Falansai

Honestly wasn’t that impressed. While I understand it’s a Vietnamese-Mexican fusion restaurant, given all the great reviews, I expected solid Vietnamese food… but that was not the case. Like many Viet cuisines in NYC, ‘modernizing’ dishes seems to be the thing, but I personally think that’s a mistake. At this point, I need to stop going to the more high-end Viet spots if I want true Vietnamese food. Side note, the day we went for dinner, there was a sketchy car show happening right outside the restaurant. Cars were revving their engines obnoxiously throughout the entire duration of our meal, which really ruined our time. Asked the staff what’s going on, but no one seemed to care. Truthfully, this only turned me off more about this restaurant. Not worth making the trek over here in my opinion.

Food is amazing. I dream about the Nam Dua (mushrooms, greens, noodles). The mackarel spicy green curry is a close second. And if you like duck, the duck neck is so succulent and innovative as a dish. Last dish below is the beef skewers The only downside is they were out of everything when we were there - the black bass, the orange wine we wanted a second glass of, the hemp kombucha and one other item. It was pretty awkward

I’ve been intrigued by this spot for a while for its claim to meld Vietnamese and Mexican cuisines, and overall it’s a winning combination. The space is nice and chill and service was friendly. And while some dishes were better than others, I was impressed with the dishes and the synergies between the two cuisines. The result was flavor combinations that were new but made a lot of sense and just popped. Standouts included a tostada with fresh seafood that you topped with fish sauce and Birds Eye chile and a congee with corn and duck confit. If I had one issue, it would be our decision to go with the tasting menu. We were taken in by the fact that it was comprised of dishes not on the regular menu and we might get to sample more. But in retrospect, we hadn’t tried the regular menu so anything would’ve been new to us, and the dishes on the tasting menu are normal size so you don’t really get to try more. And compared to the regular menu it’s not a great value. The one nice thing though was the wine pairing, which they do offer in both 3 and 5 glass options. We went with the 3 and found the selections to be well matched and good value. So all in all, a conditional 5 stars but I do look forward to returning and trying the regular menu - especially the duck neck which sounds amazing.

Very interesting and delicious food! We got the "6-ish" course prix fixe. I will suggest not ordering this if you're not a fan of fish. I know the dishes change but I assume this is a relatively common theme. Every dish was unique with an interesting array of flavors. It also came with a dessert which was fantastic. Would definitely recommend.

I ate at Falansai in March of 2022 in the garden room. We ordered the four course tasting menu which was the perfect size! The highlight of the meal was the fish with green curry; it was absolutely delicious, a perfect balance of heat and sweetness, and the fish and accompanying veggies cooked to perfection! The dessert was also delicious (with some wonderful ice cream). The staff was lovely as well. Next time, I would definitely consider ordering off the A La Carte menu...there were some very enticing dishes. I would highly recommend making the trip to try this delicious food; it is a great meal at an awesome price with fresh ingredients!

TLDR; Not friendly for people in recovery or non-drinkers. I have never in my life left a review for a restaurant, but I have also never in my life been to a restaurant that didn’t at least serve soda as an option for myself as a non-drinker. If you are someone who is in a sobriety journey, your only options are water, iced coffee, seltzer water, CBD Kombucha, and a probiotic tonic that tastes like cough syrup. For a place where you’re paying a pretty penny for a “nice” dinner, it would have been nice to enjoy a mocktail or non-alcoholic wine, when I asked for this, after explaining that I do not drink, I received attitude from the waitress saying “we don’t have a liquor license so we don’t have mocktails”. Yeah, that wasn’t my question, but regardless I just wanted something refreshing to enjoy with the dinner that didn’t contain alcohol. How do you, as a restaurant, have a completely full wine menu and several local beer options but not ONE non-alcoholic beer? Even local dive bars have non-alcoholic drinks. That’s embarrassing. If you’re a restaurant that is so concerned about having an elevated menu that you don’t carry soda, please at least have a few non-alcoholic wine, beer, or mocktail options. YOU DO NOT NEED A LIQUOR LICENSE TO DO THIS!