Sapa

I was there a few years ago, so let’s see if I can recall my dining experience…
I liked the ambiance, it was dark and intimate. I ate at the bar with a girlfriend and the bartender was very friendly and generous with the drinks.
The food was tasty, what stuck out most was the duck confit and French fries. I’m not a huge fan of duck, but this dish was awesome.
We had the luxury of meeting the chef… she was Iron Chef that week and unfortunately did abide by her confidentiality agreements and couldn’t spill the beans about who won… funny enough I never caught the show to find out.
I liked this place and would definitely go back next time I’m back.

A sign on the front says they are closed and will reopen next month under new management.

Sapa was my first really good restaurant discovery when I moved into Manhattan over 4 years ago. I haven’t been in awhile, but it has always stuck in my mind and I definitely have to go back soon.
The interior is simply amazing, literally I think my jaw dropped the first I went it. It’s rather unassuming from the outside, with a big wooden door, but the interior is just beautiful, simple and classy. The bathroom is absolutely amazing (I love interesting bathrooms).
The food is great. It’s not for every palate, I think, but it’s definitely interesting and delicious. It looks like the menu has changed a bit since the last time I was here, but everything looks good.
I would also recommend coming here for happy hour, the drinks are cheaper (obviously) and they have some tasty appetizers.

What a pleasant surprise… Once you walk in to see the lovely lounge area then the bar… then the large dining area in the back… How Gorgeous is this place! bathrooms were also well done.
Food was well done! nice presentations! appetizers we had the spring rolls– nice… fried rolls — well it’s too fried…
Entrees: the tuna sashima was delightful, the special was a filet mignon– it was underwhelming… the fish was really nice! healthy — cooked to perfection… Overall I would definitely go back as the food was so tasty!
Definitely a nice choice for larger parties and the bar scene is still light and hasn’t quite the popular feel… i think also very sweet for a first date!
check it out!

I am surprised by all of the mixed reviews for Sapa. I had tried the restaurant back when it first opened and loved it. When I recently revisited, I was just as satisfied. First, I was surprised that the restaurant was still packing in a crowd a few years after its debut. Trendy places like Sapa often lose their luster after a few months, but place still retains its appeal. The décor is stylish and packs a wow-​factor with high ceilings and elaborate furnishings. The front lounge area is full of the fashionably hip enjoying the unique cocktails and appetizers. The bar stools are often all taken and table reservations are definitely advised.
The cocktail menu is packed with innovative, fresh mixed concoctions. I ordered the Sapa Mint Lemonade, which contained Stoli Citrus shaken with mint and lemon juice. The drink was less sugary than I expected due to the real use of fresh lemon juice rather than sour mix. The Lychee Bellini, which was made up of lychee purée & lavender water blended with sparkling wine, was also sweet and delicious.
The bread served to the table tasted like a pretzel with a baked, salted crust. It is served with a horseradish butter, which is interesting but masks the flavors of the bread.
In terms of the entrees, I ordered the Soy Ginger Steamed Market Fish
with glazed shiitake mushrooms and bok choy shoots. I am not sure what the fish was, but it was sooooo fresh! The moist fish was plated with Asian vegetables and sundried tomatoes. The soy ginger glaze was amazing. My friend ordered the Cod Roasted in Parchment with
cauliflower and potato purée, and roasted wild mushrooms. His fish was also very fresh and moist. The mushrooms added a creamy and truffle fragrance to the entrée. It was not plated with the parchment paper.
The service was friendly. The busboys were extremely attentive, however our nice waitress was pretty slow. The prices are competitive and the dress code is casual/​business casual.
I would definitely recommend Sapa for a classy dinner or drinks.

Sapa’s dress code is «casual chic» (thanks Brian Matzkow!). Their interior is a visual tour de force, more formal than the dress code, and spacious — perfect for a date. Check out their bathroom, and their gorgeous bar (with an ample stock of libations!).
Our server (Matt) was friendly, answered our questions, and brought out food in a flash. Our dishes weren’t bad, but pricey for average-​tasting food. The Korean-​style BBQ beef ($ 24) was singularly unimpressive. Not sure why Sapa calls themselves Vietnamese-​French, since there’s no actual fusion of the two cuisines on the menu. I really want to like Sapa, but it’s hard to like a play where you only like the costumes. Stop here for drinks (they’re good), relax, then dine elsewhere.

