NYC Restaurant Reviews

Our New York City restaurant reviews

JAX B-B-Q, Hells Kitchen, NYC + Come From Away

We stopped in at JAX BBQ before heading to see the amazing musical,  Come From Away, that takes place following the September 11 attacks telling a true story of the people on the planes that landed unexpectedly in the small town of Gander, Newfoundland. For a complete review of the show, click here. As their guest, we sampled as much of JAX offerings as feasible. Realize that some food photos contain only a partial portion. Starters include southern delicacies like Bayou alligator fritters ($14.95), that are not to be missed. Having eaten alligator many times before, I knew how good these fritters were - as the meat was not rubbery at all [...]

By |2018-04-11T16:11:31-04:00April 10th, 2018|NYC Restaurant Reviews, Theatre|0 Comments
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The Palm Too, Midtown East, NYC

It wasn't for the food that we headed to Palm Too for lunch; instead, it was to see the new caricature of my friend's late husband on the wall of the restaurant he often frequented. Her daughter-in-law had made the arrangements. I arrived first and was greeted warmly as I walked in, which is Palm Too's MO as they treat guests like family. I mentioned how I was looking for a new face on their wall; the manager walked me through a couple dining rooms to the back one not being used that day for lunch right to the wall. When my friend arrived, I took some photos to capture [...]

By |2018-04-07T09:16:23-04:00April 8th, 2018|NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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Tudor City Steakhouse, Midtown East, NYC

Walking east on the north side of 42nd Street from Second Avenue, look for the stairs to walk up to Tudor City Steakhouse. I had been to this location in one of its previous incarnations, specifically L'Impero. Weather permitting, this new bi-level restaurant will also have al fresco dining. As guests of the steakhouse, we tried to sample many items often asking for small portions so not to waste. When you look at my photos realize that many are half portions! My friend requested the sizzling strip of extra thick bacon ($6.95/slice) to start along with the not-to-be-missed yellow corn Venezuelan open tamale ($11.95) with roasted diced corn and zucchini. For [...]

By |2018-04-08T11:43:08-04:00April 5th, 2018|NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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Mani in Pasta, Gramercy, NYC

After learning Mani in Pasta didn't yet have a liquor license, I stopped in at Trader Joe's wine shop across 14th Street before heading to the second location of this Roman-style pizza and Cucina restaurant, which had a soft opening in December. This little gem is easy to miss if you're not looking. As their guests, we were greeted by chef  Giuseppe Manco and his partner Pietro Toscano as if we arrived at their home. We were told to sit back and relax and they would feed us. We started with a medley of lightly coated then deep-fat fried zucchini flower, potato croquette, mozzarella cheese, frittatina (fried pasta with ham [...]

By |2018-03-04T17:12:34-05:00April 3rd, 2018|NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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Piccola Strada, East Village, NYC + Rosemary and Time

Piccola Strada a tiny Genovese restaurant across from the theatre where we were attending a performance of Rosemary and Time came highly recommended by more than one friend. It's a BYOB place with a mere $5 corkage fee. Our waiter offered suggestions. We might have been better off if we hadn't listened to him. We started with the Carciofini Al Forno, artichokes hearts sprinkled with parmesan cheese and olive oil then baked ($11). Nicely done, but nothing special. Same goes for their Ossobuco Di Manzo of very tender beef shank braised in red wine accompanied by tender gnocchi all in in a bolognese sauce ($22). My least favorite was one of the specials [...]

By |2018-03-14T10:40:47-04:00March 28th, 2018|NYC Restaurant Reviews, Theatre|Comments Off on Piccola Strada, East Village, NYC + Rosemary and Time
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Red Farm, Upper West Side, NYC + Admissions

Red Farm's chef Joe Ng had just been nominated by the James Beard Foundation as this year's "Best Chef in New York City" making me even more excited to head to the UWS location of this Chinese restaurant. We got to the 77th Street location early as we had ticket to see a Jessica Hecht ensemble performance at Lincoln Center. It wasn't until after we arrived that I learned that my dining partner was a dear friend of owner Ed Schoenfeld, who then proceeded to send us out some goodies. My favorite of the evening was the first dish that Ed sent. They call it a bruschetta, but there's no bread. [...]

By |2018-03-14T10:41:46-04:00March 26th, 2018|NYC Restaurant Reviews, Theatre|0 Comments
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Fig & Olive Uptown, Upper East Side, NYC

After shopping at Saks for two mother-of-the-groom dresses for my friends from CT, both of whose sons were getting married, we looked for something nearby to grab a bite. I made a reservation at the uptown location of Fig & Olive as we were walking there. Our meal and libations were just what we were looking for. One friend began with the tart and sweet Rossellini ($15) made with passion fruit vodka and blood orange and lime juices; the El Matador ($14) made with tequila and rum, plus lime juice, a cilantro syrup and muddled jalapeños that I had packed a potent punch! The refreshingly healthy quinoa salad ($15) topped [...]

