Manhattan Recs

I'm heading to N.Y. for business during election week and need some breakfast, lunch and dinner recs. I'll be based around the 500 block of Madison Avenue. I don't have the N.Y. geographics down since I've only been there a few times. I intend to make a visit to Katz's, anything else that I should not miss in the area or a $10 cab ride away?

I was in NYC three weeks ago, and rediscovered an elegant soul food place - Jezebel. I don't remember the exact address, and its signage is minimal, but it's just west of the theater district, around 9th and 45th. Try to get a table with a porch swing.

Can you be more specific as to what you're looking for? I used to work at 520 Madison, and there are plenty of choices in the area.

If you're not sure walk East on 53rd St, between 2nd and 3rd there are LOTS of great restaurants one next to the other.

BTW, there is no 500 block of Madison Ave., 500-600 covers a span of 5 blocks.

Fortunately for you, Bacchus, you are in one of the truly great fine dining areas in New York. I worked in that area for a number of years and had some of the first truly great meals that I ever ate in that neighborhood.

Since you're on business, I hope that you're also on a good expense account because the neighborhood's better offerings can also be quite pricey. As I thought of your request, I asked myself, if I were to win an all expense paid trip to New York, and could eat wherever I want as long as I was north of 50th Street, South of Central Park and east of Fifth Avenue. Here's what I came up with by preference:

1. One of the great old dames remaining from New York's glory days of fine french dining is Le Grenouille at 3 East 52nd. It is one of those terribly expensive places that everyone should eat once. Fortunately, they have a three course business lunch that costs $37.50. It's a good value for what you get and a great opportunity to eat at a place that's been regularly heralded as one of New York's finest for over 40 years.

2. The neighborhood has some great Indian places. They're more white table cloth than Devon Avenue. Many offer an extremely reasonably priced lunch buffet. Some of the names that you'll want to look out for are Aji and Dawat. My favorite is Chola which rates consistently high on food quality. The buffet there runs around $15.

3. Shun Le Palace is considered by many to be New York's finest Chinese. It is located at 155 E. 55th. The food is excellent. The service is impeccable. The tab will probably be considered high for Chinese. An Alternative might be Peking Duck House at 236 E 53rd. It is more reasonable and is the sister of a well known Chinatown place by the same name. The crispy duck is what you go for.

4. The first really great meal I ever ate in New York was at Il Menestrello on 52nd Street across from the Omni. I had been working in New York for about two weeks and was experiencing some home sickness when my boss back in North Carolina gave me the ok to treat myself to a great dinner in the city. Il Menestrello was right across the street from my hotel. The quality of the food, the wine selection and the service was like nothing that this country boy had ever experienced before.

5. Late night eats can be had quite reliably at Brasserie at 100 E. 53rd. Where else can one get french onion soup or braised short ribs at one in the morning. Prices are pretty reasonable at this old warhorse of the manhattan dining scene.

6. Cheap eats. There's a rule of thumb. In midtown, Places located between Park Avenue and Eighth Avenue largely cater to tourists and are generally more expensive than places east of Third Avenue and West of Eighth.

Within the midtwon area there's a great local chain that originated downtown in Chelsea and has recently opened a store in midtown called F&B (Franks and Beignets). It's a european style food stand specializing in danish style hot dogs, frites and mini-beignets. It's a really good way to get a cheap meal for under $10 in Manhattan.

During the day, I encourage you to check out the underground concourse mall under the Rockefeller Center at Fifth and 51st. There is a takeout place there called Savories that operates a high quality cafeteria option that you can take advantage of for lunch of dinner. Simply enter Rock Center at Fifth and 51st, take the escalator and one additional set of stairs down and you are in the underground mall. Breakfast and/or lunch for under $10 is the norm here.

7. For amazing fresh sushi, I love Sushi Ann at 38 E. 51st. The fish is pristine. The service can be spotty and the bill will rival one at Heat or Katsu.

8. Finally, though its outside of my defined territory, take a stroll down Madison to Grand Central at 42nd Street. The Oyster Bar is located in the basement of Grand Central. watch for the signs as you enter. To me there's nothing more perfect than a hand selected plate of oysters from their extensive menu and a well mixed cocktail for a simple, elegant and moderately inexpensive dinner.

