Your Guide To Experience Westlight, A Rooftop Bar At The William Vale Hotel In Williamsburg

Enjoy the phenomenal view of the New York City skyline while sipping on delicious cocktails at Westlight, the highest rooftop bar in Williamsburg.

Westlight is a 22nd-floor rooftop bar with sweeping views of New York City atop The William Vale, a boutique hotel in Williamsburg. The bar opened its doors to the public in Sept. 2016, and has since garnered raving reviews from locals and tourists alike.

Westlight features an indoor bar and lounge area with floor-to-ceiling glass windows for you to enjoy the panoramic views. Additionally, you can step outside to the terrace for an even clearer view of the cityscape.

The bar program at Westlight is led by Anne Robinson, and presents a dynamic menu of original and classic cocktails alongside rare spirits, craft beer, and wine. Try unique cocktails like the New Kind of Kick (Great King Street Scotch, Fernet, Thyme, Orgeat, Lemon, Suze) or In Good Company (Macallan 12-year Double Cask Scotch, Cherry, Angostura, and Orange Bitters)

You can also enjoy savory and sweet bites at Westlight, featuring a menu of small plates curated by Chef Andrew Carmellini. Order everything from Roasted Eggplant Dumplings with sweet chili and bonito to Kurobuta Baby Back Ribs with crispy peanuts and cumin.

A Night Under the Moon

I met with some Harvard people at a makguli (fermented rice alcoholic drink popular in Korea) bar called Moon Jar.

Because none of us had dinner, we ordered lots of food with the drink.

Although a traditional meal of toppoki is sautéed in spicy, red chili sauce, this goongjoong toppoki was made with soy sauce. It had huge mushroom, beef, bell peppers, and onions, as well as, of course, long pieces of tri-colored rice cake.

The yellow, green, and white rice cakes all had the same flavors. It was chewy enough, but too thin to really grasp the texture. The sauce was a bit salty, but it went well with makguli.

Next came the Korean pancake made with mung bean and minced pork meat. It had a beautifully crispy outside from the pan-frying process, and warm, rich flavors from the mung bean.

The pancake was placed kind of far from me so I had a tiny bite, which was no big deal since it had pork meat anyways.

The pot of boiled kimchi with pork meat. Why do Koreans like pork so much? There were mushroom, scallions, and pieces of rice cake in there as well, though it may be too hard to see from the redness.

It looked very spicy, so I didn’t have any.

The smoked duck and pork on a stone. Both types of meat were very fatty. The little piece of duck I had tasted like smoked sausage.

No comment on the pork.

Fried chicken on a chili sauce. Didn’t eat.

Chicken on a grill with bell pepper, onion, and cheese in sweet and sour sauce. The first piece of chicken I had tasted quite good, but the consequent pieces were all too fatty. I also had to maneuver around the cheese!