Braai, New York, New York, African Restaurant Details

Food:

Diners with a "taste for adventure" mingle with "homesick expats" at this "different" Midtown outpost specializing in South African barbecue; the "flavorful", "unique" eats (think ostrich and venison) arrive in a "hut"-like, "thatched-roof" setting that adds to the "novelty."

Food:

Nice cosy spot. Could be better if not so bright... Notice no Amarula though...Only had drinks so couldn't rate the food.

Food:

Delicious! Great cozy atmosphere

Food:

I wanted to email this to the manager at Braai rather than making this public, but the email address on their website does not work and when I called they said that they have no email address. How do you run a business with no email address?

4 of us (South Africans) came to Braai recently and were very disappointed by everything except the food.

Here are some examples which I'm hoping you guys will take to heart and improve on:

- Firstly we thought we were in the wrong restaurant as it looks nothing like the website - there is zero South African decor. The walls are painted white & clinical while the photos on the website look awesome. False advertising...

- The waiter did not know what was in / out of stock so it took ages to order wine as the first two we chose were not in stock.

- The music was loud dance music. Again, not South African or appropriate for a restaurant. It felt like we were in a club! We had to ask them to turn it down as we couldn't speak to each other over dinner!

- No steak knife was provided with the Ostrich Steak.

- The "coconut, truffle pap" had neither coconut nor truffle in it. I asked the waiter and he just drizzled some truffle oil over the top. Not ideal.

- We ordered Dom Pedro's (as seen on your website) but again the waiter said there were none so we had to call the manager to order them.

- The koeksisters were not koeksisters at all. Not crunchy on the outside and sticky, but rather soft and mushy.

- Drinks were well over priced

Unfortunately it was not the South African experience we'd hoped for but we did enjoy the rest of the food.

Braai management - I hope that you take this to heart as we REALLY want you to do well!

Again, I was hoping to email this to you personally and not make this public but it wasn't possible with no email address...

Food:

Great place, big fan of the ambiance and the friendly wait staff. I've been here for 3 different brunches and have always had a good time. The menu is definitely unlike what you find in most places, which is obvious from the various ostrich meal choices on the menu.

Food:

While searching for South African supermarkets in the NYC area, my SO and I stumbled upon this hole in the wall. As some of the previous commenters mentioned, the decor is a bit sparse but we found that it lent to the rustic ambiance, except for some exposed wires behind the bar. Those shouldnt be there. The waitstaff were very pleasant when seating us and serving us wine, letting us taste our selections before pouring us a full glass (not many waiters in some nyc restaurants know this is how you're supposed to actually serve wine). The soup was very light but fragrant and full of flavor and the calamari with the homemade chips were perfectly seasoned and cooked. My SO had the ostrich burger and I had the oxtail, each was cooked perfectly. The dessert was really the highlight of the night: we had the mulva pudding, melktert and the koeksisters. When my SO took a bite of the mulva pudding, he was ecstatic. He's been away from South Africa for three years and he told me that the pudding "tasted like home." The melktert, likewise, was so good it "made him homesick." The only slight letdown was the koeksisters which was a bit too doughy and not fried enough to be traditional.

Overall, the experience was one that I'd like to repeat really soon, if only for their desserts. The waitstaff was very friendly and didn't mind making small talk, especially about their homelands. The service for food was a bit slow, but it was leisurely and the food was well timed nonetheless. Be prepared to be stuffed. I could barely make it to the subway after this wonderful meal.