betony

new york, ny

website

super fancy restaurant in midtown. really expensive. great service. they even have a little bench for your purse to sit, which made my purse very happy. food was good, but nothing memorable. probably not worth the price. sad.

cafe sfa @ saks fifth avenue

new york, ny

link to yelp

it's interesting (sad? amazing?) that so many of my restaurant choices are so close to my shopping choices. back when i worked in midtown east, the girls and i used to frequent saks to shop the sales, to look for wedding dresses, or to just take a break from the daily grind. if the grind was particularly rough that day, we would stop at cafe sfa for some cocktails to unwind - with the beautiful bags and shoes serving as our backdrop. on this trip to nyc, i stopped here to reminisce and ordered the mille feuille. thin layers of crepes with a light cream in between. delicate and delicious - went quite nicely with a glass of chilled prosecco. i highly recommend.

la silhouette

new york, ny

website

it is always a treat to eat with y&a. they know good food and they know good restaurants. and in the case of la silhouette, they also know the owners. which translates into excellent and attentive service (and free freshly baked cookies!) one of the great things about nyc is that there are always new restaurants popping up everywhere and this one happened to pop up right in their hood. convenient. convivial. what's not to love?

i joined y&a for brunch, for which silhouette has an entire section devoted to "hangover sandwiches." i made the dumb decision of ordering a more healthy option (eggs benedict with spinach and salmon, sauce on the side) which was decent, but nothing compared to y's "hot duck" (hot dog with duck sausage - get it?) or a's "short rib brisket burger queen" which were both amazing. even baby n's scrambled eggs (more like scrambled butter) and fries was a better choice. i've learned my lesson for next time.

piano due

midtown, nyc

website

when jenny and i first walked into piano due, we saw a large U-shaped bar, crowded with regulars. some glanced up before looking back down at their drinks. most just ignored us. confused, jenny and i walked out and read the sign outside again. turns out, there's an elevator to the right of the bar that takes you up to the restaurant. the dining room is completely quiet, like you've stepped into another world and the cacophony of midtown melts away into the distance. jenny and i glance around, still feeling unsure and out of place. after a few minutes, a waiter finally greets us and shows us to our table.

white tablecloths. curtains on all the windows. smartly dressed waitstaff. huge list of italian wines. huge menu of italian entrees. dean martin singing in the background. i have no idea how old this restaurant is, but it felt like an old-school new york italian restaurant. the friendly waiter graciously recommended a reasonably priced bottle of red wine. service was very attentive. and the food was classic italian done very well. derek and jenny had amazing pasta dishes. i ordered the raviolo d'imola - soft egg yolk raviolo with ricotta and spinach, topped with black truffle butter. it was so rich that i could only finish one of the two, but delicious all the same. this is definitely the spot to go to if you're looking for a real new york restaurant experience.

quality meats

58(5/6)

website

i suggested to derek that we try quality meats, a midtown steakhouse, because i heard great things about it on the internet. i might have neglected to mention that the great things i heard were that it's female-friendly and that it serves amazing single-serving ice cream cakes. what he doesn't know can't hurt him, right ? i arrived before derek and was led to the back of the restaurant, up some stairs, around a few turns, into a small room with a low ceiling that overlooked the front entrance. the waiter seating me could tell that i wasn't thrilled about the location, but he explained "it's our room for special occasions."

now it's hard to pinpoint exactly why i was placed into the upstairs dungeon for dinner. was it because i made my reservation only 2 hours in advance? because of how i was dressed? or because i'm (gasp) asian? i don't know, maybe the 30 empty tables i passed along the way were truly reserved. regardless, the service we received in that little dungeon was beyond reproach. efficient, friendly, attentive, even poured me a little extra wine to finish a bottle. and the menu is indeed female-friendly. i ordered the hanger steak with cherry sauce, a great combination. the hint of sweetness from the cherries matched perfectly with the steak. and we indeed ordered one of the ice cream cakes, topped with a cute candy cow. will we be back? probably not. my hanger steak was a tad overcooked. plus derek needs more serious steak and for that, we'll head to primehouse.

