Walking in to Home is like being transported from the West Village to a more hospitable place in the country. While the decor is cozy and the large plates are well prepared, the service is cold and the small plates are forgettable (the best part of the small plates was the brie on the cheese plate. It actually melted in my mouth. However, they sell most of the cheeses served at Home at Murray's Cheese Shop down the street. Buy your cheese there and skip the bad service at Home.)\r
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The ""large"" plates: The brook trout with arrugula and olives was delicate and flavorful. The accompanying fingerling potatoes were moist without being greasy. The pastrami cured duck breast was the real winner at the table. It was prepared medium rare and the pastrami imbued it with a wonderful saltiness without detracting from the flavor of the duck itself. The spaetzle was a little dry but otherwise quite good and a welcome break from the very flavorful duck. The toasted quinoa salad, however, was not so great. It looked like lawn mower clippings from a pasture and was very bitter even for an organic salad. All of that said, the major problem with these ""large"" plates was that the portions were actually quite small, even by tasting menu standards. A little bit more spaetzle or a a few more potatoes or a second vegatable or, well, anything would have made these very small ""large"" plates more homelike.\r
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Unfortunatley, the service did not imporove the hominess of Home. Upon entering, we were greeted somewhat awckwardly by a host who seated us at a table in the back corner. It took a while for a waiter to come to our table. She gave us menus for food and walked away. When she returned, we asked for a wine menu. it was another ten minutes before we received the wine menu and we still didn't have water. The service continued like this throughout the meal. When we received our check, our waitress had written a suggested tip on the bottom of the slip. She suggested 25%...That is obnoxious.\r
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I probably won't go back to Home. While the dishes did taste very good, they left me hungry and the service left me cold and wanting to go home.\r
Pros: The ""large"" plates taste great (except the salad)
Cons: The ""large"" plates are not large and the service is cold
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