Restaurant recco for east side midtown NYC?

Liz and I have a night or two in New York City in about a month. We'll be staying in mid-town east. Does anyone have a favorite restaurant in the area?

Hi Jon,

I live in the neighborhood and have a fairly decent knowledge of the dining places in the area.

What are your preferences – i.e. cuisine, budget, ambiance, how far would you want to stray away from where you will be staying. Just as an fyi, there’s a couple of good Italian in the area that still allows BYOB without corkage.

Also, let me know if you’re interested in an offline while you are here, or perhaps even generate interests from other WLDG locals to join. One caveat is that the wife and I are also off travelling away near the end of March.

Cheers.

Ramon Cabrera

As Ramon said, lots of possibilities. Let us know your preferences and we can be more precise.

And as Ramon said, if you were interested in an offline, let us know (of course, if you only have a night or two everyone understands if you prefer dinner for two).

a few random thoughts:

With tough economy a few places are extending the Restaurant Week deals ($35 dinners). Oceana is doing it, we were there and enjoyed it a couple of weeks ago. Plus they are offering 20% off bottles under $100, 30% off over $100 (the Huet Constance is already at low retail, if you want to splurge on a sweet wine). I think Vong is also offering that deal, though I haven't been in years and have heard some mixed things. I like Aquavit, if you want to splurge, it's different from any other place I've been.

Peking Duck House does that dish well, $10 corkage. Phoenix Garden is good Cantonese, no corkage charge. Sip Sak, good Turkish, although a little weird service wise.

Ramon lives in area and is probably more atune to good stuff there (lots of expense account restaurants, he knows the neighbor places better, with finds like Fabios). . I would say that it's very easy to jump on Lex local (6) and get down to Madison Park/Gramercy area, or East Village, to expand options.

If you want to splurg a little, recommend Sparks Steak House on E 46th. We had an offline with a group including Thomas there a few years ago. It was wonderful.

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Thank you for the reccos, Carl, Dale and Ramon.
We like all the major foods styles and price isn't a problem for a quick trip like this - after all it's New York City!
As far as an offline goes, we'll be there on a Sunday and Monday, March 15th and 16th which may present a problem; and my brother-in-law and his wife and 6 year old are coming in on the 16th.
I'll check this post off and on up until the 10th of March or so.

Dale has provided some very good suggestions. He gets around here so often that I may need to ask Dale for some good places to try out. Anyway, it’s been a couple of years since we went, but Aquavit (http://www.aquavit.org) is a good Scandinavian-food place. They still have a tasting menu at $88 pp.

Dale's suggestion of Peking Duck House (http://www.pekingduckhousenyc.com) on 53rd Street between 2nd and 3rd Ave, is excellent as they serve, imho, the best Peking Duck in the city. My Chinese friends all prefer this midtown version to the one at their downtown Chinatown location.

Phoenix Garden (http://www.thephoenixgarden.com) on 40th Street between 2nd and 3rd Ave is our “go to” place when we need a solid Cantonese food and where we can BYOB without corkage. Their version of the Peking Duck is not up there with PDH, but is a definite step up when compared to other Chinese in the neighborhood.

There is a relatively newer Turkish place, a little more of a splurge than SipSak, called Ali Baba on 2nd Ave and 46th Street. I’ve not been but I live on the same street and I can tell that it packs in the customers on almost all nights. http://www.alibabaturkishcuisine.com

There are 3 major steak places in the area that I am familiar with:
Sparks as suggested by Carl is a NYC institution and, in my limited steakhouse experience, has one of the better wine list that I've come upon.
The Palm, along 2nd Avenue between 46th and 45th Street, has good steaks (I like the porterhouse at Sparks more) but has the better lobster dish. Wine list is nowhere near as good as Sparks.
Smith & Wollensky on 3rd Ave and 49th Street is OK but which I would rank third. They have a Smith & Wollensky Grill at the ground floor which is more like an “informal” dining pub setting and serves less than the full steak menu as they do at the main dining hall. The hamburger at the Grill, I think, is really good and definitely not as much of a splurge as a steak dinner.
There’s also Michael Jordan Steakhouse that’s located in Grand Central Station (42nd Street and Lexington).

