start were amazing
Dishes came out too fast
Needed some seasoning (Salt)
Puree on dishes were cold so the plates were prepped in advance
Apple Pie was to end was amazing

Potential is great as its a great venue - well designed menu and ingredients.

Holiday celebration

Have visited the east pole 6 times over the past year and it is consistently mediocre, which is disappointing given the lack of options in the area. It has all the makings of a good neighborhood staple, but falls short of leaving an impression. If I had to sum it up, It’s like drinking a borderline flat draft beer.

Found glass in my food! Manager apologized and took off the entrees from the bill and offered for me to get something else, but I couldn’t eat any more after chewing glass.

We had a very enjoyable and delicious holiday lunch here. The food was excellent and the back corner booth we were given was cozy and comfortable. Our waiter was attentive and, although it took a little longer than expected for the food to come out, we were not left hanging. Highly recommend for medium-sized groups!

East Pole served a delicious brunch; while I greatly enjoyed the meal (ingredients were of a high quality), the service might have been better (nothing egregious, simply rather slow, considering the number of customers relative to number of staff). Regardless, I will look forward to dining at the East Pole again, soon.

Good food - focus on healthy varieties. Pleasant environment. Would come back!

One of our favorite neighborhood spots. Great food, casual, priced right. Gem.

The noise level was uncomfortably high and the tables were way too close together. I liked the food, but not for the frenetic atmosphere and ability to hear the entire conversation of the tables on both sides of us. My friend had to ask for a napkin and our (small) water glasses were never refilled

Warm and welcoming decor, but the food was flavorless and the presentation lacking. Our server was good, but the hostess seemed overwhelmed.

My meal was so mediocre that I can't remember what I had. Salads have too much dressing and the greens are wilty.
Tables are tiny.

Sat upstairs at a table with a large group. Bar tender was the server and he seemed distracted. Cocktails downstairs were good but the ones from upstairs were sub par. Food was good though as usual. Also hostess changed the amount of people in our party without a problem, which was great.

Kept waiting for 30 minutes with no apology for inconvenience. Had to insist that the drinks we had whilst we waited were on the house. This should be volunteered in these circumstances, not something that we have to ask for. Creates bad feeling from the outset.........

Was rushed from start to finish and ushered out at 1 hour 40 minutes so they could get the table back. Sloppy service and really just an unhappy group working there. Food was fine but fairly pricey for veggies. Second visit was not better than the first but I forgot.

Too bad the food was not as good as the service

Pleasant surroundings but to tighty packed. Hamburger was not cook to medium rare as requested -it was truly rare.

Delicious food. Portions not the biggest. Got the scallops and they were incredible. Waitress was very nice. Menu has a lot of great options.

The server took forever to get to the table. Then he came back once after taking the order to give dessert menus. He never checked on us or the food. We had to track down another server just to get our check. Usually the servers are on top of everything here so it was just surprising. The bar tenders and the host were amazing and very helpful. The food as always was delicious too.

No organic options available. We took the cod, and the portion is very small. Too expensive for what it offers.

A return to trip to East Pole, and it did not disappoint. We ate on the early side after a group outing on the UES. The restaurant wasn't crowded when we arrived, but it was when we left. Service remained good throughout the whole dinner. All the dishes were good. The wild boar pasta was fantastic. Wine selection was good, and the restaurant had different price point options. Will be returning!

Food was just ok. Waitress repeatedly asked us to order more drinks and appetizers. Prices a bit steep for the serving size and quality. Desserts arrived pretty frozen (and small.) Very noisy.

Would not go back. Hostess was lovely. Downhill from
there. Room is spare without being cool or chic. Call me old-fashioned; I like a table cloth. Waitress was pushy and charmless; cocktail not made properly; first wine (White) was from
a bad bottle and was warm. Waitress gave us a different one and told us she had chilled the glass. No, keep the wine at the right temperature.

We were in and out in an hour. Eager to leave. Food was meh. Why do restaurants serve burgers on brioche? That is a hard no for me. Three scallops for $34?

Hostess very nicely removed wine from our bill. Not sure if that happened before or after date paid in cash. If before, she got a much better than deserved tip!

Out of 4 of us one of us enjoyed brunch, the omelet. The waitress was so serious. We had to ask for more coffee. The busboy poured coffee across table pouring the last of the jug (gritty) with drips flipping out of jug on me. The Kale Caesar salad had too much dressing and the dressing was sweet with sugar or honey, not what a Caesar salad should be, menu said EGG, I thought One egg and asked for one more egg, I ended up with 4 boiled eggs!?!? I just wanted two eggs. The eggs were supposedly 6 minute eggs, they were ice cold and runny. I would have expected warm eggs if runny. I barely saw any bacon. Total salad disappointment. I was not so excited the last time I went to East Pole and gave it another chance. We will not be returning.

Four of us had dinner at East Pole Kitchen on Saturday night. We started with some ultra fresh Wellfleet oysters. East Pole’s menu offers lots of seafood and vegetable preparations. I had the striped bass ceviche and the striped bass with Jerusalem artichokes entree. Both were delicious and again super fresh fish. I tasted the fluke crudo with watermelon radishes, the heirloom carrot appetizer and the Arctic Char entree special. All were well prepared and wonderful. Nicely chosen wine list, too. We had a Sean Thackrey white, La Pleiade, and another white wine from the Canary Islands, Tajinaste. Both are rare, different and prefect with our dishes.

Accommodating management. Knowledgeable staff. Delicious!

We went for Thanksgiving lunch. They had a prix fare menu which has 1 choice of appetizer and 1 entree, sides you had to pay for at $14 each and no dessert or drinks was included for $38. Service was good. Place was small.

The waiter didnt understand English.
I ordered the salad with dressing on side and chicken.
Nothing on the menu looked appetizing
The salad was soaked with tasteless dressing and cold, awful chicken
I asked for balsamic vinegar and pepper and got a container of oil on side.
I didnt eat the lunch.
My guest hated the menu " theres nothing on the menu I want to order "- I felt the same
and she found not one dessert that she wanted to order
I agreed with her for the menu
When we got the bill, they gave my friend my bill and cc and gave me her cc and bill
We both will never return and she will tell all of her friends

Food was delicious. Probably the best, most moist, pork chop I ever had. Great fresh carrot salad too. Service was attentive and friendly.

I normally love East Pole and have eaten here often - it has a great downtown vibe in the midst of the often vanilla UES. This time, however, we may have hit a super busy moment. Firstly (and 5 STARS) we sat upstairs which is notable and blissfully quieter than downstairs. However, the tables are TINY and the server actually knocked a plate off the table next to us because the actual plates are quite large so everything feels precarious. We didn’t have room for everything on our table either and there were only three of us.
Secondly, I had the filet mignon special which was tasteless. Worse than airline food. Normally I recommend the shishito peppers, the fluke crudo and any fish dish but it was a cold night and I felt like red meat but it wasn’t great.
So, if you can manage the cramped conditions and stick to the tried and true classics offered here, you’ll have a lovely meal

I would only wish it was wuieter

UES restaurant and bar in landmarked building with dark entrance. Look for the unlit "East Pole" sign at the stairway to entry. Main floor was packed and noisy, so we went up to second floor dining room, which was quieter and less crowded. Salads were large enough to share. The mains were very tasty but the fish and the pork chop were both rather small portions for the price. The pot pie was really good, and vegetarian. Had huge cups of coffee. Friendly reception and wait staff. Our waiter was born in Syracuse, NY, but is a New Yorker through and through now. Very pleasant.