Eating/drinking at Eleven Madison Park bar

[curiouseater]

Hello, it's been a few years since we have been in New York and we are fortunate enough to be able to come back in mid November to celebrate my birthday. On previous trips we have lucky enough to eat at Per Se, Jean Georges, EMP, Le Bernardin as well as other equally tasty, but less fancy places.

As we get older (mid-30's) our stomaches seem to have shrunk and we are no longer able to find room for tasting menus and we also seem to prefer less formal dining experiences, so much so that we have sat at the bar by choice the last 3 times we were at Le Bernardin. We also really like our old school cocktails, and Pegu, PDT, Death and Co are places we intend to return to.

In short I was wondering what the menu at the bar at EMP is like? It would seem they have a good reputation for cocktails now and it might be a good opportunity to combine some excellent food and drink. Can you order off the main menu? What is the experience like?

Thanks in advance.

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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

[kathryn]

If you like Pegu, PDT, and Death & Co, you'll like the cocktails at Eleven Madison Park.

For dinner, the bar menu at Eleven Madison Park is a different menu from the regular dining room. You must order a la carte. The menu consists of appetizers, entrees, and desserts. Many of these dishes are pulled from the dinner prix fixe, though.

Here's a photo of the bar menu:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kathryn/...

As you can see, the appetizers are in the 20s, entrees are in the mid and high 30s, and desserts are all 18.

For cocktails, if you've not been back to the city in a few years, you should note that Death & Co now has a few sister bars, Mayahuel, Amor y Amargo, Cienfuegos, and El Cobre. Mayahuel specializes in tequila and mezcal drinks. Amor y Amargo is a specialty bitters focused bar. Cienfuegos and El Cobre all focus on rum, with Cienfuegos focusing more on rum punches.

Phil Ward from Mayahuel is ex-Death & Co. His wife also does the bar program at Vandaag, catacorner from Mayahuel, and that program is more gin and aquavit based.

Some bartenders from PDT are also running the cocktail program at Momofuku Ssam Bar now.

Pegu Club also has a few sister bars now. Flatiron Lounge, which has been around for a while (though it gets pretty packed like Pegu Club does at times). Lani Kai, which is a Hawaiian themed/upscale tropical bar is also worth a visit.

I'm surprised you didn't make it out to any of Sasha Petraske's bars. If you like Pegu Club, PDT, and Death & Co, you'll like Little Branch, Dutch Kills, Silver Lining, etc. His bars are best at making classics (and obscure classics) extremely well and "bartender's choice" type drinks (tell me what you like and I'll make a drink for your palate).

Also if you are staying in Midtown, I highly recommend a stop at Lantern's Keep inside the Iroquois hotel, which employs some Milk & Honey, etc bartenders from downtown. They also do bartender's choice quite well, and it has a hidden, downtown feel. I also really enjoyed their original drinks as well. We went for the first time last night and really liked it.

There are also a few other mixology type bars in Midtown now: 44 at the Royalton, the bar at Lamb's Club, the bar downstairs at the Andaz, and Rum House.

But the three you listed (Pegu, PDT, Death & Co) are still three of my favorites in town.

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

Momofuku Ssam Bar
207 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10003

Little Branch
22 Seventh Ave South, New York, NY 10014

Please Don't Tell
113 St Marks Pl, New York, NY 10009

Flatiron Lounge
37 W 19th St, New York, NY 10011

Pegu Club
77 W Houston St, New York, NY 10012

Death & Co.
433 E 6th St, New York, NY 10009

Mayahuel
304 E 6th St, New York, NY 10003

Rum House
228 W 47th St, New York, NY 10036

Cienfuegos
95 Avenue A, New York, NY 10009

Vandaag
103 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10003

The Lambs Club
132 W 44th St, New York, NY 10036

Forty Four
44 W 44th St, New York, NY 10036

Lani Kai
525 Broome St, New York, NY 10012

El Cobre
95 Avenue A, New York, NY 10009

Silver Lining
75 Murray St, New York, NY 10007

Lantern's Keep
49 W 44th St, New York, NY 10036

Amor y Amargo
443 E 6th St, New York, NY 10009

The Bar Downstairs
485 5th Ave, New York, NY 10018

[curiouseater]

Hello, Kathryn, I have always thought of you as knowledgeable but your post proves you are a mine of information. Thank you for taking the time to provide such a detailed response
I shall definitely look into the ones you mentioned in addition to our old faithfuls.