Most impressive restaurant for lunch?

[foodshark73]

I need to impress visiting relatives with an amazing lunch, but it's a little last minute. If I can't get reservations at Jean Georges (my first thought), where else should I consider? They are a fairly sophisticated bunch from Tokyo. TIA.

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Jean Georges
1 Central Park W, New York, NY 10023

[FoodieFemme]

What about La Grenouille? They have a great lunch menu and the restaurant is breathtaking.

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La Grenouille
3 East 52nd Street, New York, NY 10022

[buttertart]

Hi again foodshark73, where did you end up going? Reaction of your guests?

[Upperwestsider]

Consider the Four Seasons (www.fourseasonsrestaurant.com). The Pool Room leaves a lasting impression or the publishing editors would not bring their famous authors there. P.S. V v good food.

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The Four Seasons
99 East 52nd Street, New York, NY 10022

[foodwhisperer]

I second Four Seasons, world famous, very impressive, great wine cellar.
Tocqueville is nice but the food can be over spiced.
Jean Georges is m y favorite. Le Grenouille has good french food ( i havent been there in years hopefully they are still in business),, Le Bernadin is surely impressive. But a good steak, perhaps at Wolfgang would do the trick.

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Jean Georges
1 Central Park W, New York, NY 10023

The Four Seasons
99 East 52nd Street, New York, NY 10022

[mjm1218]

The Four Seasons seems to have a senior appeal, so that would probably be great. Very classy though

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The Four Seasons
99 East 52nd Street, New York, NY 10022

[buttertart]

My favorite place for a very nice lunch is Tocqueville - excellent food, a beautiful, quiet room, good service, and an American-French menu that I would expect would be interesting to people from Tokyo. They are open for lunch on weekdays and Saturdays. It's a real bargain at $24.00 pp for 3 courses, $39.00 with wine.

[ChefJune]

I'll second the vote for Tocqueville for lunch. Besides that the food is stellar, the room is gorgeous, with the beautiful onyx bar.

[buttertart]

Even the lighting is beautiful.

[Toot]

Gotham has a good pre-fix lunch.

[hcbk0702]

If it's during the week, Jean Georges ($29+) and Eleven Madison Park ($28+) are the best lunch deals; I've just visited both in the last week and JG easily outshone EMP with its best dishes, but it was a bit more inconsistent. If you're willing to spend more, Le Bernardin's lunch ($69) is pricier, but IMO considerably better than both JG and EMP in terms of food quality, as their lunch menu is nearly identical to their dinner menu; there's no cost-cutting simplification of dishes for the lunch crowd that EMP is especially guilty of. Le Bernardin's seafood focus may especially appeal to Tokyoites.

On the weekend, Le Bernardin and EMP do not serve lunch, while JG serves lunch on Saturday. Per Se serves lunch on the weekend and that would surely be impressive, both in terms of the meal and price ($175 or $275+).

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Per Se
10 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10019

Eleven Madison Park
11 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10010

Jean Georges
1 Central Park W, New York, NY 10023

Le Bernardin
155 W. 51st St., New York, NY 10019

[mjm1218]

Sophisticated bunch from tokyo would probably most enjoy Le Bernardin.

This is really out there.... but maybe Masa.

[gutsofsteel]

Definitely, definitely Eleven Madison Park. I like it better than Jean Georges. And the room is gorgeous. And fits the impressive need very well.

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Eleven Madison Park
11 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10010

Jean Georges
1 Central Park W, New York, NY 10023

[mjm1218]

Eleven Madison Park absolutely. I also liked it better than Jean Georges (atleast for lunch.)
Funny thing about a gotham lunch i just had was that the dining room was empty...

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Eleven Madison Park
11 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10010

Jean Georges
1 Central Park W, New York, NY 10023

[carolinadawg]

If its during the week, how about Eleven Madison Park?

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Eleven Madison Park
11 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10010

[a213b]

I'll co-sign EMP. In fact, its lunches have blown away my JG ones.

That being said, Tokyo rivals NYC in terms of amazing food, so perhaps something a little more "NY" than fine dining? Just a thought ...

[foodshark73]

that is a good point. where would you suggest for that? just found out we may have a child in tow, so maybe EMP or JG wouldn't work anyway.

[gutsofsteel]

I brought a 7 year old child to EMP not long ago, and we all had a great time. It really depends on the kid.