Ever since I saw some photos of melted cheese being drizzled over yummy food from this restaurant, I have been wanting to go for a visit. About a year later, we finally gotten around to visiting them! It had crowd of people waiting outside for a table, but since we had reservation, we had no issue getting a table. We felt special walking in there and get seated right away, with all those people waiting outside were looking at us with jealousy.

The inside was packed, and lively. I heard it is a very tiny space, so I was expecting something that is soooo much smaller, but it was actually nice size. Maybe they have expanded since they first opened? Anyways, they have tables on top of each other, trying to put in as many seats as possible. The interior is kept simple, not much art or decoration anywhere to look at, but is more rustic-chic.

They have a small bar counter (which was also packed when we first arrived), and they do offer wine, beer, and cider. Right across from the bar was more seating. These are high bar tables with chairs (also all taken when we arrived). I liked these tables, thick, natural looking wood tables. All the way back is where they have their bathroom.

 

Right before you reach the bathroom is additional seating, set up a bit more private, away from everyone else. It is booth seating, and since it is also away from windows, it is a bit dimmed. It is good to have a little privacy, but it is right next to the bathroom too…

So, we are here for their Raclette! They also offer Croques (grilled cheese sandwiches) and Tartines (open sandwiches), which they all looked really good too. But we gotta get our Raclettes on first! Maybe next time, we will try their other dishes. So, what is Raclette, you might ask? Raclette usually consists of Swiss or other kind of cheese gets melted over heat before sliding them onto cooked potatoes, bread, mushrooms, or charcuterie. I know, right? Here at Raclette, they use Rack Melted Alpine Cheeses, and scrape it off right at your tableside.

 

They offer five kinds of Raclettes, and we went with Suisse ($18). Melted Raclette Cheese Scraped onto Roasted New Potatoes, served with Cornichons, Pickled White Pearl Onions and a choice of meat. We got one with Prosciutto di Parma, and another one with Jambon de Paris.  All Raclettes are served with a Rocket Arugula House Salad and a slice of baguette. It was sooooo exciting when it arrived to our table! First, the server quickly cracked the top, crunchy layer from top to bottom.

Then, started to scrape off the melted cheese from the top, kind of fast, but will great skill. The cheese gave away really easy, sliding down towards the plate.

The gooey, oozy, melted cheese slowly got poured all over the potatoes, it was pure food porn. It had great aroma, we could not wait to dig in.

 

Then they got to the best part…the crunchy golden edges! They made sure to scrape those off, and topped it off over the melty gooey cheese.

This is how the Suisse with Prosciutto di Parma looked after it got a face lift with cheese over potatoes. And it was soooooo good! Arugula was very fresh, potatoes were crunchy on the outside and soft in the inside, and went great with the cheese. Well, everything went great with warm, gooey cheese. The prosciutto was nice, right amount of salty flavor, and very fresh. The picked onion provided good pallet cleansing type of flavor.

This is the one with Jambon de Paris. This one was also really good, I liked the Jambon de Paris, it had really good flavor, and it was easier to cut than Prosciutto. The portion was pretty good, and with cheesy goodness, it is the ultimate comfort food. And what is even more wonderful, is that they come around with the block of cheese around midway through, and give you a second serving of cheese!

Then, we somehow managed to get one dessert to share. St. Michel ($11), which is a sweet croque. It is made with Strawberry Tarragon and Black Pepper Preserves, Bittersweet Chocolate, and Fromage Blanc on Toasted Brioche.

It was nice and a really good portion. Much bigger dessert than I expected. It was very chocoate-y but it was not too sweet. It had nice strawberry flavor to it, but didn’t really taste Fromage Blanc. Maybe all the other flavors were overpowering. It was filling, as it is mainly bread.

 

I am so glad we got to go visit the legendary Raclette. It was so delicious, comforting, and just awesome. I am not sure how much calories are in each dishes, but it was totally worth it. And, we did take a loooong walk afterwards, trying to burn off some of the calories. It was a great meal, warm you up from the inside on a cold day. The service was ok, polite and efficient. It got better as the lunch rush was coming to an end, and people started leaving. About the time they came around with the second serving of the cheese, the staff saw me with my cell phone camera, and waited for a few seconds for me to get myself positioned. She said “Are you ready?” warmly before she started scraping off the cheese onto my plate. That was sweet of her! I would like to go back to try other dishes they have, as I also heard high praises for everything they offer. Croques and Tartines, and more Raclette…oh my!

Raclette – 511 E 12th St, New York, NY 10009