ma peche

58 (5/6)

website

midtown is known for its fancy white tablecloth restaurants filled with corporate types having expensive (and likely expensed) business lunches. david chang of momofuku fame is known for his downtown east village lowkey hipster restaurants. but ma peche, the newest momofuku venture, is located in a midtown hotel and purports to serve upscale american-french-asian-ish food to the midtown professionals. Y and myself being two midtown professionals (during the week, anyway) decided to check it out, wondering how the momofuku vibe translates to "expense account" dining.

the answer? pretty well. it had some casual touches (chopsticks and sriracha sauce on the tables) mixed with more elegant additions (classy service, fancy settings) - ideal for young professionals not quite ready to completely give into the corporate culture and lifestyle. and the food? amazing. the highlights were the pork belly - perfectly crispy rich fatty melt-in-your-mouth goodness -and a tripe sausage that was phenomenal. the rice noodles and spring rolls were also good, but the meat dishes are where momofuku midtown really shines. it was pricey, so next time it would be great if we had expense accounts ... but for a young professional, it's worth the occasional splurge.

marea

central park south (bway/7th)

website

managed to finally knock another restaurant off of my list of five restaurants to try in 2010 thanks to cindy c and her excellent reservation-making skills. marea is known for amazing seafood and has gotten many rave reviews since it opened in may 2009. it's quite a splurge, but it's worth every penny. they suggest that you do the 4-course prix fixe for $89. but if you're like me, you're full after the pasta course (especially after eating both servings of olive-studded foccacia bread). so i suggest getting one antipasti and one pasta and then dessert only if you still have room.

the antipasti to get? the "astice" - nova scotia lobster, burrata, eggplant al funghetto, and basil. jenny wisely chose this appetizer and graciously let cindy c and i taste some. perfectly cooked lobster melts with the smooth burrata cheese - rich and decadent. although even more rich and decadent is the pasta that you have to order - the fusilli with red wine braised octopus and bone marrow (pictured). the most amazing pasta dish i have ever had - perfectly cooked everything with little nuggets of marrow to send you into foodie nirvana. everything else was good, but ended up being also-rans compared to the lobster and octopus dishes. my recommendation - get the lobster, get the octopus pasta, eat the olive foccacia, and have a glass of wine to cut the richness of the dishes. then skip dessert and enjoy the complimentary chocolates instead.

blue ribbon sushi bar & grill

58th (8/9)

website

y&a know where to eat. they know what to order. follow their lead and you'll never go wrong. derek and i headed up to midtown for an amazing meal at blue ribbon sushi bar and grill. y&a brought the baby, who was doted on by the staff (thus the stroller-friendly tag). service, overall, was super friendly and helpful - standard for a high-end japanese restaurant in the city. we started with melt-in-your-mouth miso marinated black cod, then duck meatball noodle soup. the fried chicken with wasabi honey was also excellent.

my favorite, however, was the bone marrow with teriyaki sauce. so good. while enjoying the deliciousness, we started wondering about who in history first decided to split open bones and roast the marrow. then we started lamenting the thought that there were bones in the world that were going unsplit and unroasted... anyway, derek and i weren't very good at portioning out the marrow for the bread. we had leftover marrow and no more bread. the good news though, is that our next dish was the oxtail fried rice, so we added our leftover to the rice. delicious. decadent. i can't wait to go back!

jewel of india

new york, ny

website

i love indian buffets. i'm not an expert on indian food by any stretch of the imagination, especially since i have a low tolerance for spicy, but i know what i like. i was very excited when jinny picked yet another indian buffet for lunch with y and myself. there are two levels of the restaurant, plus a bar area in front. the first level is for ordering off the menu and the second floor is the buffet. so to the second floor we went.

the first thing i spotted at the top of the stairs was a giant vat of rose ice cream - i made a mental note to save room for dessert. the buffet itself was much spicier than other buffets that i've been to, but i compensated by eating a ridiculous amount of naan. someone was constantly coming by the table with a platter full of fresh naan - how could i resist? again, i have no idea what the specific dishes were, but they were delicious.

charbonnel chocolate cafe

new york, ny

link to yelp

i love this secluded little spot on the 8th floor of saks fifth avenue. walking through any of the high-end department stores is a nice way to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city. and the chocolate cafe in saks is a nice way to get away from the hustle and bustle of the store. there's a fun conveyer belt where you can grab pastries as they pass by. there's also a constantly running chocolate fountain, but it's not within anyone's reach so i think it's just for decoration.

my favorite thing to get here is the "english tea" with english breakfast tea, a white chocolate-cranberry scone, served with clotted cream and jam. quite lovely. derek ordered the mocha - made with their excellent and decadent chocolate - which he really enjoyed. this is a hidden little gem in midtown manhattan.

bombay palace

new york, ny

website

it is difficult to find good places to eat in midtown, if you couldn't tell from my many complaints on this blog. jinny, however, is an excellent source for restaurant recs. and this was another one. this indian buffet is an excellent lunch spot - no wait for a table, you can immediately grab food from the buffet, pleasant atmosphere, and attentive service.

i enjoyed everything on the buffet - from the rice, deep fried veggies, creamy spicy entrees, to the deep fried ball of something sweet that i had for dessert. unfortunately, i don't remember what anything was called. but it was all good.

pj clarke's

new york, ny

website

dorothy had tickets to see der rosenkavalier at the metropolitan opera house in lincoln square. although jenny and i couldn't spare 4.5 hours to enjoy the opera with her, we met up with her for drinks at the empire hotel. we initially tried to meet her at the grand tier restaurant inside the opera house, but a rather stern ticket-taker informed us that we needed tickets to the performance in order to go to the restaurant. no matter, the empire hotel is just across the street from lincoln center and serves excellent (though very strong) drinks. i had an eau de vanessa - grey goose le poire, pear nectar and white grape juice.

after dorothy left for the opera, jenny and i decided we should probably get some food to absorb the alcohol. the original pj clarke's is located in midtown east - it's an old school new york restaurant. you almost expect the bartender to have a handle-bar moustache. the lincoln square location is new, but has a similar feel. we both ordered the burger. definitely old school - they don't tell you where the meat is from, what cut they use, how long the meat has been aged, or where the produce is sourced from. it has a soft white-bread bun, thick beefy patty, melted cheese, lettuce, tomato, and a pickle on the side. a solid and satisfying meal.

ruby foo's

new york, ny

website

ruby foo's is an asian-inspired restaurant in times square. the decor is rather cheesy with random fortune-cookie-like sayings painted on the walls and other asian-y touches. some of the food is good - i like their fried rice. derek and i decided to go to ruby foo's for new year's eve because we wanted to be near times square and all of our other options were completely booked. the new year's eve menu was strange - i had truffled shark fin chowder with you tiao (which they called chinese flatbread despite the fact that it is round and not flat) and filet mignon with "ho fun" lasagna. the you tiao was good, but the soup was not. my filet mignon was good, but the lasagna was terrible.

the highlight, however, was the fact that ruby foo's had a special area outside of the restaurant cordoned off for their guests. they also passed out celebratory hats and noisemakers. at 11:50 pm, derek and i headed outside into the cold to watch the famous times square ball drop and countdown. and at 12:05 am, we headed back into the warmth of the restaurant and enjoyed some champagne while listening to two new york city anthems - frank sinatra's "new york, new york" and jay-z+alicia key's "empire state of mind."

cafe zaiya @ kinokuniya

new york, ny

website

m and i were braving the icebox that was manhattan last week in order to finish up our christmas shopping at bryant park's holiday market. at some point, however, m's toes froze and we decided to seek shelter. fortunately i remembered that kinokuniya (the japanese book and stationary store) recently moved from rockefeller to bryant park. i also remembered that jenny introduced me to cafe zaiya located on the second floor of the bookstore.

it wasn't very crowded, so m and i were able to sit down with our snacks. i had chamomile tea, which was served in a very cool clear tea-pot with an attached cup. i also ordered a strawberry shortcake, which was very tasty. i love asian-style cakes which use whipped cream (instead of frosting) layered between dense sponge cake and fruit. very light and not too sweet. just perfect.

