The Reservation:

Booked twenty-eight days in advance.
Good things take time, & apparently so do tables (or bar seats)

The Order:

Challah Service, $15:
Fresh, warm bread served with a touch-too-grapey jam and a garnish plate with the perfect amount of pickles. Perfect amount of bread for two (2).

Mushroom Blintz, $25:
Possibly our favourite. A must-dip situation with the challah...

Shake n’Bake Chicken, $38:
Big portion. Huge. Almost too much for two (2). Presented on a napkin over a silver platter and dusted with dill pickle powder (how chic). Perfect perfect presentation.

It was delicious.

One of us, a semi-professional dip-mixer, highly recommends dipping in the honey + house hot sauce for an optimal experience.

Linny’s Cut Pastrami, $49:
Tasty? Yes. Same-price-as-a-steak tasty? Bit of a stretch.

French Fries, $12:
If they're on the menu, they're on the table.

These ones were triple-fried and came with a side of mayo that we didn't have to ask for!

The real star, though, was the entire sauce set (fig.1): The aforementioned Mayo, ketchup, a mustard for the pastrami, and two silver gravy boats – one of honey, the other of hot sauce. Dreamy.

Chocolate Babka, $18:
Yes. No notes.

The Evidence:

The Review:

Reviewed in signature DoubleDish Ugly/Medium/Hot style

UGLY:

Getting asked, "Are we expecting you?" one second after walking in the door.
Answering, "I think we know" when asked how we were doing with the menu.
Offensively expensive drinks.
One of us ordering a glass of pickle juice disguised as a "cucumber dill" mocktail…
Not ordering the baked potato. It looked ridic.

MEDIUM:

The food.
Don’t get us wrong—it was good, just not $49-pastrami good.
(Excluding the babka – she was perfect)
Pitted olives.
Can live with them, would rather live without them.
Needing to make a second reservation to get more than a glimpse of the actual dining room.

HOT:

Sitting at the bar.
This is always hot, to be fair.
The bar itself.
Reminiscent of jazz bars, New York bars, New York jazz bars, where one Midge Maisel and one Lenny Bruce might be found.

There is also an I-Spy level of things to look at while your dirty martini is being shaken; standouts include:
- a Mimi's panda bear
- lamps that double as mirrors
- a glass polisher that we watched spin for three straight minutes
Service that makes you feel important.
Single-person bathrooms with heavy doors and standing radios.
The aforementioned side-sauce platter.
The plates you want to (but absolutely do not!) ((not!!)) shove in your purse and use to hold your necklaces, watches, and other dresser accouterments.

Shannon Beador would think twice about throwing one of these.

The Verdict:

We'd come back for a(n expensive) cocktail, an appetizer or two, and to sit in a booth with fries and a bottle of wine.

This is a great place for a fourth date, meeting the parents, wanting to take an impromptu trip to 1959 New York City, or When Something Has Happened And You Need To Talk About It For Three Uninterrupted Hours.

Linny’s