bar room @ the modern

new york, ny

website

the modern is the super fancy restaurant attached to the MOMA. derek thinks its overrated and overpriced. fortunately, the casual "bar room" at the modern is much better and more reasonably priced, though still expensive. fellow food blogger m was visiting, so we decided to splurge on lunch at the bar room before viewing the special tim burton exhibit at the MOMA (which was wonderfully creepy).

the menu is divided into three parts. the first is soups and salads, the second is seafood and pasta, the third is meat. i tend to choose one each from the first two parts, so i can save room for the bar room's amazing desserts. i started with the mushroom soup which is served with fried chorizo dumplings. second course - scallops with pear slices and beets. for dessert, we shared the beignets with three dipping sauces - caramel sauce, mango chutney, and maple ice cream. as part of danny meyer's empire, the bar room has fantastic service. a bug drowned in the remnants of my lychee soda. i didn't say anything to the waitress about it - but she saw the bug, apologized profusely, and comp'ed both the lychee soda and my chamomile tea!