I came here with a couple of friends, 2 from Seattle, who wanted to have a nice Saturday night dinner. It was a last minute thing and we couldn’t get tables elsewhere. However, my Seattle friend, who used to live in New York, said that this place «has good drinks». Unfortunately, I didn’t try any of the drinks so I can’t say much.
I looked at the menu before going and nothing really stood out for me. I am not sure how they think they can call themselves Vietnamese French. Ok… so you serve «Crispy Vietnamese Spring Rolls» for appetizer and «French Chocolate Cake» for dessert? There was nothing on the menu that creatively put these 2 fantastic cuisines together. At least, from the menu, nothing stood out with interesting ingredients or methods.
I had the Tempura Tuna served with jasmine rice, fresh grated wasabi and warm sesame ponzu sauce. The tuna tempura was so so because the fish was a little over-​cooked and the tempura was a little too soft and wimpy. The wasabi was not freshly grated, it was a powder mix with less than 10% fresh root. I didn’t see a warm sesame ponzu sauce on my plate, but I got a peachy colored sauce that tasted like sriracha + kewpie mayo. The best/​worst part was the jasmine rice. It was cold and crusty hard on the top. I sent that back because no way in hell will a restaurant ever insult an Asian girl with bad rice. The second bowl was a tad warmer but I just didn’t want to fuss anymore. In general, the ingredients just didn’t feel like they were of high quality.
Ok, I admit that I was skeptical about this place since that is generally how I feel about fusion restaurants. However, I think Sapa should stop claiming to be Vietnamese/​French and focus themselves on being something like a New American/​Asian fusion.
A trendy restaurant in a nice space with a cool bathroom just ain’t gonna cut it for me.

I went to NYC last weekend, and the first night I had a semi-​sorta disappointing experience at Alta. The next night I wanted to be nicer, and my friends and I hemmed and hawwed over various French and New American places before my girlfriend insisted we try Sapa. I was a little concerned about it’s Unilocal reviews, but she’s very insistant! :)
We walked in and it was an absolutely beautifully designed space. Very modern and chic. We had reservations for 4, we got there early, so we went to the bar for some absolutely delicious cocktails. I had a Manhattan, my girlfriend had a «Cosmojito» which was nothing like a Cosmo or a Mojito, but it WAS fantastically yummy.
Our friends showed up 1 hour late. WTF… grr. We lost our table. But the staff at Sapa was on the ball, and they still got us seated within 10 minutes.
The food was above average. We started with the rice paper rolls. They were pretty good, but I’d try something else next time. Stay away from the daily special roll, the rolls we ordered off the menu were much better. For my main course, I had the Red Wine & Hoisin Braised Short Rib of Beef. It was a little plain until I discovered how well it paired with the veggies (sauted yo choi, etc) — yum! My glass of house cabernet sauvignon was excellent and paired nicely.
Service got kinda slow at the end. Considering the rice paper rolls weren’t To Die For, these two things make this place 4 stars. 4 ½ is probably more appropriate. But for the most part, I was very impressed by the décor, lighting and interior design, and definitely glad we came. This place would be excellent for a first or second date, or any time you want to treat yourself.

I am writing this review based upon Sapa’s very fun happy hour.
My fiancée and a friend went there for some drinks and the lounge atmosphere in the front was very relaxing and nice looking. I did have a slight concern in that the tables there are lit from beneath with candles leaving the table tops slightly warm to the touch — bad for cold drinks. We all had martinis and wow, those were the strongest martinis I’ve had in a long time.
The deals for happy hour are quite good for a place like this. 5 dollar drinks and 3 – 4 dollars for appetizers. Everything was delicious with the most notable thing in my head being the buffalo style frog legs — they were the best «buffalo» anything I’ve had in a long time.
The bathrooms are also very swanky. There’s a pool in front of a bank of unisex bathrooms and they were all very nice.

Bottom line: to hip for its own good. The décor is cool and the scene vibrant but full of attitude. Probably because this place is close to the mega clubs in west Chelsea. Also, it was very loud so be warned if you do not like that. The food was average.
I would have given this place 3 stars but the service was the worst I’ve experienced in years. We had a reservation and checked in and waited 20 minutes at the bar to be seated only to find ourselves forgotten and they claimed to have no reservation for us. Why did they check us in then? No apologies but we were promptly seated after that and continued to receive poor service from the wait staff.

