$26-$50 per person
I really love the setup of the restaurant where there is a nice long bar in the first floor with some booth seating. Our dinner was served at the second floor, which you can oversee the first floor. The service is impeccable and the food is delicious, both for the eyes and mouth.
I would recommend and try to get a reservation early!
Website: L’Artusi
Location: 228 W 10th St, New York, NY 10014
Everytime I walk by the waterfront of Jersey City I always marvel at this super modern setup Battello has on the pier. After many remarks of ‘oh we should really go there’, we finally did!
The restaurant sat us outside with a beautiful view of downtown Manhattan.
While the inside was not too shabby either.
On to the main event: the food!
Everything was excellent down to every last crumb along with the service. I got to try out my new (to me) camera and enjoy the modern takes on Italian food. Squid ink pasta? check. Octopus? check. Truffles? check.
Would I go back? Probably! Maybe even bring guests too so we can all enjoy the lovely view at night once the weather warms back up.
Website: Battello
Location: 502 Washington Blvd, Jersey City, NJ 07310
This is my third time going to Sushi Nakazawa so that shows how much I love this place. Now that NYC has opened up indoor dining, I immediately booked a reservation for this restaurant. The following is the first set of nigiris that were all tender and delicious.
I also got the 3 types of uni:
My favorite is.. all of them. I can never say no to uni and none of them have that typical chemical taste you get when you buy from the grocery store. I know I know, you can’t compare grocery store uni with this.
Here is the rest of the nigiri omakase set:
To finish the night, there was tofu creme brulee and the classic egg custard:
How would I describe the whole experience? Definitely worth going back to as another special occasion! Is it worth the bar experience versus the dining experience? That, I am not too sure. I enjoy watching the sushi chefs making the food and I always sit at the bar every time I come. Since I’ve never sat at the dining room, I can’t really comment. If you enjoy watching your food being made, it’s worth the extra 20 dollars!
I have been following this restaurant’s instagram feed since they received their Michelin star. I just can’t resist those perfect uni shots, mouth drooling ramyun, and those sweet sweet seafood hashtags!
I have never been a big fan of NYC Restaurant Week but it is great for discovering restaurants. I have passed by this building many times and never thought there was a restaurant downstairs. It is a very beautiful venue where you enter the bar and lounge area after the winding stairs. The seating in the dining room is spread out, very atypical of a New York City restaurant establishment!
Though the food is not really worth writing home about (other than the perfectly cooked medium rare duck!), it is a great place to have a nice, quiet dinner. No obnoxiously loud music and the waiters are very attentive. Come here and enjoy the ambience.
Tip: This place has 1 dollar oysters during Happy Hour in the bar and lounge area. Perfect for midtown slurping after work!
Union Square Cafe reopens in Gramercy/Flatiron district and it looks brand spanking new and classy as hell! There are two bars, downstairs and upstairs and two levels of table seating area.
Tip: The Lamb Shank is a great dish to share. It is this humongous piece of meat on bone with a side of perfectly cooked fingerling potatoes and arugula.
I have never been to a modern Indian restaurant until this one. I really enjoyed every dish but the portions are a bit small. It is probably a good idea to order a few appetizers and and a main course per person. You will be able to try out different things this way.
Drinks wise, I really like the double insulated cups! The cocktails are good but the mixes are a bit inconsistent.
Tip: Try to arrive before 1pm on the weekend. It gets pretty busy!
Tip: Go for the ‘mini’ version of the soba and dinner sets if you want to try everything.
My two favorite things: the asparagus wrapped pork belly and the pumpkin and sweet potato ice cream. Wrapping asparagus in anything meat related will get me to eat it. Otherwise, I would never order asparagus by itself.
Why was the ice cream a favorite? There was a small potato in the parfait!! And it worked! Imagine eating a really sweet cold boiled potato with your ice cream. I kid you not, it was so good!