The best laid plans of mice and … a slight hiccup arose this week and while we intended to get through the first four “participants” (or first two groupings) in our challenge we were only able, due to scheduling conflicts, to complete one of the groupings. The revised bracket above reflects who is advancing on to Round #2 (so far) and those establishments remaining.
As a recap, the Challenge is our little attempt at trying to find the best Manhattan Cocktail in Manhattan (leaving a lot room for re-do’s of this project). Starting with a wide ranging list of possible locations (herein know as competitors or participants) we grouped these potential entrants into four broad categories – “craft style” bars, restaurant bars, hotel bars and cocktail bars. From there the list was further reduced to the eight shown on our announcement post. Over the next several weeks we will be sampling, per the rules of the challenge, Manhattan’s at each of these locations and then ranking them.
Now on we go …
First up, a restaurant-style bar and a cocktail bar and what we found was, well, a little disappointing (see comments below). theSpeakista and The Godfather were joined by BY, a kindred spirit in terms of all things Manhattan Cocktail related. We started our evening at the Strip House.
Round: #1
Grouping: The Strip House Restaurant vs. The Campbell Apartment
Winner: The Strip House Restaurant
The Strip House Restaurant
Recap: We all met up at the Strip House pretty much at opening time. All three of the judges 
consider this to be one of the best steakhouses in the city and we have all eaten here on multiple occasions. Sitting down at the bar we asked our bartender, the courteous Bill, to make us up three Manhattan’s — Bill asked us if we had a preferred spirit and if we wanted it up or on the rocks and to both questions we replied that we were in his very capable hands. Selecting Knob Creek as the spirit and using what I assumed was their well or house sweet vermouth, Cinzano, Bill free poured both into a mixing glass filled with standard bar ice (i.e. not Kold-Draft cubes or something else like this) and added several dashes of Angostura bitters to the glass. Mixing the drink with a barspoon for some time, Bill then strained the mixture into three waiting cocktail glasses for us to consume. Due to the nature of this event, we only had the one drink presented, settled our tab and moved on to the next location (but not before we each scored and commented on the drink consumed).
theSpeakista’s Score and Review: 5 points (out of 10 possible) – Very strong, bourbon (or spirit’s) forward approach. The taste was not well balanced in as much it tasted like a faintly sweet bourbon with only a slight hint of the vermouth — even considering the free poured, overtly sweet vermouth selected.
The Godfather’s Score and Review: 6 points (out of 10 possible) – Not a “smooth” taste profile; the texture of the drink was off. Did not like the overall composition of the drink as it did not feel cohesive.
BY’s (Guest Judge’s) Review and Score: 5 points (out of 10 possible) – Very standard or basic approach to a Manhattan; nothing worth remembering or noting about it — drinkable but not worth having again.
Total Score: 16 points (out of 30 possible, total points)
The Campbell Apartment
Recap: We jumped in a cab and headed up to Grand Central Station where The Campbell Apartment is located in a sort of “out of the way” part of the station. You enter the bar via a long stair case and the décor makes you feel as though you have been transported back in time, a time of wood paneled gentlemen’s club sophistication. The bar was packed! When I say packed … I mean “fight your way through a jungle just to find an inch to stand on” packed. All three of us have been to the Campbell before and none of us have seen it that crowded (I was so flustered, that I forgot to take any pics). We finally managed to literally bump into a waitress and proceeded with trepidation to order our Manhattan’s. After some time, the waitress re-appeared with three cocktail glasses sitting on her tray, handed one to each of us and poured the contents of a shaker into our glasses. We asked the waitress for the formulation and she looked at us as though we were speaking Greek; I managed to push my way through to the bar and asked one of the bartenders if he knew how our Manhattan’s were made — he indicated it contained Maker’s Mark bourbon, he pulled up a bottle of Martini & Rossi sweet vermouth and I could not decipher the response in terms of it containing bitters.
Our reviews are stated below. I think we all agreed that maybe on a different night or a different setting we might have come away with better prepared drinks and as a result a better opinion.
theSpeakista’s Score and Review: 4 points (out of 10 possible) – Wow … so this is what I used to drink before I knew better? This drink was not all that good. Sweet, unbalanced, and unsettled this drink just doesn’t cut it especially for what is supposed to be a good bar.
The Godfather’s Score and Review: 4 points (out of 10 possible) – A “by the script” Manhattan. Tasted/felt too ordinary; like one you could get at your local dive bar.
BY’s (Guest Judge’s) Score and Review: 2 3/4 points (out of 10 possible) – Tasted way too sweet. Nothing to it. Tasted cheap.
Total Score: 10 3/4 points (out of 30 possible, total points)
Next week … we have four more participants (two more groupings).
theSpeakista asks:
1. What do you think of the Challenge so far; the idea of it; etc?
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Being a staunch supporter of all things Manhattan-related (the drink, not the borough), I think the concept is a solid one. And I’m curious what results you come up with. Though I do suspect you’ll find the craft cocktail bars to be the best of the lot. They just take so much care in making their drinks, regardless of the time of day or who they’re serving.
Tangentially, the foam sitting on that Manhattan (above) doesn’t look like it came from a stir. Must have been some seriously aggressive spoon action. Such a shame. Poor stirring takes away the awesome silkiness that a Manhattan should have.
I think this is a wonderful idea – I only wish I had thought of it first!
The Manhattan has easily become my favorite cocktail over my tenure in the borough and I find myself making similar critiques as I try ones around the city. I’ve even taken on the burden of trying to concoct the perfect one at home.
I’m surprised by the results of this first round. I thought that Campbell Apt would craft a better drink compared to a steakhouse. It brings a tear to my eye that they served such a silky cocktail from a shaker. For shame.
I am thoroughly looking forward to the rest of the contest… I know who I am pulling for. Keep up the good work.
- FYI: the newly opened Millesime at the Carleton Hotel has a fantastic version of a Manhattan called the Night & Day.
Thanks for the note Ryan – we were quite surprised by our Campbell visit (having been there several times before); guess this goes to show, prove, part of what the challenge is about … consistency is key. Will have to give the Millesime a try one day.
Bill was stirring the drink rather forcefully (at one point it almost looked like he was muddling the ice).