Higher end – fine dining and restaurants
Chelsea, Madison Park/Flatiron, Greenwich/West Village, SoHo, East Village
My favourite part of New York is well below Midtown. Almost all of these are restaurants I would book, but often the ones further down you can walk in if earlier hours, or if prepared to go on the bar (which I love).
For the more expensive offerings, there are some good brunches available, and lunch (if offered) can be more affordable.
Eleven Madison Park – Fine dining and formal – 3 Michelin Stars – Very expensive
Spectacular in every sense of the word, Eleven Madison Park is a stunning example of how good restaurants can be. The lengths the staff and creators have gone to are best shown in the ease at which greatness is executed. Experience tells me that I cannot understate how special this dining experience is.
In more recent times, the restaurant has changed markedly (towards vegetarian / vegan) and is still acclaimed.
Blog post is linked here.
11 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10010
Blue Hill – Fine dining and smart casual okay – 1 Michelin Star – Expensive
Our second big dinner during our last trip was at Blue Hill. We had a late booking which was perfect after a big brunch. Our meal was excellent in this one Michelin Starred venue. The pre-fixe involves four courses and each one was great.
Blue Hill is now referred to as “Family Meal at Blue Hill” and is on my list for one of my next adventures to NYC.
75 Washington Pl, New York, NY 10011
Estela – Fine food but more smart casual – 1 Michelin Star – Expensive – Good for Brunch
Estela is little restaurant on East Houston that Catherine discovered through Gourmet Traveller. The brunch is the classic restaurant quality type that New York does so well. We enjoyed all three of the dishes. One of them is a house specialty consisting of witloff (they call “endive”) with apple, walnuts, croutons and cheese that had been sitting in red wine. Champagne orange vinaigrette sits on the witloff and then you add some of the mix. It is great.
The egg, bacon and avocado sandwich is rich and beautiful. You have the perfectly cooked gooey egg sitting in a poppyseed toasted bun and it is heavenly. Then to finish we had the ricotta dumplings which were crazy good too. Only filter coffee is served but it was surprisingly good, and my Bloody Mary was terrific with a good kick of tabasco.
1st floor, 47 E Houston St, New York, NY 10012
Balthazar – Dressier – Expensive – Good for Brunch – Lunch/Dinner excellent – Walk in (wait around 1 hour) – French
Very popular (for a reason) all day French bistro that is not hard to get into if you are prepared to wait. On a Saturday night we waited about 1 hour and had a drink close by. For Sunday brunch the wait is a little shorter. The bakery is also terrific!
80 Spring St, New York, NY 10012 in SoHo
Union Square Café – Fine food but more casual – Expensive – Lunch and Dinner
My personal discovery of USC was back in 2004. I dined alone on the bar and have a photo that brings me back there regularly in my mind. It was one of those meals you dream about.
I’m back, but this time my wife and I are meeting up with my cousin, Lisa. I’d heard about the burger. I’d had one for supper the night before but I just couldn’t go past it and it is incredible. Now I have a different fond memory to add to my memories of a decade ago. There is something magical about USC.
101 E 19th St, New York, NY 10003
Gramercy Tavern – Fine food but more smart casual – Expensive
We went to Gramercy Tavern as a group of four and had a terrific meal in atmospheric surrounds. This has been one of the hot restaurants in New York for a very long time.
2022 – I got to enjoy Gramercy twice on this trip – once on my own, and once with family.
Solo dining: An early evening at the bar at Gramercy Tavern is not a bad way to round off my first day. It started absolutely pouring with rain on the way there but I managed to be relatively unscathed. I had a duck liver mousse and cucumber soup, with a glass of white (JD Pabiot ‘Florilege’ Pouilly-Fume, Loire Valley), followed by an “alpino rosso” negroni. Dessert was the vanilla beignets which were absolutely delicious.
Family: The whole premise of Gramercy is that you can be put on the waitlist for the bar, so a table seems never more than an hour away, especially early in the evening. This issue as we found out is that Syd (3 at the time) cannot sit at the bar, and there were no tables in the Tavern at all. To our delight the staff managed to find a table in the dining room that needed to be vacated in about 90 minutes which was our whole plan anyway.
The meal for Catherine and I was light given our earlier lunch, but the cocktails were heavy! Sandra enjoyed the burger which looked delicious. We finished with dessert (we HAD to!) Again there was a sundae that Catherine couldn’t possibly not try with pumpkin as a feature ingredient. My caramel quince tart with brie ice cream was a spectacular way to finish the food related aspect of the trip.
