A new restaurant in Hudson Yards sells a side of fava beans for $17.50 and a single oyster for $4.75, and it shows just how unattainable the neighborhood is for most New Yorkers
- Hudson Yards, NYC's new $25 billion neighborhood, has been criticized for being a "playground for billionaires."
- Inside Hudson Yards' seven-story shopping complex is Estiatorio Milos, a Mediterranean seafood restaurant known for being "extravagantly priced."
- Estiatorio Milos "purposefully obscures how pricey it is" by omitting prices on its display menu outside the restaurant and online, Eater reported.
- A side of fava beans will cost you $17.50 and a single oyster costs $4.75.
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Hudson Yards, New York City's new $25 billion neighborhood, has opened to mixed reviews.
Stephen Ross, the billionaire developer behind the project, says Hudson Yards is "New York as it should be," but many have blasted it as a neighborhood made for the ultra-wealthy, labeling it a "playground for billionaires" and "a mall for the wealthy." Justin Davidson of New York Magazine called Hudson Yards "a billionaire's fantasy city."
Ross insists Hudson Yards is "not a neighborhood for the rich," despite its condos that range from $4.3 million to upwards of $32 million and the shopping center dominated by luxury stores such as Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Cartier, and Neiman Marcus.
And Estiatorio Milos, a Mediterranean seafood restaurant on the sixth level of Hudson Yards' seven-story shopping complex, seems to be catering to the same type of clientele that can afford to shop at the shopping center's Louis Vuitton and live in the neighborhood's multimillion-dollar condos.
Food publication Eater reported in March that Milos' new Hudson Yards location "purposefully obscures how pricey it is" by omitting prices from its menu displayed outside the restaurant, as well as its menu online.
And the prices are high enough for this to be a concern.
The New York Times called Milos, which has another location in Midtown, "extravagantly priced" at prime dinner hours.
According to Eater, Milos sells a side of fava beans for $17.50, oysters for $4.75 each, and Carabinero prawns for about $30 each. That could bring a two-course meal for two to around $416 after tax and tip, Eater's Ryan Sutton estimated.
Sutton pointed out the irrationality of a display menu without prices at a restaurant inside a shopping complex, where there's an abundance of potential last-minute customers.
"Even someone who made a reservation a week out might have no idea what they're up against until they sit down at a table with, say, three other patrons and realize they're about to drop $800 on dinner," Sutton wrote.
Estiatorio Milos did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment.
At Thomas Keller's TAK Room, another fine dining establishment at Hudson Yards, pasta dishes cost between $30 and $46 and a side of fries is $14.
On the other end of the spectrum, the mall does have affordable eateries like Shake Shack, Sweetgreen, and Fuku, and shopping options like H&M and Zara.
In response to questions about the affordability of eating and shopping at Hudson Yards, Kathleen Corless, a representative for Related Companies, Hudson Yards' developer, told Business Insider that Milos has a wine bar downstairs that offers "Greek wines and shareable plates at very affordable prices."
Corless also noted that Belcampo, a restaurant known for its organic, sustainable meats, has a grab-and-go section in addition to the restaurant, and that fast-casual options like Shake Shack, Fuku, Citarella, and Mercado Little Spain offer more affordable dining options.
"And then there is a range of options and restaurants at Mercado Little Spain," she said.
Corless also noted that in addition to luxury boutiques, the shopping center includes fast-fashion brands and "experiential concepts that reflects the way that many customers shop today."
When it's finished, Hudson Yards - the most expensive real-estate development in US history - will include luxurious residential towers, office spaces, a school, a luxury mall with high-end boutiques and restaurants, a $200 million art installation, public gardens, a performing-arts space, and the highest outdoor observation deck in the western hemisphere.
The Shops & Restaurants at Hudson Yards, the development's seven-story shopping complex, is dominated by luxury stores including Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Cartier, and Manhattan's first Neiman Marcus department store. Condos at the site's luxury residential skyscrapers range from $4.3 million to upwards of $32 million.
Stephen Ross did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment.