I had my friend pick the location for us to dine this time. Avra Madison Estiatorio was the choice. I had been to and enjoyed the Avra on 48th, falling for their stack of sliced thin, lightly breaded and fried zucchini plus their octopus and lavraki (branzino).

We ordered the stack again, even the price had increased $6 since my last visit to $26.75 to accompany our cocktails, which is too pricey for me to order again. We also nibbled their housemade hummus, olives and radishes that were placed on the table with crispy bread.

I sampled the Helios’s Heat as the waiter described it as hot and smoky. The mixture of mezcal, rum and spicy mango ($20) was tasty, yet oddly neither spicy nor smoky.

We opted for the 3-course prix fixe $29.50 meal. Our grilled octopus with onions and capers added $12 to that cost. Sadly when mine was placed in front of me, it had that telltale off-fish smell. My dining partner’s cephalopod was fine; I asked for their crab cake (a $9 supplement) as a replacement. That off-smell stayed with me so I couldn’t look at the octopus again.  The cake was chockful of jumbo lump crab and served with lentils and a mustard-flavored aioli.

As typical at Avra, the branzino was done to perfection.  I took most home as I was full from nibbling too much of the apps!   I also didn’t have room for the delicious baklava (I had that at home!) that came with our 3-course meal.

Avra Madison Estiatorio
Midtown
14 E 60th St
New York, NY
(212) 937-0100