There are 3 Italians that we like in the area:

Fabio Piccolo Fiore (http://www.fabiopiccolofiore.com ) on 44th Street between 2nd and 3rd Ave is a good Italian that is gaining some popularity. We’ve enjoyed off lines at this restaurant. The Veal Chop, some pasta dishes and the gnocchi are worth the trek. If you are thinking of going, and would like to BYO without the $25 per corkage fee, PM me and I will give you the appropriate contact information and other specifics and perhaps get the corkage waived.

Convivio (http://www.convivionyc.com) at Tudor City Place, between 1st and 2nd Ave. used to be the old L’Impero Restaurant. This is fast becoming a destination Italian restaurant in the city, especially since it is a re-incarnation of the old l’Impero but in a less formal atmosphere, while keeping the highly–regarded Chef Michael White at the helm, plus being highly-praised by the NY Times resident reviewer.

For a more informal setting, but one that’s reminiscent of informal restaurants in Tuscany, Cipolla Rossa on 1st Ave between 60th and 61st Street is a gem that specializes on Tuscan dishes. This is a BYOB place (as far as I know they are still waiting for their license). An added bonus goes to those who like game dishes, ie. rabbit , wild boar, venison and whatever else that they may have on special. Some pasta dishes are pretty good, too.

There are a ton of Japanese in the area, with arguably one of best NYC sushi place at Yasuda (http://www.sushiyasuda.com ) on 43rd Street between 2nd and 3rd Ave.. This is very popular with locals and advanced reservation is necessary. If you decide to go, try to request the seats by the counter in front of Yasuda-san himself. He’s very engaging and it’s always a treat to watch the master at work.

The only notable destination seafood place that I can suggest in the area is Grand Central Oyster Bar (http://www.oysterbarny.com/oysterbar/html/index2.htm ) in Grand Central Station. Admittedly, I’m not that enthused about the place but I remember liking their seafood chowder and their robust choices of oysters.

For NY bagels. Ess-A-Bagel (http://www.ess-a-bagel.com ), another popular NYC establishment, on 3rd Ave and 50th Street should amply provide the gamut of NYC bagel experience.

Re Offline: I’m still available for, and can help set up, an offline on any of those nights. It is certainly understandable about the difficulty of doing this on your end, especially given your tight schedule.

Also, as Dale mentioned, if there’s other area in Manhattan that you would need suggestions for, please do not hesitate to ask.

Enjoy.

Ramon

Great comprehensive job, Ramon! I totally agree on the Chinese places. PDH is for the duck, and PG does good duck, but better other stuff, so why get duck there if you can go to PDH?

Jon, there's no pressure for an offline. I think everyone totally understands if you want couple/family time. But if you were interested, it's actually generally easier (from a restaurant angle) to arrange things on a Sun-Wed, Fri and Sat (and to a lesser extent Thursdays) are harder to negotiate corkage. Sundays are great offline nights!

Not much to add to Ramon's list. Of course, where you are makes a difference. Midtown East is a fair sized area, and if you are at 42nd/Lex, 50/Madison, or 57th/1st makes a difference wht is local (much of midtown West is closer to Madison than Sutton Place or 1st are).

Sparks is cool, good wine list, and mob history! Another steak place is Mortons (they give us good corkage deals), but like the Palm or S&W, why go to places that are found elsewhere?

If you want old-style French, le Perigord is a possibility, though it seemed tired last time I was there, I think it had a facelift since.

Hi Jon,

I used to live at 54th and 5th and one of my favorite restaurants in that neighborhood is Molyvos. Excellent Greek food (actually better than a lot of places in Greece) and great atmosphere and service. Prices are fairly reasonable by NYC standards. Have a good time!

*Edit - Now that I re-read the subject line I think Molyvos may be considered more Central midtown than East midtown.

Molyvos is Midtown West, but as noted, if Jon were staying at say 52/Mad, he's closer to Molyvos (55th & 7th) than many others we mentioned. A good suggestion, maybe the best Greek food I've ever had (Est. Milos around corner is very good for seafood, but the market pricing can make it tremendously expensive). Owned by same family as Oceana (http://www.Molyvos.com)
Cool mostly Greek wine list, too. Besides dinner, there's a nice bar area with sofas and comfy chairs, nice place to have a glass of Greek wine and some meze (or is the Greek mezedes?)

Wow - what a collection of suggestions. As my name implies good Scandinavian food is always nice to try, but on the other hand, I’ve had a taste for a nice bottle of Retsina recently. This list will take some studying and cross referencing with Opentable.com.