42 E 20th St, New York, NY 10003
Beauty & Essex – Fine food but more smart casual – Expensive – also suited to groups
We went to Beauty and Essex as a big group and it is a bar restaurant behind a fake porn shop entrance – great food but more for the buzz (because there is great food in so many places!)
146 Essex St, New York, NY 10002
Freemans – Fine food but more smart casual – Expensive – also suited to groups
A restaurant with attitude and celebrity buzz with bookings only for groups, we had some great American traditional food with a modern twist in places.
Freeman Alley (off Rivington St) New York, NY 10002 in Lower East Side
Minetta Tavern – Fine food but more smart casual – reasonable for a burger – walk in okay with limited wait
We popped in to this amazingly busy restaurant and bar and luck provided an instant table! Often the waits are huge and the bar is three deep, but it again is a great place to be. The burger is terrific value and excellent – it has a Michelin star after all! The cocktails (mainly classical) are some of the best I’ve tasted and the desserts are often from sister restaurant Balthazar’s bakery. The salted chocolate tart is ridiculous. We’ve been back many times since.
113 Macdougal St, New York, NY 10012 in Greenwich Village
L’artusi– Fine food but more smart casual – Mid-priced – Walk in okay with short wait – Italian
For the evening we caught an Uber direct to dinner at L’artusi which was a recommendation from a honeymooning couple who lived in West Village who we met in Montauk at a B&B. This classy Italian restaurant in West Village took us on the bar after a 25 minute wait. We ordered sparsely with a pasta each (mine a bucatini pasta with pancetta, tomato, chilli and pecorino) and Catherine’s a form of ravioli with her love for classic freshness exhibited with peas and other vibrant ingredients. Finishing with the olive oil cake we felt very satisfied.
2022 – we decided to book for a 5pm sitting with Syd and Nonna as one of the final big meals of our trip and at a time slot that was suitable. We got an uber there in the rain, and were seated at one of the best tables in the house! Despite Catherine really not feeling very well, we had a full three course meal that was fit for a queen! The scallops we shared for entrée were exceptional, and some of the largest we have witnessed. My mushroom ragu for main was beautiful; as was Catherine’s chicken. For dessert I returned to the olive oil cake, which was just as good as I remember, and the staff were nice enough to bring out complimentary cookies for Sydney! Through the meal I had a great cocktail and couple of glasses of red, including a Barolo.
228 W 10th St, New York, NY 10014
Blue Ribbon Sushi – Fine food but more smart casual – Mid-priced- Sushi
One of the better sushi places I’ve been to, this is not as cheap a night out as I expected! But the quality of the sushi and sashimi is worth it, as is the quality of the sake and wine. The place is very busy (we waited about an hour at a local bar) but left satisfied and extremely full! Try not to order too much! I think the location has changed since we dined here because the Blue Ribbon brand has exploded.
187 Orchard St, New York, NY 10002
Momofuku Noodle Bar – Walk in only back in the day – Casual – Reasonably priced – Korean
You either get here early, or wait a long time, to get very high quality pho/ramen (handmade noodles and quality ingredients), the pork belly pancakes (must have) and heaps of other reasonably cheap and shockingly good bites. You can order ahead for the fried chicken but it serves a group so this wasn’t an option for us!
171 1st Avenue, New York, NY 10003 in East Village
Cookshop – Casual – Mid-priced – Wine bar
This is a great looking restaurant but we had a quick drink at the bar. Our shared “dessert course” dish of figs, blue cheese and some honey was fantastic.
156 10th Ave, New York, NY 10011
Midtown and above – these are destination restaurants that you need to plan for (except Nougatine – but Jean Georges is in the same category)
Per Se – Fine dining and formal – Very expensive – Booking required
There’s something exciting about an 11.30am lunch that you know is going for 4 hours over several courses of food in one of the world’s best restaurants. I won’t go on – it is simply the best restaurant experience we’ve ever had at the time – for both food and service. As a venue, only the greatest old dining rooms in the world beat it with their history, but the view over Columbus Circle is modern day bliss too.
10 Columbus Cir, New York, NY 10019
Restaurant Daniel – Fine dining and formal – Very expensive – Booking required
I’ve separately written about Restaurant Daniel. This was an exceptional meal. We had utterly superb service, several faultless dishes with no misses whatsoever, and exquisite wine. Nothing is more Catherine and I then an amazing meal between just the two of us. We sat for hours enjoying everything this tremendous restaurant offers and left very happy.
60 E 65th St, New York, NY 10065
Le Bernardin – Fine dining and formal – Very expensive – Booking required
It was hot and men have to wear jackets so we Ubered it to Midtown for lunch.