This is one of my favorite spaces to go for happy hour with friends. There’s ample lounge area seats and the bar itself can get rather crowded but there’s always one wine/​beer special for the evening and occasionally a special cocktail. We go for the bar chips (you have to ask for them if you’re sitting in the lounge area but the servers will bring them to you happily and most often refill them). – They chips are addictive. Fresh and crispy with a hint of spice and sweet, I can’t quite place what it is.
Their special happy hour menu for food is always well worth it too – items like pork sandwiches in mantou bun, steak sandwiches, fried wontons and fried spring rolls. The pork sandwiches and the steak sandwiches are what’s really worth it. They’re savory and delicious, you may want to order two at once.
Oh right, and someone already mentioned this but happy hour goes until 7:30 and the servers are generally nice enough to let you know when that is coming up if you want to get in one more drink (or pork bun!)

Not on an interesting block but an interesting restaurant nonetheless. I had a lovely brunch here this past wknd and enjoyed the overall dining experience here. It’s a good-​looking place… spacious (probably good for groups), modern, cool, with a touch of the exotic.
The brunch offering was varied and tempting… ranging from the «sweets» incl french toast (a bit too sweet for my taste), whole wheat waffles, etc. to more of the salty /​savory selections like huevos rancheros, eggs benedict, omelettes, etc. They also offering lunch entrees as well… the quesadillas and the «hang over burger» looked and sounded great. I opted for the lobster and mushroom omelette… which was delicious once I got through the super fluffy egg layer and got to the good part. The side of home fries were not impressive by any means but the side order of fries another one of my friends ordered was yummy. One of the highlights of the meal was the complimentary banana bread with a side of soft cream cheese butter… delicious!
The prices were reasonable and if I weren’t a bit hung over with a throbbing headache, I might have enjoyed the live jazz band and the complimentary cocktails as well. Next time, I’ll have to be better prepared for brunch here. After reading a bunch of the Unilocal reviews here, will also try dinner here as well.

I just tried sunday brunch here and was pretty impressed. The food was decent (nothing to rave about though) and VERY reasonably priced. My huevos rancheros were $ 10 and included a free cocktail! Service a teeny iffy — of the six of us, one person kept having to wait after everyone else for their beverage and their main until we asked them about it. Good about coffee refills though.
Great looking space, takes reservations, and live jazz in the background. Another one to add to the brunch repertoire.

My first Unilocal review… so be gentle with me.
This is about the 4^th or 5^th time that I’ve been back to Sapa. I’m not sure if it’s the food or the open high-​style sexiness of the whole place. I’ve taken a date there each time… and each time, the evening turned quickly from a pleasant dinner to a hot, passionate connection. Sure, the chemistry had a lot to do with it, but I am positive it was the whole Sapa experience… right down to the zen-​like, cabana size restrooms downstairs.
I was there on Wednesday night with a friend. I had reservations and asked specifically for a more intimate spot in the restaurant. The staff quickly accommodated my request by seating us in a cozy corner in the back. Nice! Then, we noticed an empty reserved table for about 20 people right next to us. I had visions of someones birthday dinner and a noise-​fest. The staff was pleasant and moved us to a quieter zone.
We kicked things off with a Lychee Bellini and a Mint Lemonade. They were the perfect drinks to wash down the cool lobster roll and spicy lettuce wrapped beef satay… It was like a «good cop/​bad cop» finger food experience. I had a hard time figuring out if I liked the waiter or not… he was friendly in a sort of scripted, contrived way… there was nothing natural about his demeanor. No matter, just bring on the food.
My female friend and I both decided to do beef for the main course. I went for the beef fillet & broccoli stir fry this time… and she had the grilled rib-​eye. Both of our dishes were good, but we thought the sauces overshadowed the beef… more bellini’s and mint lemonades.
Where’s the waiter? We hadn’t seen him in a good 30 minutes (which was good because I’m into helicopter wait staff hovering over you every second)…Guess he was trying to juggle the party for 20 and the rest of the area.
Our dessert was friggin’ deadly! The chocolate lava cake was the closest thing to having sex right at the table. It was the perfect finisher to a pretty decent dinner.
All in all, with so many really good eating spots in Manhattan, I would return to Sapa on an ass-​needed basis. Great to take a first date… a quick drink with some french fries at the bar… or a birthday party.

