Next Magazine Review - The Hurricane Club

The Hurricane Club
260 Park Avenue South (@ 26th St)
212-951-7111
thehurricaneclub.com

Set a course for adventure at The Hurricane Club! When my 16-year old niece came to New York for the first time, amidst a flurry of activity, I took her to the splashy, exotic supper club cum tiki bar then newly arrived, on Park Avenue South. Looking for something Manhattan-sized to show her, we certainly found it at this sprawling scene—and lady, can it ever get loud! The conceit proposes a modern retooling of glamorous watering holes like Trader Vic’s with such things as a tiki hut fashioned from glass beads presiding over the capacious bar as evidence.

We sought respite from the storm under towering palm fronds and while I tugged away at a #12 ($14), a beautiful cocktail, similar to a Mai Tai, comprised of Hurricane rum, lychees, and homemade orgeat, garnished with mint, pineapple, an orchid and an umbrella (‘natch), my niece sipped on something fruity and non-alcoholic.

The Imperial Pu Pu Platter ($33) for two featured our chosen selection of cunning chipotle-laced BBQ Cones, crispy Peking Duck with sriracha mayo, fresh Hamachi Poke with avocado, French breakfast radishes, sweet yuzu, and P.B. & Guava Jam with prosciutto and powerful Thai basil which I would just order for dessert.

A Table Salad of Tuna Carpaccio ($27) was well composed, with flowery red and green oak lettuces and avocado tossed with an unobtrusive lemony aioli miso.

When we dabbled with the Wok-Seared Filet ($31), a signature main offering of medium rare shaking beef and crisped watercress, my niece informed me it was the best steak she’d ever had! Ziran Paigu ($24) a.k.a. “stolen” Shanghai spareribs were really good, with the full, fragrant flavor of lemongrass riffling through the nose. Delicious Hawaiian Fried Rice ($16) served in a sizzling hot stone bowl is surely a must have as a side, with a soft fried egg on top and chunks of pineapple all mixed together tableside.

Desserts being part of the maelstrom, I suppose, good Chocolate Kill-Devil’s Food Cake ($14) is proportioned to be shared, with a showering of Valrhona chocolate pearls, awash in a caramel rum sauce.

First published in part in Next magazine.