Jon,
you might also try menupages.com
Not a reservation site, but will have menus for restaurants that don't use OT reservations. Generally a little faster than linking to websites if you want a quick glance at type of food. That said, I find the comments/ratings sections of menupages totally useless. For every useful comment there's a blatant fake from owner praising it, a fake pan from a competitor, or a comment from an idiot (an upscale Mexican restaurant didn't have sour cream, etc).

Jon, you might also try menupages.com.

I will, Dale. I really do like Opentable for the points, it's worlwide span and I've never eaten at a bad Opentable restaurant. I don't know how many $100 dinning checks they've sent me. And the really come along fast if one goes to the 1,000 point places for lunch 5 days a week.

Oh, menupages is not a substitute for OT. I too am a fan of OT (and especially of the bonus points!). It's just a good NYC resource if you wanted to check out menus for a place that doesn't have it's own website ( like my favorite Afghan, Indonesian, etc).

Oh, menupages is not a substitute for OT.

Thank for setting me straight, Dale.

Also, let me know if you’re interested in an offline while you are here, or perhaps even generate interests from other WLDG locals to join. One caveat is that the wife and I are also off travelling away near the end of March.

If it's not too late, Liz and I would love to take you up on your offer for a NYC offline on Sunday the 15 of this month. I'm not sure yet what time we'd be getting in but I expect we'll be there by late afternoon. We'll go anywhere, of course, but we're staying the mid-town east area.

Hope to hear from you.

I just skipped over here to add the Modern to list of possibilities. Not actually Midtown East, it's a half block into "West" (100 yards west of 5th on 53rd). We had dinner last night, I really was impressed. The view of the MOMA sculpture garden is fun, and the dishes were all intricate without being precious or overcomplicated. There's a bar area that is cheaper, but very popular (and loud) even on a Wed.

Hope the offline can work out. If so, I'm in, though sadly Betsy is in NC for concerts. I'll see if Ramon is ok with this, then we can figure out venue. I can alert some WLDGers who might not watch this forum.

Hi Jon,

I’m good for an offline on the 15th. I’m glad to know that Dale’s on board with this, as well.

Marina, due to work commitment, will not be able to join.

Do you want to stay within the midtown east area? As I noted in my earlier response, I know of 3 choices where we can BYOB corkage-free and have some good food:

- Phoenix Garden – Cantonese dishes
- Cipolla Rossa – an informal Italian serving Tuscan
- Fabio Picollo Fiore – a slightly upscale serving general Italian dishes

In case you’e OK with venturing into other neighborhood for non-Italian, there’s a very casual French bistro called La Sirene (http://www.lasirenenyc.com) specializing in Mediterranean/Southwest French. This would be in the Soho/West Village area.

In the Upper East Side, 92nd Street and Madison, there’s a very good neighborhood American comfort food restaurant called Square Meal (http://www.squaremealnyc.com) where we recently enjoyed a very good dinner.

If you’re into kebabs, we recently had a fun, informal and very good QPR dining offline at Afghan Kebab House in Clinton/Hell’s Kitchen.

Dale … thoughts?

Let us know your preference asap so that we can make the arrangements. I’m perfectly OK and will be happy with any restaurant at this point.

Thanks.

Ramon

PS: I second Dale's suggestion of The Modern in the MOMA. We've only been to the Modern once, but have been to the more informal Bar Room at the Modern (the adjacent casual dining room of the Modern) quite a few times and have had excellent experiences all times.

Do you want to stay within the midtown east area?

We have no trouble getting out of the midtown east area.

I’m perfectly OK and will be happy with any restaurant at this point.

We are, too. We have no food preferences and trust in your selection. Where and when is all we need to know. We're looking forward to meeting fellow WLDGers.

Any of Ramon's suggestions are fine with me. I like Midtown East (as I come in via Grand Central), but am happy anywhere in Manhattan. I like Phoenix Garden, and food has good options for a variety of whites and reds. I really enjoyed both Fabio Picollo Fiore and La Sirene, Don't know other 2,but would be fine with me.

I'll start an offline thread as this might get lost, and alert a few possibles (including Matt, Jeff G, and the real Jay Miller)

I'll start an offline thread as this might get lost, and alert a few possibles (including Matt, Jeff G, and the real Jay Miller)

Yeah, good idea.