Okay, Bar Chimera isn’t quite subtle, but it is the baller place that Midtown needed. We all need a little BDE in our life, and Bar Chimera delivers. It’s like the early aughts in there, when it was totally cool to order a bottle of d’Yquem on your expense account.

Overview

Maybe I’m going a little too far on the d’Yquem; no one really has that expense account in finance anymore. But the grand scale of the Bar Chimera complex got me excited. Now it’s been a few months and the crowd has settled in, and we’re seeing the true potential of Bar Chimera in Midtown.

Atmosphere

There’s little surprise in what Simon Kim does with a room, but Bar Chimera is still a flex. Bar Chimera serves as the grand entrance to the complex, which includes Cote 550 at the 550 Madison location. The vibe, decor and design is where Bar Chimera earns half of its points in my book. The room soars sixty feet, with a living pine tree growing through the center of the space. This is a compliment from me — I love hotels, and the entrance reads like a very good hotel lobby as opposed to a bar. In my layperson’s opinion, it’s not entirely evident, even after a number of visits on my part, but Bar Chimera is three bars in one. You have a martini, Champagne and wine, though you can order whatever you want from any seat.

The crowd is very much the Cote crowd — foodies and especially those serious about their meat. But is this a place to meet new people? As in, let’s help a single girl and guy out. Well, this stretch of Madison is filled with office towers, so it’s established itself already firmly as an after-work meeting point. The scene is still developing though, on whether it’s a good place to meet that potential +1.

Food + Beverage

Full stop, the salt bread is the best thing on the Bar Chimera menu. It arrives glossy, buttery, and has a crispy crackle when you break the outside to the fluffy center. It comes with a honey butter that made me want to order more bread. The shrimp cocktail is the other move. It comes topped with freshly grated horseradish and comes with a squeeze bottle to get that perfect amount of cocktail sauce on top.

Besides fresh oysters, there are two grilled oyster renditions, where the creamed spinach option was like a meal. Also, on the heartier side are the fried mushrooms, which I know aren’t good for me, but I still keep ordering. Add in the Greek salad wraps, and you have yourself a proper girl dinner.

I still don’t know whether I was sitting at the martini, wine or the whisky bar any of the times I’ve visited. The martini though is solid, though where I think they shine are the wines by the glass. For both reds and whites, there were at least 25 varietals, each with a price point for everyone. It’s been more than a beat since I’ve seen a $22 Burgundy on any list. And I especially appreciate an option for a nice glass of 2009 Mouton-Rothschild for $370.

Service

There were a few blips on the service, but it was more to do with the kitchen than anything. Yes, they didn’t refill water conscientiously, although it was 98 degrees outside. I don’t know if it’s because my friend was drinking club soda that we didn’t get water refills. But alas, it wasn’t a deal breaker.

On food, the first time I came, it took 30 minutes for our snacks to come out, and then we were missing the fried mushrooms. I was just going to pay for the missing mushrooms and leave, as apparently taking them off the bill was going to be a saga. And I had dinner reservations at Monkey Bar, so paying a few extra dollars wasn’t worth the hassle. But, just as I was leaving they sent me off with the mushrooms to go.

Ironically, the last time I was there, the mushrooms were ordered by the bar, but never came out. We mentioned it, and towards the end of our catch up, the fried goodness appeared. This time, they did take it off my check, which was appreciated.

Overall, everyone is professional, and they do their best to manage the crowd. However, service isn’t natural or intuitive yet, and it may be because of their own internal protocols. They seem to have silly rules where if you order a drink from the bartender downstairs but snag a seat at a table, you can’t pay the bartender, even if a server never approached your seats. Or, you can’t stand at a ledge area in the bar section upstairs. Or, maybe you can? We got mixed messages from various staff on two separate visits.

But compared to my first visit a few months ago, on my recent visit, the team was more comfortable and people knew what they were doing. The bar seats still don’t seem like they’re first-come, first-served, but maybe that will relax a bit too. Overall, the team still doesn’t quite seem like they’re providing effortless service, but maybe that’s not the style of Cote. I’m not into Korean BBQ, so I don’t have the original Cote to benchmark against.

It may be unfair to compare, but I will say service is a tad leveled down from The Grill or Monkey Bar, a few streets away. With that said though, service was good enough for me to keep Bar Chimera on my list.

Overall: 7.8/10

The design of the space and the girl dinner options carry this rating for me.

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FAQs

Q: Where is Bar Chimera located?

A: Bar Chimera is located at 550 Madison Avenue in Midtown East, upstairs from Cote 550.

Q: What should I order at Bar Chimera?

A: Start with the salt bread and the shrimp cocktail, then order a martini from the martini bar. It’s the standout of the three-bar program, alongside strong whiskey and wine offerings.

Q: Is Bar Chimera good for an after-work drink?

A: Yes. The density of offices around 550 Madison makes it a genuine contender for the after-work crowd.

Q: Is the crowd the same as Cote?

A: Largely — serious foodies who take their meat seriously. Bar Chimera just gives that same crowd somewhere polished to gather before or after dinner downstairs.