By |2018-04-29T14:58:21-04:00March 24th, 2018|NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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Kubeh, West Village, NYC + Relevance

Kubeh refers to a Middle Eastern dumpling that I had read about being offered in my hood at a restaurant by the same name. We stopped by on the way to the Lucille Lortel to see one of our favorite actresses Jayne Houdyshell (who had won a Tony nomination for Dolls House 2, and a Tony for her Humans performance). This time she was an angry feminist in Relevance. The noise level at Kubeh was deafening once we passed the bar and into the dining room. We ordered some drinks and a couple of items from the meze part of their menu. The chunks of chilled roasted eggplant, pomegranate arils and fresh mint [...]

By |2021-02-22T20:55:46-05:00March 22nd, 2018|NYC Restaurant Reviews, Theatre|0 Comments
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Sorbillo, Bowery, NYC

Word has it Italians stand in hour-plus lines at Sorbillo's Naples and Milan locations, like New Haveners wait for Pepe's. Sorbillo pizza, that arrived in NYC just before the new year, has gotten rave reviews for it's soupy, very wet in the middle pies. New Yorkers can't pick up and fold these slices, they may need a knife and fork! I was invited to sample their fare. While our pizzas were cooking, we started with their tender potato gnocchi I had heard so much about. This one in the style of Sorrentino ($19) with fresh mozzarella and tomatoes. We also sampled the garlicky escarole with olives and a smidgen of chili [...]

By |2018-03-14T10:41:28-04:00March 20th, 2018|NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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Black Ant, East Village, NYC

The Black Ant is not like most other Mexican restaurants, except Temerario another one of Jorge Guzman Hospitality's fabulous places. They had invited me to try their outstandingly unusual and delicious offerings with matching cocktails. I started with perfectly balanced Mexican clover with reposado tequila, jalapeño agave with pineapple and lime juices in a Tajin (chile peppers, lime and salt) rimmed glass ($13), my dining partner tried the smoky jalapeño margarita made from silver infused tequila, Cointreau, lime and orange juices with a rim of Black Ant salt ($12). Don't miss the unusual Black Ant guacamole ($14), traditional guac with green apple, sesame seeds, lots of fleshy pomegranate arils and [...]

By |2018-02-10T09:30:08-05:00March 18th, 2018|NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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Taboon for Brunch, Hell’s Kitchen, NYC

Taboon is one of my go-to restaurants in Hell's Kitchen as I love their mezza but had never been for brunch. We both started with cocktails, me with a reasonably priced Aperol Spritzer ($12), my friend the Tipsy Brambel ($16) a blend of Ketel One, flavored with sage, lemon juice and blackberries, then topped with club soda. We split their brunch sambusak ($14), Taboon's fabulous bread stuffed with feta cheese, jalapeño peppers, chopped onions and a hard-cooked egg. Unusually delicious. We liked the Turkish shashooka ($19) even more. That came with two eggs cooked in a fresh tomato ragout with ground lamb, Swiss chard and chickpeas. We wiped out every last drop [...]

By |2018-08-04T09:57:32-04:00March 17th, 2018|NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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Estiatorio Milos, Midtown, NYC + In The Body of The World

The best way to experience the pricey Estiatorio Milos down the street from City Center is to order their reasonable prix-fixe menu. Their pre-theater menu, served between 5:00-6:00 pm, offers three courses for $55, containing both the Faroe Islands sustainable organic salmon my friend ordered a la carte for $49 and the grilled Mediterranean Octopus, I ordered for $29. But wait, I'm getting a bit ahead of myself. We ate there wanting to be close to the theater where we were seeing In the Body of the World as it was quite cold out. The restaurant is known for their fish, their pricey fish. As you can see from the fish-0n-ice photo, [...]

By |2018-03-30T07:17:24-04:00March 14th, 2018|NYC Best Bites, NYC Restaurant Reviews, Theatre|0 Comments
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Lucciola, Upper West Side, NYC + Parisian Woman

I was invited to Lucciola, a new restaurant uptown on 90th street and Amsterdam Avenue. My friend and I headed there after seeing an amazingly good production of The Parisian Woman. The buzz was they play wasn't very good, but Uma Thurman's performance was worth seeing. My Tony-voting friend and I loved both the play, the current references to that man in The White House and all the performances. I highly recommend! For a complete review on TheaterPizzazz, click here. When we arrived at Lucciola, my friend ordered a classic Sazerac ($12) and I asked to sample their Santa Clara ($12). I was told they didn't have any mezcal but [...]

