Tenement

The name of this joint certainly doesn’t inspire confidence. It brings about visions of supping at a card table in a dirty, narrow hallway with a crooked staircase leading up to rooms filled with fat, old ladies in support hose and screaming, filth-smeared children. Luckily, there are no kids or octogenarians to be found, and the space is way more chic than shabby. Low lighting, wood and stone make this joint super sleek while still being inviting. While waiting for our party to arrive, we took a seat in the loungey area behind the bar on comfy chairs. The atmosphere was very chill, although our barmaid, despite there only being a few people in the place, was not so quick with our drinks. We ended up having to get up and order from the bar. Sorry, no tip for you. We finally sat down for dinner at a high slab of a table and ordered. A little while later my calamari with watermelon bbq sauce arrived and, never having dipped squid in fruit before, I dug in. It was amazingly tasty! I had a decent piece of salmon for my meal and others had duck and pork chops, all of which got good marks. For a Saturday night, this joint wasn’t particularly crowded, and the food wasn’t particularly inexpensive, but as a bar this would be a pretty cool place to take a date before heading out for a night of carousing. [MF]

157 Ludlow St.
212/766-1270