First time in NYC at the end of June...advice needed

[Dr3wLA]

I’m new to chowhound and needed some advice. It’s going to be my first time in New York and i’m trying to compile a list of everywhere I want/should go. Here is my list so far (I’m torn between a few places):

Per Se or 11 Madison Park
Momofuku Ko or Ma Peche or Ssam Bar
WD-50
Morimoto
La Bernardin
Daniel
Sugiyama or any really good Japanese food
The Modern
15 East or Hatsuhana
Picholine
Talde
Kin Shop
Buddakan
Totto Ramen

In no way do I think I’ll actually be able to go to all these places, but this is my “wish list”. Does anybody have any thoughts, insights, other recommendations. I’m a pretty adventurous eater so any recommendations would be great, but I do lean towards French and Japanese. More likely than not it will be two of us and we are going in the end of June. Any help would be great. Thanks

[kathryn]

First off, where are you from? Your username indicates it could be Los Angeles... or Louisiana....

And how long will you be here?

You have a LOT of upscale dining on your list. Are you sure you won't burn out on that sort of eating during your trip? I would make sure to balance out the fine dining with the more casual places.

Anyway, Per Se, Eleven Madison Park, and Momofuku Ko can all be difficult restaurants to get into. Make sure you know the reservation policies for each.

Eleven Madison Park books 28 days ahead (4 weeks including the current day) at exactly 9am Eastern Time via phone or OpenTable. You may wish to have both your phone on speed dial & your computer ready at 9am.

Per Se books 30 days in advance at midnight on OpenTable and at 10am that same morning via phone. Trying OpenTable at midnight is an easier bet.

Ko opens its books 7 days ahead including the current day, at 10am, only on its web site.

ALSO Ko will be closed 6/20 – 6/26. Not sure if this disrupts your plans.

Lunch may be easier to get into than dinner. Per Se serves lunch Friday - Sunday only. Same for Ko. EMP serves lunch Monday - Friday only.

WD-50 is an excellent choice, unless you're coming from Chicago, where I think the modern/experimental scene is probably better overall.

Morimoto is good, but not amazing for traditional nigiri sushi if that is what you seek. Look into Kajitsu, Kyo Ya, 15 East, Takashi, Ippudo these are all highly regarded Japanese restaurants at various price points.

I'm not sure where you're coming from, but there is a wide variety of Japanese restaurants here: kaiseki, sushi, ramen, soba, yakiniku, yakitori, etc.

Best Japanese:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/821500

Le Bernardin is good but a very subtle restaurant -- it won't knock you out with big, bold flavors. Also, it begins booking on the 1st of every month for the next month. So you will need to book on May 1 for a June table.

For Talde, you'll have to post on the Outer Boroughs board.

Kin Shop is excellent.

There are many only in NY foods I don't see on your list.

Only in NY type foods: bagels and smoked salmon, pastrami on rye, pizza, hot dogs & papaya juice, black and white cookies, cheesecake, egg creams, pickles, halal carts.

I also don't see any street food, either, or brunch.
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/834945#7164385

We also have some of the harder to find Chinese cuisines: Henan, Shaanxi (Xian Famous Foods) and Fuzhou in Manhattan, and many more in Queens and Brooklyn (Shangdong/Qingdao and Dongbei to name a few).

scoopG's Chinatown list (dependent upon where you are coming from these may be exotic or not... most places don't have Henan or Xian style food though):
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/834312#7156862

You might also want to consider more creative Asian, like at Momofuku Ssam Bar, Wong, Fatty Cue, Takashi, RedFarm, and not only traditional Japanese. More expensive than Chinatown but not near the level of a four star restaurant like EMP or Le Bernardin. Not sure what the Asian scene is like where you currently live.

In the interest of mixing it up a little, I might do Ssam Bar over Ko, especially if you want to do WD-50, Per Se/EMP, Le Bernardin, The Modern.

No Italian? Spanish? Gastropub? American or farm to table?

My favorites in NYC:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/8383...

[Dr3wLA]

Thanks for all the input, I'm actually from Los Angeles. Ya the list I have is pretty much the fancy places i wanted to go to, my "wish list" of places. I'm only good be in New York for two weeks so I'm probably on going to be able to three or four of the places I listed above, maybe more if I really wanted to splurge. The plan is to be there June 27th. In regard to the more Ny type food I was going to scour the discussion boards for some places so I'm really happy that you posted a link. Do you have maybe a top 3 must go to places?

[kathryn]

Not all the places on your list are all that fancy--you could still do 3-4 fancy places and also Ssam Bar, Kin Shop, Totto Ramen, etc.

I don't see the lunch at Jean Georges or Del Posto on your list either. Both have prix fixe lunches at under $40.

Top three fancy or casual? I think my only recommendation would to be to try for an EMP reservation.