My first experience at Sapa was an extremely positive one. I started out at the bar with a friend, where we partook in «happy hour,» which goes until 7:30pm for all of us who don’t quite ever make it to the majority of happy hours that end at 6:00. The Happy Hour menu consisted of drinks for $ 5 (Classic Martinis included… and it was DAMN good for a $ 5 martini) and appetizers including among other fabulous things huge, glistening $ 1 oysters… beautifully prepared.
The dinner itself was great. My cod in a massaman curry sauce was perfectly cooked, flaky and not drowned in the flavorful sauce. We all shared the chocolate lava cake, but by that time, I was so sloshed from my $ 5 martinis that I can’t even remember if it was good or not! But I DO remember the chef approach us with a tray of homemade cookies that smelled insane and tasted like heaven… a perfect way to end a perfect night out with the girls…

Solid and fun place.
I have been here several times for drinks since I live in the same hood which has been perfect each time. Good drinks and good atmosphere. I usually get a seat pretty easily since it’s a big place (has big bar area, front seating lounge/​hangout area and another bar where someone is preparing raw food dishes).
Last night, I ate for the first time and the dishes were very tasty, The spareribs were falling off the bone and the rice roll sampler (lobster roll, tuna roll) were great and different. The best was the lettuce wrap with satay. Very flavorful.
For dessert, the banana toffee bread pudding was one of the best desserts I have had. The chocolate lava cake was also pretty impressive. I am ususally disappointed with the quality of desserts and they were very well done.
The complimentary choc chip cookies (the homemade from your mom kind) that a server came around to pass to guests was a special touch. I was impressed.
Price was not bad and it was fun to go to this place. The atmosphere is sexy, gorgeous, and hip. The servers were wonderful and FUN as well.
I’ll be coming back because it’s in my hood and the food/​service is great.

4 stars: Where else can you spend $ 15 on fresh lobster? Sunday dinners at Sapa are fantastic and inexpensive. If you come on any day, come then. Can’t vouch for other items on the menu, but the lobster is a must!
+1 star: fresh baked chocolate cookies brought to your table for dessert.
Good food makes me happy and this restaurant made me VERY HAPPY!!! :)

One word: Avoid!
Now, I have no qualms dropping $$$ for exceptional food (though I’d rather that it was $$ only), and I love places which present a Value for Money proposition, but how can one like a place which is both overpriced AND serves consistently mediocre food?
Walking into Sapa one is seduced by the breath taking décor and the throngs of beautiful people at the bar, but the dance ends very abruptly.
I waited for a full couple of minutes as a server made her wine recommendations to the adjacent table — completely oblivious of the fact that I was standing behind her, patiently waiting to crawl into the cramped end of our table. She actually had to be physically set aside by another server who saw my predicament.
The pita bread with the two dips was the only redeeming feature of the evening, but even that wasn’t replaced for a table of six.
The appetizers (Halibut baked in banana leaf, Green Papaya and herb salad, swordfish Carpaccio) were inventive, but not memorable. The paper rolls are also an interesting take on a traditional dish.
But the entrees were just substandard — uniformly. From Coriander Crusted Ahi Tuna, to beef short rib, Soy ginger steamed fish. all below par. We were forced to consider sides to bolster the sagging experience, to the extent that we ordered fries… Imagine ordering french fries at a gourmet place — but we had literally «hit the bottom of the hole, and begun to dig deeper». McYuck’s serves better fries.
We tried to cheer ourselves at the complimentary cookie tray — but clearly these were no better than ready to bake cookies. Having lost hope that we would be served good desserts, we contemplated an early exit (almost a sin in my books to complete a meal without dessert!) but were convinced otherwise by the late hour. We tried all of them: Chocolate banana tart, Crème Brulee sampler… all were below par. We even asked for the green tea cake reviewed by another Unilocaler, but were told that «we have never had that on the menu at Sapa».
Just a disastrous experience — on its own and even more so given the price. Mind boggling that star chef Patricia Yeo lends her name to this restaurant!

AMAZING FOOD! Excellent Service, Brilliant Interior Design & NOT A SCENE! :o)
This dimly lit modern /​upscale /​ultra sexy restaurant is more is the perfect place for a romantic evening or just a nice dinner out.
Excellent selection of wines by the bottle. Specialty drinks were nothing to rave about. All of the appetizers that I have ever had here have been unbelievable, but our main dishes did not seem to measure up. Though the mains were good the appetizers were «out of this world» delish in comparison did not rival.
The waiter coming out with a large warm cookie tray who let us choose a special treat (at the end of our meal) was a nice «complimentary» touch.
Date Rating: 10
Pick up Scale: 3
Note: The vegetarian plate is a combination of every veggie item that they have on the menu, and though it was tasty the combination of flavors simply did not go together.
Seating: Beautiful bar area, large spacious dining room, outdoor seating available.

This place was exotic and sexy and fun!