Category: New York Restaurant Reviews

70 West 71st Street between Columbus Avenue and Central Park West
212/579.8751
about $100 for two, with two drinks, without tip

After a half bottle of Moillard, we just couldn’t shake off the idea of lamb for dinner. Fortunately, Pasha was around the corner of the wine bar we were in. Even with the coat-check girl’s attitude, (If they find you a table, it will be uncomfortable because you don’t have a reservation.) we enjoyed their grape leaves stuffed with rice, pine nuts and currants. I’m going to have to copy this appetizer, also known as yaprak sarmai. We also shared the artichoke braised in lemon while we devoured their delicious bread in virgin olive oil. For a main course, I don’t think I’ve ever had a better hunkar begendi, baby lamb with puréed grilled eggplant. The smokiness of the eggplant was a great compliment to the tomatoes that were braised with the lamb. The meat was tender but not overdone.

Minus the coat-check girl–there’s a reason why she’s stuck with the coats–the service was notable. Perhaps it was quick because the maître d’ told us he would need our table after an hour even before we were seated but it didn’t feel like the waiters rushed us. They let us enjoy our meal and we actually did.

100 West Houston Street, off Thompson
212/254.7000
about $100 for two, with two drinks, without tip

We needed a table for six during peak dinner hour and Jane called us from a taxi cab on Houston. Seated in the back booth next to the kitchen, we were able to make noise that was way above the hushed tones of the entire restaurant. We started with a bowl of mussels and a plate of calamari. The tarragon in the mussels was a good burst of flavor but the Chardonnay broth was hardly slurpable; it needed some ginger to make it more hearty. My rare yellow fin tuna was excellent, served with spinach, shiitake mushrooms and fingerling potatoes in warm barigoule sauce.

The rib eye steak was very tasty with roasted garlic butter which came with a plate of giant onion rings. Never have I ignored good onion rings because of an even better steak.

On a Thursday night, the special was lamb with pasta that was only so-so but their dessert menu included warm chocolate chip cookies and a glass of cold milk with vanilla gelato that surely sealed the deal: we like Jane.

113 West 116th Street between Lenox and Adam Clayton
212/280.8779
about $60 for two, without drinks, without tip

Chef Carl Redding opened the restaurant a year after his grandmother, Amy Ruth, passed away. They’re not kidding when they say that they offer home-style cooking because you can taste the love in their collard greens and in the gravy of their mashed potatoes. The honey-dipped fried chicken was to die for, flavorful both inside and out. I couldn’t have enough of the crispy skin and even the white meat was tasty.

I looked forward to ordering the spareribs but they were overdone; swimming in sauce and mushy like bad soup. I like my meat when they easily fall off the bone but I also like gnawing on some actual ribs, not softened bones.

They ran out of macaroni and cheese when we visited so we ordered a side of string beans instead which were so overcooked they weren’t crunchy nor buttery. Their fried okra was excellent but as soon as they cooled down, the batter became chewy and inedible. I had two slices of the corn bread and somehow, they made up for the restaurant’s shortcomings.

118 West 57th Street between Sixth and Seventh
212/245.5000
about $25 for two, with two drinks, without tip

Behind the heavy curtains next to the front desk of Le Parker Meridien hotel is a hole-in-the-wall burger joint that serves no-nonsense burgers, French fries, milkshakes, beer and soda. They proudly declare that “If you don’t see it, we don’t have it!” The staff has a no-nonsense attitude to match the burgers they serve. They call out your name and you get your burgers wrapped in paper, your fries in a brown bag and your drink in a plastic cup. Thank you very much.

Le Parker Meridien burger joint has been one of those (not-so)-secret New York City places that has been written numerous times throughout the years but still enjoys a certain anonymity. And when you’re finally there, you can’t help but feel glad that you’re a part of something so New York.