NYC Restaurants

Home cooking is what I do best. And yet, the most frequent e-mail request I get from readers, friends and family is – “Where should we eat when we come to New York?”  And so, after years of wracking my brain for recommendations, I decided to create a list here of the places I go to and like. Some I’ve reviewed here on the blog – Most I have not (even though I have dozens of pics  and the best of intentions). But let me be clear – I am not a restaurant connoisseur. I’m just an ordinary New Yorker who knows what she likes. Your tastes could differ, so you might seek better advice from one of the sources in the sidebar. And if you have a fave you’d like to recommend, tell us in the comments.

Greenwich Village

• Po – Love the place and the neighborhood, near Murrays cheese shop and Booknook bookstore.  Small, intimate, special.
• Blue Hill - Very special. Farm to table. Their upstate location is supposed to be even better.  The Obama’s ate there for their anniversary. Expensive but worth it.

East Village

• Prune - Tiny, expensive, amazing. Marrow bone appetizer, need I say more? Nice staff. Need reservations for sure.  54 East 1^st St.
• Anyway Café -Russian. Not haute cuisine by any stretch of the imagination , but probably authentic Russian, great atmosphere. The infused vodka drinks are great as is the gravlax. The beef stew taste like my mom’s.  Flamingo guitar player on Sat nights, international crowd.

Pre-Theater / Hell’s Kitchen

• Maze – Gordon Ramsay’s less expensive restaurant at the London. Fabulous food at very reasonable prices.
• Lattanzi - Italian. OMG- Roman artichokes (Not available pre-theater). Rest of menu is also great.
•  Barbetta - Italian. Very old world feel, indoors a bit too stuffy for my taste, but the backyard patio in summer feels like Rome.
•  John’s Pizza – Fabulous brick oven pizza, reasonable priced. Nice for a quick pre-theater light meal.
•  Kashkaval – casual Mediterranean, cheeses, fondue, charcuterie. Noisy, crowded, big communal tables. Fun.
•  Gazala Place – Tiny, cheap, great Israeli food. The kitchen has rules like you have to order everything before they bring anything to the table, but that’s part of the charm.

Midtown 20’s

Midtown 30’s

• Serge – Madison near 33^rd. Small, local, French. My book club often meets there.  I like the salmon tartare appetizer

Midtown 40’s

• Bryant Park Grille – Feels very NY 1950’s, like Ricky Ricardo is at the next table. Food is good, too.  I love it there.

Midtown 50’s

• La Bonne Soup - French-American bistro. 48 W 55^th st.  Great bread. Good for lunch or a casual supper.
• The Bar Room at The Modern at MOMA.  Expensive (but cheaper and more casual than the  main dining room, which serves a $98 pre fixe) .
• Trattoria Del Arte - One of my fave restaurants in the city. 7^th near 57^th.
• Europa Café – 57^th & 7^thCasual café cattycorner form Carnegie Hall. Reminds me of Paris.  This was their first restaurant, they have several others in the city. This is the only one I go to, I can’t speak for the others.

Upper East Side

• Café Sabarsky in the Neue gallery. VERY European. Expensive but worth it. 5^th ave & 86^th St
• Bistro61-  61st St& 1st ave . French bar and café. Great food and atmosphere. Casual. Menus are old record albums.
• Marche De Sud – French gourmet market, charcuterie and café.  Fabulous charcuterie and cheese plates. Little French pizzas and pastries are great. Skip the Mergez sausages, though. Probably an acquired French taste. Menus are French Magazines.  Lovely backyard patio.
• Hospada – Eastern European upscale, they do flights of beer. Special place. 321 E 73^rdst.
• John’s Pizza – The Upper East side location of this local NYC chain. Our local pizza joint.

Near Lincoln Center

• Le Bote un Bois -  Classic French, basement, Upper West Side. Very New York place.
• Le Pain Quoitidian - 60 W 65^th and all over the city. Fabulous food, organic. I’d eat there every day.

Upper West Side

• French Roast – My favorite brunch place in the city. They also have a West Village location.

Queens

• SriPraPhai - Amazing Thai. Our fave welcome home stop on the way home from Laguardia Airport. Take a number, join the crowd waiting outside. While you wait, check out the Himalayan Mini-Mart across the street. If the weather is warm, try to get a table in the back garden.  Neighbors in curlers may be leaning out and watching from windows above. This is quintessential Queens.  6413 39th Ave, Woodside.
• Bangkok Cuisine  - One of Mr TBTAM’s fave place to eat after tennis at Forest Hills.  107-18 70th Rd., Forest Hills Queens; 718-261-4005