Raclette is a small restaurant in the East Village of NYC, serving traditional raclette on various foods. You may be wondering what exactly raclette means…
The word raclette comes from a french word meaning “to scrape”, which is exactly what this restaurant does. Maybe you’ve seen pictures like this:
Or videos like this:
taking over your instagram feed. At this restaurant, you can order your choice of cheese to be scraped onto various foods, including steak, burgers, and potatoes.
It goes without saying that cheese makes everything better, especially when it’s warm and gooey, which is why Raclette has become so popular. Everything on the menu is 100% food porn, and videos of their drool-worthy melted cheese are sure to make your mouth water.
My Trip to Raclette
I decided I had to try Raclette for myself, just to see if it was really as good as the videos and pictures made it seem. After waiting over an hour to get a table at 3 in the afternoon, I finally sat down.
The menu actually has more than just raclette-style foods, including “tartines” and “croques.” Although they might have cheese in them, they don’t include the show of someone scraping cheese onto your food table side.
I started with the Mornay Mac and Cheese, which was pretty much to die for. Something about the combination of cheeses and the sprinkled breadcrumbs on top made this mac n’ cheese not too sharp, but not too bland. Perfection.
I’m a huge mac and cheese lover, and I can definitively say this was up there in my top five favorites. The menu describes it as: “Baked in Raclette’s signature gruyère–based mornay sauce with raclette, cheddar and parmesan, topped with panko”. This was my favorite dish of the day.
I then ordered two dishes off the raclette section of the menu: the Parisienne, which is a strip steak with potatoes, mushrooms, and asparagus, and the Mediterranée, which is asparagus, tomatoes, and slices of baguette.
#SpoonTip: What they don’t really tell you on the main menu is that even though these foods are in the “raclette” section of the menu, you still have to pay extra for the cheese. The cheese menu is separate and lists about six cheeses, ranging from $3 to $7 per scrape.
Both dishes were very good, but, as you can probably guess, very heavy and filling. I didn’t come close to finishing either, but that’s also because I filled up on mac and cheese beforehand.
As good as the cheese is on steak and veggies, I would have preferred it simply on bread or something else light, so I could have enjoyed it more without filling up with just a few bites.
A Meal Worth Melting For
The meal was a little pricey, but overall, I’m glad I got to experience a meal at Raclette. The restaurant was quaint and charming, the food was good, and, of course, the cheese was as melty as one could imagine. The tableside show of scraping cheese onto the plate really completes the experience, and makes the meal what it is.
I’d definitely go back, but maybe not in the near future; I’m still recovering from my food coma.