Friday night dinner w/in walking distance of 44th St. & Madison Ave.?

[heathera]

We will be in Manhattan this Friday evening from out of town and are looking for somewhere to have a nice dinner within walking distance (10-15 minute walk) of where we are staying near 44th & Madison Ave (near Grand Central Station). We are most interested in the following: Indian cuisine, upscale Mexican or Text Mex, or gastropub (I know, all over the place but ....) -- preferably not too formal but a nice ambiance would be appreciated (no delicious but ambiance-less dives, please!). We'd be open to other cuisines too if the others don't pan out within walking distance (French, Italian). Any suggestions? Thank you in advance for your ideas!

[Pan]

I know you haven't mentioned Sichuan food, but Szechuan Gourmet is on 39th St. between 5th and 6th. Koreatown is only a few blocks further downtown, with Madangsui, a very good Korean barbecue restaurant with an excellent banchan (complimentary side dishes), among the closer ones, on 35th St. between 5th and 6th.

-----
Madangsui
35 W 35th St, New York, NY 10001

Szechuan Gourmet
21 W 39th St, New York, NY 10018

[Motosport]

If the weather is nice it's a short pleasant walk to:
El Rio Grande 38 and 3rd TEX-MEX
El Parador 34th just East of 2nd Av Upscale Mexican
Mapo Tofu Lex and 39th unusual Chinese
Ali Baba on 34th just East of 3rd Av
If you really want Indian there are a multitude of Indian places on Lex below 34th St
Locals call it "Curry Hill"

-----
El Parador
325 East 34th Street, New York, NY 10016

El Rio Grande
160 East 38th Street, New York, NY 10016

Ali Baba
126 MacDougal St, New York, NY 10012

Mapo Tofu
338 Lexington Ave, New York, NY 10016

LexBar
130 E 39th St, New York, NY 10016

[heathera]

My thanks to ALL of you for your great suggestions. Wow, now I have some serious decision making ahead of me! Thanks again.

[Phil Ogelos]

If you have a moment next week, heather, tell us where you finally went and how it was: we love that stuff!

[jnk]

A little bit further on your walk would be 2 Danny Meyers restaurants:
Tabla which would satisfy your yearning for Indian food (www.tablany.com
)11 Madison Park which would satisfy your yearning for oneof the best meals you can have in NYC (though this could be an all evening experience) (elevenmadisonpark.com)

Hope you enjoy whatever you chose.

[gutsofsteel]

The OP is talking about THIS weekend - a reservation at EMP would be impossible. And they'd like to be within walking distance of their hotel - there are plenty of good options.

[gutsofsteel]

Plenty of good options in that neighborhood:

DB Bistro Moderne
Bukhara Grill (Indian)
Pampano (upscale Mexican)
Trattoria Trecolori

Look them up on menupages.com

-----
DB Bistro Moderne
55 West 44th Street, New York, NY 10036

Trattoria Trecolori
254 W 47th St, New York, NY 10036

Bukhara Grill
217 E 49th St, New York, NY 10017

Pampano
209 E 49th St, New York, NY 10017

[Phil Ogelos]

I'd not thought to send you east of Third Ave., heather, nor west of Seventh (!), nor south of 34th (!!) -some people say the (nyc walking) rule of thumb is "a block a minute". The recommendations given you thus far -in only three separate posts- comprise at least four different neighbourhoods, as far as I can figure.
If you're looking for ambience, you might also consider Patroon or Maloney & Porcelli.

-----
Maloney & Porcelli
37 E. 50th St., New York, NY 10022

[Phil Ogelos]

I'm assuming you're staying at the Roosevelt, heather; at the center of a sort of culinary weirdness in midtown: not really a black hole, but a sort of, well, weirdness.

On Madison itself, there are some nice places in the high 30s: the Morgan, Manhattan Bistro, Asia de Cuba, and -around the corner, for your gastropub needs [not a term employed in this town, usually]- The Ginger Man. North of you along Madison there's nothing for miles -no, sorry, scratch that, there's nothing [Lever House on 52nd & Park is a thought, though.]

West of where you are is the Algonquin, db bistro, and Brazilian places on 46th off Madison; to the east, a brace of spots north of 47th along Second and south of 38th along Third -both probably beyond your walking perimeter.

There are additional, random, potential finds within your sphere of affluence: other posters may suggest them; that part of the city is especially good for sushi, for example. I know the neighbourhood well (living in it as I do) so I can say that you are unlikely to find any good Indian or upscale Mexican [? ?] restaurants within walking distance of that hotel. But since you're next door to Grand Central, you might want to consider taking the subway to any number of richer and more rewarding parts of the city in which to eat.

-----
Asia de Cuba
237 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016

Ginger Man
11 E 36th St, New York, NY 10016

[heathera]

Thanks, Phil. No actually the Yale Club of all places ... literally feet from Grand Central Station ... Thanks again for your suggestions.