By |2018-03-16T08:48:53-04:00March 12th, 2018|NYC Restaurant Reviews, Theatre|0 Comments
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Brooklyn Diner, Theater District, NYC + Cardinal

Knowing that diners are generally a good option for breakfast/brunch, we decided to try the theater location of the Brooklyn Diner as it was down the street from the Second Stage theatre. That's where we were seeing a matinee of the Cardinal, a 90-minute play where Anna Chlumsky and Adam Pally— as the characters in Greg Pierce’s new play — literally paint their town red. We sat at a booth in this nostalgic diner-style space. In an ice tea mode, I tried Brooklyn Diner’s version of the Long Island ice tea! Quite good. We both ordered the hearty New Yorker Breakfast ($25) of eggs over easy with crispy bacon, a toasted everything [...]

By |2018-02-01T11:22:54-05:00March 10th, 2018|NYC Restaurant Reviews, Theatre|0 Comments
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Machiavelli, Upper West Side, NYC

Machiavelli offers classic Northern Italian cuisine along with live music for brunch and dinner. We decided to go for dinner — I was greeted by a masked server in costume, as I had arrived in the midst of the Venice Carnival celebration. That particular night the performance was the opera with the New Camerata. We arrived early enough (at least we thought) to enjoy our meal prior to the performance, starting with cocktails. I tried the Paolo Uccello cocktail named after the Italian artist, whose work adorn the restaurant walls. This refreshing cocktail is made with Hornitos Reposado Tequila, Solerno blood orange liqueur, fresh blood orange and lime juices with fresh rosemary [...]

By |2018-03-16T09:13:49-04:00March 8th, 2018|NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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Bar Six, West Village, NYC

When I dined at Periyali, I learned that their group had a number of other restaurants including Bar Six that is in my hood. I looked forward to sampling it. I glanced at the menu before heading there and noticed a couple of Moroccan options including a tagine, vegetable couscous and my favorite  — Bisteeya. I knew that dish well as I had recreated it after attending a cooking class by Moroccan-guru Paula Wolfert for the New Haven Register  (NHR) when I was the food editor. I remember fastidiously making the multi-layer classic Moroccan chicken pie in phyllo sprinkled with cinnamon confectioners' sugar. That resulting dish was fabulous. (After scheduling this post, I added [...]

By |2018-03-01T13:50:27-05:00March 4th, 2018|NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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L’Artrusi, West Village, NYC

Lucky me to be invited to L'Artrusi for a party, a "20th Birthday Dinner, 10th-year Anniversary Edition" — AKA a  30th birthday. Everything on the extensive menu was served family style. For apps, we shared two dishes I'd go back for: roasted mushrooms and pancetta topped with a fried egg then shredded ricotta salata. And, charred octopus with potatoes, olives, chilies, pancetta and seared lemons. I skipped the beef carpaccio (to me that's playing Russian roulette!). I also recommend each of the pasta courses — orecchiette with sausage, salumi and grated cheese; tagliatelle bolognese and bavette vongole, linguine with clams in a light white wine sauce sprinkled with breadcrumbs. I especially liked [...]

By |2018-03-02T12:03:54-05:00February 26th, 2018|NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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Lodge at Gallow Green, Chelsea, NYC + Flight

The McKittrick Hotel isn't a hotel at all, but the home of the immersive theatre Sleep No More and their latest offering Flight, which just got a rave review from The NYTimes.  This unusual place is located way west in Chelsea between 10th and 11th Avenues on 27th street nestled among the art galleries. This winter, the McKittrick Hotel added brunch to their offerings at the rooftop restaurant. I didn't make it for brunch but did go for dinner one evening. I also experienced Flight, a story of two young orphaned brothers who embark on a desperate odyssey to freedom and safety done in a multi-level rotating minutely detailed diorama that you watch while seated in your [...]

By |2018-03-02T08:35:49-05:00February 24th, 2018|NYC Restaurant Reviews, Theatre|0 Comments
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Lotus Blue, Union Square, NYC

I tried to think of a place to grab a bite as close to my home as possible as one friend was hurting. That's how we ended up at Lotus Blue near Union Square. We each chose one dish. I picked hot and sour soup ($10), which was neither as hot nor as sour as I make at home or enjoy at other Chinese restaurants. I did like that they presented the soup family-style with a ladle for serving. Another selected shrimp with egg foo young ($23). That dish contained six tender, not overcooked, shrimp mixed with eggs.  Think shrimp omelet. We all wanted something green in our final selection, [...]

By |2018-01-14T12:00:57-05:00February 19th, 2018|NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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JeJu Noodle Bar, West Village, NYC

Jeju Noodle Bar — named for a Korean island known for their farmed pork and fresh seafood — serves the Korean version of ramen called ramyun plus some appetizers. It's located in the former Nighthawk's space. I must admit, I had to ask my server to explain everything as I hadn't a clue about what the menu offerings were. Since many of their appetizers included raw fish that I do not eat, I was able to narrow down the selections. We shared — and  I do highly recommend — the Gochjank Bokum $9 - a nicely spiced appetizer with slightly spicy chopped beef with shredded lettuce and pickled mustard over [...]

By |2018-01-15T07:04:51-05:00February 15th, 2018|NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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