Sunday, March 31, 2013

Favorite New York Restaurants

My wife J and I are often asked, typically but not always by non-New Yorkers, what are our favorite restaurants in New York. Unlike most New Yorkers, we eat home 3-4 nights a week, but of course we do eat out pretty frequently.

I don’t do reviews of New York restaurants on this blog, but here is a brief list of our favorites. I am not saying that these are the best restaurants in New York, just that they are our favorite places to go, in no particular order (reflecting where and how we live, the fact that we spend a lot of time in Paris, etc.).

American
  • Telepan – solid, imaginative, well-presented; our go-to restaurant
  • Dovetail – similar profile to Telepan’s; love vegetarian menu on Monday night
  • Bar Américain – Bobby Flay’s regional American; noisy but a great place to bring out-of-town, especially foreign, guests
Japanese
  • Sushi Yasuda for sushi – super quality and freshness
  • Soba totto for yakitori and soba – like being in Japan
Greek Estiatorio (Fish)
  • Milos – best fish in NY, incredibly noisy
  • Molyvos – good, less expensive fun place to go
Italian
  • Del Posto – great food, service and décor, an “adult” restaurant where you can be at your ease; our favorite restaurant in NY
  • Caravaggio – excellent, authentic food, also not too noisy
  • Elio's -- reliable and consistent for 35 years, cacaphonous
Chinese
  • Shun Lee Palace – good food and excellent Peking Duck
  • Evergreen Café – really good dim sum on weekends
French
  • Bar Boulud -- great at any time, especially before or after Lincoln Center
  • Cafe Boulud -- consistently excellent, a great buy for lunch
  • Jo-Jo -- Jean George's other place; elegant food without too much fanfare and a stunning value for lunch
Elegant
  • The Modern – great food at the restaurant and imaginative small plates at the Bar
  • Gramercy Tavern – excellent food and service in this other Danny Meyer mainstay
Sandwich
  • Baoguette -- the classic bánh mì sandwich
Portuguese
  • Aldea -- excellent, imaginative food, unfortunately difficult to get a reservation
Mexican
  • Rosa Mexicano -- Reliable upscale Mexican; not Tex- or Cal-Mex
  • Toloache -- Very interesting modern Mexican in theater district
Indian
  • Dawat -- Consistently excellent renditions of Indian cuisine from many regions
Oysters and Fish
  • Oyster Bar at Grand Central -- that's what they do; always perfectly fresh (and the only Manhattan clam chowder worth eating)
  • Ocean Grill, Atlantic Grill -- siblings that serve consistent fresh seafood in simple or interesting preparations at reasonable prices
Category of its Own
  • Rouge Tomate – imaginative, tasty and amazingly healthful fare, with a fascinating wine list
This list speaks as of today. It is subject to change at any time, by virtue of new discoveries or bad experiences, and I'm afraid I can't undertake to keep it updated.

Bobby Jay

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