Cinema the Brasserie

Cinema The Brasserie 
2 E. 45th St., New York, NY 10017 
(212) 949-0600

Cinema was a sort of last minute choice.  It was a late Friday night and my sister and cousin wanted to grab an easy bite - nothing too heavy or overwhelming.  We've been here before and it was close by so we thought why not pay it another visit?  Cinema could be a cute place to go to for some small bites or happy hour.  It reminded me of the cinema.  They had a projector showing old black and white films on one wall - without sound.


We started with an order of Fried Calamari.  It was the typical calamari you'd expect.  Nothing was wrong with it, but nothing was particularly amazing about it either.  However, I thought it was creative of them to serve it with a side of anchovy dip.  It gave the calamri a nice kick.  For the main-ish course we ordered the Cinema Tarte Flambe and the Spicy Goat Cheese Pizza.  The goat cheese pizza was okay.  It wasn't really spicy nor was it "cheesy."  I thought that the goat cheese would really shine through and own this pizza, afterall it was the spicy GOAT CHEESE pizza.  Unfortunately, it didn't really work for me.  The flavors were bland and the goat cheese wasn't flavorful enough to distract me from the boring (or there lack of) flavors in that pizza.  On the other hand, the Cinema Tarte Flambe pizza kicked butt!  The flavors were strong - from the applewood bacon, to the leeks, and the Roquefort cheese - they melded together perfectly.  The creaminess and savoriness of the cheese was the (salty) icing on top of this pizza pie.  All in all, the thin crust on both pizzas were fantastic.  They were perfectly crispy/crunchy and not soggy at all.  -9/25/09 

OVERALL RATING: * * *
FOOD: * * *
SERVICE: * * 1/2
AMBIANCE: * * *
VALUE: * * *

PROS:

• Perfect pizza crust
• Low-key ambiance
  

CONS:

• Underwhelming Spicy Goat Cheese pizza
  

SUGGESTIONS:

• Cinema Tarte Flambe