Recommendations for "reasonable" restaurants reply to questions
We need recommendations for Thursday, Friday and Saturday night and we will be staying on 42nd St. near Grand Central Station. The amount we would like to spend is no more than $100 pp before tax, drinks and tip. The most important criteria for us is the quality or uniqueness of the food. The main types of restaurants of interest to us are seafood, Italian or French, or else eclectic American, depending on the chef. Thank you for any help you can offer since we are (unfortunately) completely at a loss when in comes to NYC.
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A small, intimate, family run place on 49th, off Lexington. Argentinean, Italian. We had the paella ($55 for two) and it was really wonderful. Decent wine list and they pour a very generous drink. Good service. Forget the Cesar Salad but an overall good dining experience.
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San Martin
143 E 49th St, New York, NY 10017 -
Yeah, definitely a lot of high end lunch options for you to try to book, Marea, Le Bernardin, Tocqueville, SHO, Jean Georges, EMP, Del Posto, etc., so you can play around to see which is available, and get a or several really great high end experiences. Most aren't in your immediate Grand Central area, but should be accessible, and I'm assuming you'll be out and about the city. So it's a good way to plan which neighborhood to visit too, if you have your reservation made.
The Oyster Bar (sitting at the bar for the oyster and chowder) is a sure bet too. Good snack, and a great room.
Other than that, if you want to try Japanese, your area has great cheap options, like Onya for udon/izakaya (Japanese style tapas), Riki for izakaya, Hide-chan for ramen, OMS/B for rice ball (lunch/snack), Katsuhama for tonkatsu (pork cutlets), and on and on. I know you didn't specifically mention Japanese, but you are a great place for non-sushi Japanese.
Not far too is Korea Town for lots of BBQ options that should be both familiar and eclectic.
Aside from that, from the choices you mentioned, I'd say go high end at least once, and if you have a kinda schedule of which areas you are going to be at, I think throwing out the seafood, Italian, French, or eclectic American would be easier.
For example, Frankie's would be a good Italian place, but unless you are in the Lower East Side area, it's hard to say it's a definite destination, or not more so than Dell Anima in the West Village or Da Andrea near Union Square.
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Riki
141 E 45th St, New York, NY 10017Eleven Madison Park
11 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10010Grand Central Oyster Bar
89 E 42nd St, New York, NY 10017Jean Georges
1 Central Park W, New York, NY 10023Frankies 17 Spuntino
17 Clinton St, New York, NY 10002Tocqueville
1 East 15th Street, New York, NY 10003Del Posto
85 10th Avenue, New York, NY 10011Le Bernardin
155 W. 51st St., New York, NY 10019Oms/b
156 E 45th St, New York, NY 10017Da Andrea
35 W 13th St, New York, NY 10011Katsu-Hama
11 E 47th St, New York, NY 10017Dell'Anima
38 8th Avenue, New York, NY 10003Marea
240 Central Park South, New York, NY 10019SHO Shaun Hergatt
40 Broad St, New York, NY 10004Onya
143 E 47th St, New York, NY 10017Hide-chan
248 E 52nd St, New York, NY 10022 -
sgordon
Sep 16, 2011 10:13 AM
$100/pp before t/t/d is pretty high up. Pretty much everything but the chichiest four-starrers could be done for that.
So...
For something adventurous: WD-50 (as unique as it gets) or Public (interesting New American w/ Southeast Asian & Australian / NZ influences - also one of the best & most eclectic brunch places in the city, for my money. Blood Pudding Waffles!)
For creative American: Marc Forgione, Momofuku Ssam Bar (not as Asian as it sounds), Colicchio & Sons, Roberta's (if your'e willing to venture to Brooklyn)
For Italian: Babbo (never know, you might catch a last-minute cancellation - or go early to dine in the no-rez bar area), Scarpetta, Marea or Esca (last two for seafood)
For French: Cafe Boulud. In every way superior to Daniel's flagship (which would be out of your budget, anyway.) Also fond of SHO Shaun Hergatt.
And any of the big four-star places you could certainly do lunch for your budget, and just do a cheap dinner later (though after a late lunch at, say, Eleven Madison Park you might not need dinner...) - and of course you could do a fancy dinner one night at a place like EMP ($125/pp) and then a cheaper, $75/pp dinner (which is still a good budget for something nice) the next night to balance it out.
Of course, if we're talking about this coming Thursday / Friday / Saturday, a lot will be booked. Which week is it you're coming?
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WD-50
50 Clinton Street, New York, NY 10002Cafe Boulud
20 East 76th St., New York, NY 10021Eleven Madison Park
11 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10010Babbo
110 Waverly Pl, New York, NY 10011Momofuku Ssam Bar
207 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10003Esca
402 West 43rd Street, New York, NY 10036Public
210 Elizabeth Street, New York, NY 10012Scarpetta
355 West 14th Street, New York, NY 10014Marc Forgione
134 Reade Street, New York, NY 10013Marea
240 Central Park South, New York, NY 10019SHO Shaun Hergatt
40 Broad St, New York, NY 10004Colicchio & Sons
85 10th Ave, New York, NY 10011 -
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Motosport
Sep 16, 2011 09:20 AM
Manhattan is a small city. It's very walkable if the weather is nice. From Grand Central you can get to almost every neighborhood in less than 30 minutes by subway.
We live in the area but don't go to many upscale $100pp places. One thing we enjoy doing is hitting the Oyster Bar @ Grand Central terminal for an appetizer of oysters and chowder before heading out to have dinner at another restaurant. Other than oysters & chowder the food @ Oyster Bar is unspectacular, I.M.H.O..
Within walking distance of your hotel is Docks and Wild Edibles for seafood. If you want to try Middle Eastern head over to Al Bustan. Excellent authentic Lebanese/Syrian in a nice upscale setting. It's a short walk from your hotel.
If you want a simple, excellent, inexpensive breakfast try Scotty's Diner on Lexington or for something more creative Penelope's a few blocks down Lexington. If Penelopes is busy sit at the counter. It's very comfortable.
Further down Lexington is Maialino's for Italian and brunch. We've never been but it gets great reviews.
Have fun!!!-----
Grand Central Oyster Bar
89 E 42nd St, New York, NY 10017Al Bustan
319 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022Penelope
159 Lexington Ave, New York, NY 10016Docks
633 3rd Ave, New York, NY 10017Wild Edibles
535 3rd Ave, New York, NY 10016Scotty's Diner
336 Lexington Ave, New York, NY 10016Maialino
2 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10010›3 Replies-
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re: upstatefoodie
If you love Middle Eastern food, what about Ilili? It's upscale Lebanese food with a creative twist. The food is excellent, IMHO. And it's about 15 blocks from your hotel.
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/762169
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Ilili
236 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10001
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When do you plan to be in NYC? This will greatly affect your ability to get a reservation. Popular restaurants book up 3-4 weeks in advance.
You said you want places that are unique...are you willing to go outside your specified cuisines? Asian? Offal? Do you tend to be a more picky eater?