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!

bali nusa

new york, ny

website

my friend y can speak indonesian and i always rely on her when ordering from this restaurant. derek and i went without her once and we ordered the same nasi goreng dish she usually gets - but because we are not indonesian, we ended up with a bland tasteless version. it's really amazing that indonesian food can end up bland and tasteless, but somehow they managed.

therefore i would not recommend going to this place without an indonesian-speaking person. earlier this week, with m visiting from out-of-town, y ordered delivery from bali nusa. after lots of lovely indonesian was spoken, we ended up with curry tofu, spicy eggplant, chicken satay, fried rice, and crispy onion chips. delicious!

burrito box

new york, ny

website

i'm surprised this place even has a website. jenny dragged me all the way across town to try her favorite hole-in-the-wall burrito place. i happened to be carrying a giant binder of documents in my bag so i was constantly getting bumped and pushed trying to order and wait for my food.

of course, such places inevitably have great food. i took a picture of jenny's veggie wrap (with avocado and cheese) because it was much more photogenic than my quesadilla filled with ground beef. but both were tasty and definitely worth the price. $8 for a huge quesadilla (with guac, sour cream, and pico de gallo), plus chips and salsa. my quesadilla was on par with blockheads, but i think jenny's wrap is worth trekking to the west side for.

sweetery

locations

website

since sapporo had such speedy service, jinny and i had time to stop by the street sweets truck before heading back to training. whenever i'm on the west side, i want to try one of the food trucks that i read about on nyc food blogs. so during the morning session of our training, i checked the ML twitter tracker on my blackberry to see which trucks were in our area. that day, the street sweets truck was conveniently parked just a block away from the training site.

thankfully there was no line because jinny and i spent a few minutes asking about every single item in the display case. finally, jinny decided on four petit fours and a cupcake. i got a cup of joe, the pumpkin whoopie pie, and a flourless chocolate walnut cookie. the coffee wasn't very good, which was okay because the desserts were amazing. the whoopie pie was made up of two soft cake-like pumpkin cookies with sweet cream cheese frosting in between. so good, but so sweet that i had to wait a few hours before eating my chocolate walnut cookie, which was deliciously dense and fudgy. both cookies had such rich flavor that i could see them being served as a final dessert plate at any fanchy white-tablecloth restaurant. i love the fact that you can get such high quality treats from a truck!

NOTE: street sweets is now known as sweetery, changed title of post.

sapporo

new york, ny

website

if you're craving ramen, but are stuck in midtown - this is the place to go. this place has been recommended to me by both jinny and eric (both work in midtown west). day 2 of our training and jinny and i needed to get lunch in a hurry again. there was a bit of a line when we arrived at sapporo, but it moved fast. this place clearly caters to the lunching workers who have to get back to their offices within an hour. fast and courteous service - perfect for stressed-out new yorkers.

since i love the shio (salt) ramen at ramen setagaya, i decided to try sapporo's version. the sapporo noodles were properly dense and chewy - like a higher quality version of the instant noodles you can make at home. the broth was much better than instant noodles, of course, but still a little bland. next time i'll order one of the more flavorful broths - like jinny's miso with kimchi. i was quite envious when our neighbors' orders arrived and they had both ordered the thick and porky tonkotsu broth. next time ...

tonic

new york, ny

website

as jinny pointed out, the exterior of this bar/restaurant looks like you're about to walk into a strip club. fortunately, it's just a sports bar with huge television screens. jinny and i only had an hour-long break for our all-day training in midtown west, so we had to find a place that wouldn't be too busy, had comfortable seating, and was close to the training site.

tonic satisfied all three requirements, but i wouldn't pick this place as a food destination. my fish and chips were pretty good and cheap - the fish was surprisingly tender and flaky, but the breading was over-seasoned. i think there are better choices if you have the time to travel to them, but that's pretty much the story of midtown.