Note: I like Jezebel an awful lot. But find the tab a bit pricey for glorified soul food.

Good eating!!

Wow! Thanks for all the tips...I intend to focus on those food types that are not well represented here in Chicago, so I probably will not be seeking Thai or Mexican for example. I will definitely check out Grenouille and some of the others recommended. BTW, our N.Y. office is 575 Madison Avenue.

OK, Bacchus. If you're looking for chow worthy places serving food that you canot get in Chicago, try Rinconcito Peruano at ninth Avenue and 54th Street. It will be a mile to mile and a half cross town westward walk from your offices there.

They serve very authentic Peruvian food (truly better than the often terrible Rinconcito Sudo Americano here in Chicago). Most dishes are under $15. Two things from the menu stand out in my memory:

Pescado al Ajo: deep fried chunks of fish served over rice withb a creamy garlic sauce. Really huge portion.

Bisteck a Lo Pobre: Julienned strips of steak cooked with hot peppers and onions, served over rice with fried banana and topped with a fried egg.

This place is absoutely a find in Manhattan.


Here's a link to their menu:

http://www.menupages.com/PrintableMenus/MW362.pdf

If you're focusing on foods you can't get in Chicago, it would be a shame not to expand your Katz's outing a bit. About a block west on Houston is Russ & Daughters, which the Smithsonian called "part of New York's cultural heritage". I agree. Sample everything in sight. Obvious choices are the fish, especially sable. www.russanddaughters.com

Another few steps west is Yonah Schimmel's famous knish shop, and a couple blocks south on Orchard is Il Laboratoria del Gelato which, along with Otto, is often regarded as the best gelato in Manhattan. Gus's Pickles, the Donut Plant, Teany (vegetarian cafe and tea place run by musician Moby) and Kossar's Bialys (bialys are rarely found outside of NYC area, and GOOD bialys are never found) are all within close walking distance.

I would consider a trip without a visit to Lupa a failure when I'm in Manhattan. I love the place -- neighborhood feel, attentive staff, handshake and "thanks for coming" on the way out. Oh yeah, and solid, solid cuisine. No reservation needed at the bar. The house made salumi is excellent -- I recommend the small sampler (well...I recommend the large one, but my expense account isn't that generous), but if nothing else, get the Testa (head cheese). Gnocchi seems to be a unanimous favorite. Honestly, everything I've had there has been outstanding. www.luparestaurant.com

I also don't leave Manhattan until I've had soup dumplings at Joe's Shanghai in Chinatown. Even better if followed by ice cream from Chinatown Ice Cream factory around the corner.

None of these places are close to your office, but all are well worth the $5 cab fare. (Plus you'll get a taste of several distinct neighborhoods, which is one of the great things about Manhattan).

Again, thanks! So many choices...I may have to find a way to extend my trip

YourPalWill wrote:OK, Bacchus. If you're looking for chow worthy places serving food that you canot get in Chicago, try Rinconcito Peruano at ninth Avenue and 54th Street. It will be a mile to mile and a half cross town westward walk from your offices there.

Not to sound too discouraging, but Rinconcito's gone downhill a lot in recent years. I just moved to Chicago from 48th & 9th, and Rinconcito was one of my favorites in the 'hood, up until a few years ago, when the quality really started to decline. It's still a decent meal, and unique enough to check out, but it's not as brilliant as it once was. If you do decide to go, I implore you to try the chicha morada. It's this really gross-looking but delicious and refresing purple corn drink. No matter how many times I drank it, I always expected the first sip to be nasty, because the stuff just looks weird, and every time, it startled me by being so good.

A couple places worth mentioning near where you'll be working:

Menchanko Tei serves absolutely stunning ramen. (Menchanko Tei)

Burger Joint in the Parker Meridien hotel has excellent burgers (in my opinion, second only to the new Shake Shack in Madison Square Park in the entire city) for about $5 apiece. It's not exactly the most unique meal you'll ever have, but really good for a quick lunch. (Well, a lunch. It does get packed during normal lunch hours.) (Burger Joint) (Shake Shack)

OMS/B is a tiny little shop that serves omusubi (a.k.a. onigiri). These are the little triangles of seaweed-wrapped rice that are hugely popular in Japan. Basically, all this place has is these rice balls, but they have about 20 different varieties, so there are plenty of options. Again, this is a popular lunch spot, with very good reason. (OMS/B) Also nearby is a little Japanese market where you can get okay katsu and other Japanese "fast food," plus all the Pocky you can carry. (Yagura Japanese Grocery)

And one other little thing: no way is a cab to Chinatown from that far up Madison going to be $5. Chinatown Ice Cream Factory, Katz's and the rest of the places mentioned are worth a trip, but it's going to be $10 or more to get there... unless you take the subway, which is easy and which I miss very very much.

