Slow poached hen egg at Nicholas

[seal]

Has anyone tried the egg with truffle at Nicholas? I am thinking about going to the bar tomorrow and was wondering if it is worth the $60. If I don't hear from anyone beforehand, I will post tomorrow night myself.

[JerZ Wine Geek]

Ok, so $60 is not cheap for an appetizer.... But I've had it twice before and In my opinion it's worth every penny. But I can certainly understand people that flip out about the price. It's a perspective thing. Income not withstanding, some people refuse to pay more than $100 for a dinner for two, some people are willing to pay $2,000. Just like some people refuse to pay more than $30,000 for a car, while some people are willing to spend $150,000. If you are really into food and are willing to treat yourself once in a while, then go for it. That's my $0.02.

[aklein]

JerZ... you make a fair point and in no way am I railing against Nicholas or trying to force people to boycott the dish... but I just can't seem to get past the terms "poached egg" and "$60" in the same sentence

now, if you're the one buying... haha!

[JerZ Wine Geek]

Haha, I can understand that.

Obviously what makes it $60 is the fresh white truffle. I believe it's somewhere around $2,400/lb for restaurants to purchase this season (significantly more for us as normal consumers... D'artagnan is selling it right now for $304/oz) and Nicholas gives roughly 1/5oz portion. So that truffle on the plate cost Mr. Harary roughly $30. The same portion size by D'artagnan prices is $68. So really $60 is pretty darn fair for the dish.

[Mr. Bingley]

and if I poach it from your plate then it's free!

[MGZ]

Could you describe the dish? What's it look like plated?

I had a poached egg & truffle plate as part of a truffle menu there couple years ago which, frankly, was not particularly special. I'm wondering if it's the same dish.

[seal]

The dish looked like a nice sized bowl of foamy soup over which was shaved five or six slices of white truffle. The parmesian foam covered the white of the duck egg and a few slices of duck prosciutto. It was served with three slices of toasted brioche.
It was a very rich dish and I don't think I could have eaten more than the ample portion provided, but an extra shaving of truffle might have been nice ;o)
I'm sure the reason for the price tag is that the winter white truffles are quite costly - much more so than the black summer ones that they use in their annual truffle tasting menu dinner. For me it was well worth the money but not something I would return for.

[MGZ]

Thanks. The dish is similar, but certainly not the same. The duck egg alone is different - it didn't even occur to me that's what was meant by "hen." Much more food on the plate as well.

[equal_Mark]

Duck = hen? Since when? I still prefer rooster eggs....

[aklein]

I'm the taste/quality/technique/execution is amazing here, but... $60 FOR A POACHED EGG WITH TRUFFLES?! EXCUSE ME?!

sorry, can't get behind it

[equal_Mark]

I myself have found the rooster eggs to be heartier and more assertive. They stand up better to the seasoning...