Iris (Manhattan midtown}

We sat outside on the patio, on Broadway but shielded by some plants, so wasn’t so aware of traffic. Didn’t really get a sense of the interior of the restaurant but looked modern, a bit fancy. The meal looked a little pricey (I wasn’t picking up the check), but was delicious. Sorry, I took no pictures.

We had the mezze sampler to start. Particularly good hummus and tzatziki. I’m not a huge eggplant fan, but I think this one would satisfy someone who was. The fresh/warm sourdough pitas were a great accompaniment. I wasn’t so sure about the endive leaves.

There was a whole menu of special fish (I think it was all fish) to supplement the dinner menu and we shared the turbot and a Greek salad. This was the best piece of fish I’ve had in a while. Perfectly cooked with a little dish of something I think they called “spicy brown butter” but it was not liquidy. Anyway, a nice accompaniment, but the fish itself with perfectly crisped skin was soo good. The fish also came with a little plate of roasted vegetables (onions and carrots) that were maybe not “special” but a nice addition to my plate.I don’t know where they are getting the tomatoes that were in the Greek salad, but they were deep red and deeply flavored.

We finished with a dessert that they described as being a “chocolate ganache.” It wasn’t a ganache, lighter than that with a scoop of hazelnut ice cream on top. You could put hazelnut ice cream on top of anything and I’d be happy. And actually the lighter chocolate part suited me fine.

It’s a big menu when you add all of the fish specials, and I would go back in a heartbeat. John Fraser opened the place in the middle of the pandemic, and I used to go to (and like) his first place Dovetail.

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Thanks for your report. I’m looking at their website. Definitely pricey - their dinner entrees are mostly in the 40s, the mezze mix is $46 and sides are $10-14 (what are Trahana croutons, and why are they $14?). They are doing Restaurant Week lunch and dinner from July 18-August 21, if that interests anyone. Two courses for $45, which still isn’t cheap to me. I do think it’s worth paying more for a great meal for a special occasion if you can, though, and it sounds like you had a very good meal.