The Standard Grill Menu

The Standard Grill Restaurant Review:

The surprisingly subdued main dining room of this ultra-sceney restaurant is flanked by a bar, a jam-packed seasonal beer garden with a ping pong table, and window table seating in front affording views of the Meatpacking District passeggiata. There’s a reason why reservations can be difficult to secure: The Standard offers a fresh menu of diverse choices, served by a knowledgeable staff with a topnotch bar crew. Try the cold almond soup, made with sherry wine vinegar, pickled white grapes and thinly chopped chives, and tasting like a creamy gazpacho. Both unusual and refreshing, it nicely follows the complimentary radishes, bread served in a paper bag, and aïoli-laced patatas bravas served to appease your initial hunger. Or start with one of the house-made pâtés, such as the warm duck terrine. For main courses, the flash-seared lamb chops are paired with crisp polenta and basil, and there’s a “million dollar" whole roast chicken for two. Not to be missed, also, is the signature fish, a flattened rainbow trout, zested-up with currants and pine-nut relish. The aptly named Deal-Closer dessert certainly seals our opinions of the meal with a chocolate pudding concoction to be shared by the table. Colorful cocktails play off the East Side and West Side orientation of the city with the High Line Fling, a killer punch named after the park overhead, or the Penny Drop, calling attention to the 480,000 pennies set into the restaurant’s floor. Wines are both local and international.