[Dr3wLA]

I've seen a lot of discussion on Per Se vs EMP, would you say EMP is the better of the two? I'm definitely going to try for both since I hear it's very difficult to get reservations.

[Pan]

A question for you, then. Doesn't LA have really good Japanese food? If so, perhaps you should focus on other cuisines here, though I will tell you that a kaiseki dinner a few years ago at Kyo Ya was one of the better dining experiences I've had in the last decade or so.

[Dr3wLA]

That's actually a really good point, I didn't think of it that way, thanks. I guess since I heard NYC was like a food mecca, I wanted to see how good it was.
Speaking of kaiseki though, have you been to Sugiyama and if so how did that compare Kyo Ya?

[Pan]

I have yet to go to Sugiyama.

[uwsister]

Yeah, for instance there's definitely no need for you to try any ramen places here, IMO. But some Japanese places in NYC I don't think you can find an equal or better in L.A. so easily. Takashi is the best yakiniku I've had outside of Japan in recent memory - it might be worth visiting. Also kaiseki places like Sugiyama or Kyo Ya - unless you go to Urasawa often, in that case nevermind. Sushi it's up to you - I wouldn't bother w/ Hatsuhana (I actually like the place, it's solid but it's not worth seeking out, esp. when you're coming from somewhere w/ lots of good, solid sushi) but there are L.A. hounds who go to Yasuda every time they're in NYC. I'm also a fan, though I do also like 15 East.

And yes to Ssam Bar (worth doing one David Chang spot, IMO, and you can always have a few small plates) and no to Buddakan - if you want a scene-y place with decent food, I think you can do better.

Fine dining is something that NYC definitely does better - I'm a fan of EMP like many other 'hounds. I'd also say yes to wd-50 - if you liked the Bazaar especially, different food but similar in their fun, whimsy style.

[Dr3wLA]

Thanks for the input. I'll definitely try to make it out to Takashi. I would definitely want to try out either Sugiyama or Kyo Ya, but I'm pretty torn on which one to go to. I've heard really good things about both places. Do you by chance have any opinions on either of the two places? I may actually pass on the sushi because it's true that there are a lot of great sushi places here and so many more food options to try in New York.

Interesting how you suggested Ssam Bar over Ko. A lot of people have been telling me to try getting into Ko because it's a different experience. And thanks for the heads up on Buddakan.

It's funny how you bring up Bazaar. I really enjoy dining there but a friend of mine had brought up how similar it might be to wd-50. I was definitely still going to go but find it nice to know that though similar they still are different.

[foodwhisperer]

You want to try Kyo Ya, it is nothing like anything in LA. I know you will enjoy

[uwsister]

Here's a fairly recent thread on kaiseki in NYC:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/810959
(in case you haven't read it, might be helpful

)

I like Ssam Bar quite a bit (as well as his other places, Noodle and Ma Peche) but I've never had much desire to go to Ko. I don't know, I mean I'm aware of the fact that Ssam Bar and Ko are quite different, but I think if it were me, I'd want to know his style of food before I commit to the kind of experience (and cost) that Ko entails - especially since DC is a bit love-him-or-hate-him kind of chef.

Yeah, I only brought up the Bazaar because it's similar in feeling - you won't find wd-50 too similar, no worries on that part.

[ellenost]

I'm a big fan of all of the Momofuku restaurants, and especially of Ko. I love the surprise of the menu, and after 40 visits for both lunch and dinner, I've always had fantastic meals in terms of creativity and taste. Highly recommend the OP, if able to get a reservation, should definitely have a meal at Ko.

[calumin]

I think if you want to try Japanese food that is different from what you would find in LA, I would try Kajitsu. It is a unique experience.

[Dr3wLA]

I heard about Kajitsu, it's all vegetarian menu right?

[uwsister]

Yep!

[foodwhisperer]

Kajitsu is excellent "temple" style kaiseki, gives you the feel of Kyoto. Excellent dishes and service.

[Dr3wLA]

Would you consider Kyo Ya better than Kajitsu? I ask because i think I'll only be able to go to one of the two.

[stonemit]

Can't go wrong with either. Kajitsu is more shojin ryori, i.e., vegetarian cooking they would serve at buddhist temples, while Kyo Ya is the more typical Kyoto vegetable heavy (but not exclusive) kaiseki style cuisine (though they do throw in some unconventional western ingredients). Personally, for fine dining, I would go with Kyo Ya or Sugiyama but a place like Aburiya Kinnosuke always has a bunch of really hard to find japanese delicacies.

Also second 15 east. That along with sushi azabu and yasuda are far and above the top 3 sushiyas in the city, in my experience. In contrast, I order delivery from hatsuhana to my office.

[Charles Yu]

Tori Shin! Nothing as good as that in LA?!