Must Visit Restaurants in New York
Oyster Bar – Grand Central Terminal
In this bustling metropolis that is arguably the restaurant capital of the world, every cuisine under the sun is catered for in the city’s five boroughs. We’ve been visiting New York for decades and if there’s one thing that never changes…. it’s change. So, here’s are a few of my must go to current best restaurants in New York.
Balthazar
Where - 80 Spring Street
Cuisine – French brasserie
Subway - Spring Street
Booking – advisable
Dress - as you are
Web – www.balthazarny.com
Balthazar has been part of the SoHo dining scene since 1997, and it’s a must visit whenever I’m in town. They cater all-day so for breakfast, the eggs Florentine are the best in the city, and they make a proper Café au Lait, only the French make them like this!
Lunch and dinner menu’s feature many classics, onion soup (superb!) escargot, steak tartare, bouillabaisse, boeuf bourguignon, halibut, and many more. Great food, great vibe and it’s always busy. Staff are on the ball but with a laid back kind of style.
Gage & Tollner
Where – 372 Fulton Street – Brooklyn
Cuisine – Chop House with a raw bar
Subway – Jay Street
Booking – advisable
Dress – as you are
Web – www.gageandtollner.com
Spanning a 125yr history this recently reopened Brooklyn institution is right up there on the must visit list. There’s something that I love about stepping back into the grandeur of the past and this stunning restored interior has created a fantastic space for dining and drinking.
Veal and pork chops, rib eyes, NY strip, T bones with excellent oysters, clams, lobster, shrimp and caviar. Their starters are also fantastic, the crab cake with aioli and the foie gras with a peanut brittle are exceptional. Cocktails also get my thumbs up, and they promote a decent wine list, although maybe just a tad heavy on the pricing of their Burgundy listings.
Hà Nôi House – 119 St Marks Place
Cuisine - Vietnamese
Subway – 1st Avenue
Booking – absolutely
Dress – as you are
Web – www.hanoihousenyc.com
This East Village Vietnamese restaurant is exceptional and such great value. To get the taste buds tingling, try the sauteed clams, spicy garlic cauliflower, and the crab and pork spring rolls. For the main event, the Pho Dac house special with three cuts of beef and bone marrow is sensational, and make sure you get a side of shrimp chips with chilli salt. This kitchen team really know how to cook!
Don’t go here for a romantic sit in the corner candle lit dinner, this place gets super busy and very noisy. You need to book and my top tip……ask for a table away from the door.
Oyster Bar – Grand Central Terminal, Lower level, 89 E 42nd Street
Cuisine – Fish and shellfish
Subway – 42nd Street
Booking – advisable
Dress – as you are
Web – www.oysterbarny.com
I’ve been a regular visitor to this Mid-town institution since 1987 and I love it! If you are partial to an oyster or two as I am, you’ve just arrived in oyster heaven with no less than 30 varietals offered daily.
There are also around twenty-five different fish and shells arriving daily. Manhattan clam chowder, pan roasts, Long Island littleneck clam linguine with garlic bread, Jumbo shrimp and crabmeat Caesar salad, Monkfish tournedos bearnaise, halibut, sole, snapper and seabass, you get the idea?
And just when you’re sitting there thinking, can this get any better…… well it does, they offer over fifty wines by the glass!! It just delivers on every front. Can be busy particularly at lunchtimes with the Midtown business set and it’s always best to put in a call and reserve yourself a table.
Laser Wolf - 97 Wythe Ave, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Cuisine – Israeli – Middle Eastern
Subway – Nassau Ave or Bedford Ave
Booking – absolutely
Dress – as you are
Web - https://www.laserwolfbrooklyn.com/
If you love the delights of middle eastern food then check out Laser Wolf and its Skewer House on the rooftop of Brooklyn’s hip Hoxton Hotel. This is excellent Israeli cuisine cooked perfectly over charcoal, try the tuna shishlik, shawarma spiced cauliflower and the lamb and beef koobideh along with the pickles, ajvar, hummus and babaganoush, they are all delicious and this is the city’s best Israeli dining in my opinion.
It’s well known that the best views of the Manhattan skyline are from over the East River in Brooklyn. From your table, you will have uninterrupted views of the Manhattan skyline, and as the sun begins to set, and the skyline lights up……. It’ll be one of those never forgotten memories of probably the finest city scape in the world!
JG Melon
Cuisine – Classic “old school” Bar food
Subway – 77th Street
Booking - walk in
Dress - as you are
Web – www.jgmelon-nyc.com/welcome
The battle over who cooks and presents the best burgers in the city has been raging for years if not decades! Given the variables in what goes into, on top of, and beside your favourite portion of ground beef, it is near impossible to provide a credible like for like comparison, it’s a personal judgement in my opinion.
So, what am I recommending I hear you ask? – well for me it must be JG Melon an upper east side burger institution since 1972, on 3rd Avenue between 74th and 75th. They market JG’s as a “saloon with food” and I guess this aptly describes the set up and vibe.
The beef is quality sourced, seared to crunchiness on the outside but still pink and juicy on the inside with a buttery flavour, served on a lightly toasted bun and accompanied by cottage fries. When the quality of the meat is this good, you don’t need a pile of other stuff on top! A few pointers for you, it will probably be busy, there will be little chat from your server, it’s cash only, and they mix a belter of a Bloody Mary.