By the way, I hope nobody minds me posting links to my own site. The site's a reflection of my own personal tastes, so I'm just sharing the stuff I'd recommend to a friend or anybody else. Hope that's okay.

Thanks for the tips...I have knowledge of the subway system in N.Y....is it an easy shot to Chinatown?

Bacchus wrote:Thanks for the tips...I have knowledge of the subway system in N.Y....is it an easy shot to Chinatown?

Yes, definitely. Take the 6 train on the Lexington (green) line to the Canal Street stop. Chinatown's just a short walk East down Canal from there. Take that same train to Bleecker Street and you'll be very close to Houston Street. It's about a 5-10 minute walk from there to Katz's, Russ & Daughters and Yonah Schimmels.

Thanks again!

That's too bad about Rinconcito Peruano, Stinky. I left New York for Chicago almost three years ago. For about 5 years, it was my favorite lunch place in Hell's Kitchen.

YourPalWill wrote:That's too bad about Rinconcito Peruano, Stinky. I left New York for Chicago almost three years ago. For about 5 years, it was my favorite lunch place in Hell's Kitchen.

Yeah, it's a shame. It was one of my first great chow experiences in NY, and it was a bummer to watch it decline, along with the rest of what was for a short while a truly great food neighborhood. When I moved there in early '98, it seemed there was something interesting to eat on every block. I knew things were headed in the wrong direction, though, when in about 2000 or so, a pretty decent soul food place called Monk's was replaced by -- ugh, it pains me to think of it -- a juice bar! Horrors!!

Grand Sichuan International at 24th and 9th. Spicy, but it's some of the best Chinese food in Manhattan. Dirt cheap and outstanding. Anything with fresh killed chicken is really good, as is tea-smoked duck.

so interesting where everyone focuses for chowing in NYC.

for me, it is ALL about Flushing. Kum Gang San + dumpling shacks off Main St. is where I'm headed the first day. there's also a stand on southside of Roosevelt, just west off Main, that serves "tofu flower" w/ peanuts right out of the cauldron. darn rare sight evocative of my child hood Sundays.

above will be followed by the crepe stand south of Wash Sq Park called Shade to Go as discussed here. run the dog around in Wash Sq Park's dog run, eat wheat nutella crepe!!! in fact, we'll be visiting this shack almost daily for 6 days in a row

at nite, get drunk off yogurt soju @ prince II and or duck's butt back in flushing on Northern

Also, can someone confirm the shake shack @ Mad Sq Park is still open? Otherwise I'm going back to Corner Bistro, followed by the much over-rated Magnolia's for the sake of keeping the gf content.

Got back Thursday from a three day visit to N.Y. Due to time restrictions, I didn't eat out of Midtown. Got to Grand Sichuan for a good lunch (nothing any better than our Chinatown), Peking Duck House for the duck (very good, but too much for one), the grill place across from the Swiss Hotel off of Park Avenue for a good breakfast sandwich, the Grand Central Station Oyster Bar for some decent oysters (Watch Hills, I still prefer Shaw's) and a very good Indian buffet at Chola that cost around $13.

My highlights were a Japanese place called Yattori Torri (?) that specialized in various grilled organic chicken parts on skewers for about $2.50 each. Among others, I tried the chicken thigh, breast. soft knee bone and chicken tails...all very good, served grilled with the option of a salt based seasoning or a soy like sauce (do we have one of these in Chicago?). My most expensive meal was at Town that featured new American cuisine (?)...great looking room where I had a tasty scallop appetizer served in three different preparations and a very good rabbit entree served both as medaillions and ravioli. Both look good enough to photograph, but I had no camera.

Thanks again for all the suggestions!