Le Bernardin is the longest running three Michelin Star in New York and its chef is Eric Ripert who is a legend. The menu is an all-seafood affair in a dining room that houses a lot of business people and regulars amongst a few tourists. This was actually one of the only flawless meals I can think of. In three courses each dish was perfect. I wrote about the experience in full – click here to read.
We were back in 2022 and I wrote about it below.
As you walk through the rotating doors at Le Bernardin you leave the hustle of the street behind, and enter culinary paradise. While I’ve never been here for dinner, the lunch atmosphere is light and expectant. There is a diverse clientele, generally better dressed than other fine diners, with the mix of intimate dining, business lunches, and groups making for a level of liveliness.
With the prix fixe not costing the world, there are also no vocal gasps as diners open their menu, taking some of the tension out of the room that sometimes permeates a three Michelin star destination restaurant. I really love the menu. For all of its options it is incredibly easy to narrow down for a less regular customer with lobster still having the novelty and rarity that it almost chooses itself. Almost the same pull comes from the crab which Catherine chose.
For the main event there are a range of equally beautiful sounding fish dishes on offer. The “roasted Maitake bone marrow red wine Bordelaise” was half the reason I chose the Hiramasa; and Catherine went on a limb to try the Skate with its rich brown butter sauce, and side of basmati rice.
While dining is not a competition, we almost were the complete opposite of what ordinarily happens between us, with Catherine’s crab and skate proving the most rich and flavoursome, whilst my lobster and hiramasa were delicate and subtle. We tasted each others and still independently kept our dishes, showing that sometimes the right execution of the right ingredient means you cannot let go. The earlier starter of a form of salmon rillette was very pleasing too.
Catherine made it three from three with dessert from a flavour front with the fig dessert. My pistachio was again still exceptional and we could have probably fitted in one more dessert each! Finishing with a petit four offering we had sat through another perfect lunch here.
When we finished we decided to continue to brave the weather and do some shopping at Macy’s a few blocks away. Our shopping expedition yielded decent results and given we were there barely 80 minutes, there seemed to be around a grand spent an hour!
155 W 51st St, New York, NY 10019
Nougatine at Jean Georges – Fine food but more smart casual – Expensive
The casual sister to Jean Georges with excellent food and service on the ground level. Top quality people watching and across from Central Park. Blog post is here.
1 Central Park West, New York, NY 10023
Brooklyn – get out there!
Gage & Tollner – spectacular restaurant in Brooklyn
I was so impressed by Gage & Tollner that I decided to do a full review. Housed in a historic venue, and best described as an oyster and steak house, but certainly much more, you expect the oysters to be high quality. The diversity in the selection is excellent, and I’ve never had such distinctive but seriously brilliant oysters before. Often in an Australian context I would be having several from the same place, but here they have not given up anything for the wider variety, with four different oysters to try.
Through the meal we had tremendous oysters, hash browns, ribeye steak, fried chicken, and even the bread was a highlight. The Barolo was a tremendous addition to the meal, and we stayed on to share their famous Bomb Alaska, which is the best I’ve had. Read the rest at the link above.
372 Fulton St, Brooklyn, New York, 11201
Cheaper end, take away, and coffee
Below is a range of great burgers, bagels, bakeries, and coffee shops. Many of our favourites seem to form a C shape from Madison Park, to Chelsea, to West Village, and then down Houston through SoHo to East Village
Corner Bistro – Cheap eats – burgers – bar
I love this place for the first night of a trip (or any time really!) It is a great start – one of the best burgers going around, cheap quality beers, strong spirits and often a line-up or busy enough to easily meet a few people that are also into their food for the latest tips (lots of chefs and restaurant staff eat here late too). Half touristy but half very NY – the person who first took me there was a very experienced NY restaurant goer who has lived in NY all his life – there is no cliché – it is cool.
331 W 4thSt (cnr Jane St) in West Village
Russ & Daughters – Cheap eats – take away only – bagels
Russ & Daughters is an old school bagel joint that sells a lot of salmon! After waiting in line for 30 minutes our instinct that there was a problem with the line counting system was confirmed and thankfully we were with our Norwegian smoked salmon bagel not long later. We tried to walk to what appeared to be the closest part to eat, but it turned out more of a concrete playground for homeless people. We continued through Chinatown to a park filled with much more greenery and many people playing card games on shared tables. The bagel itself was superb. Luckily my earlier suggestion to have Belly Lox was refuted by our server (given its salt content) and we had a good experience!
179 E Houston St, New York, NY 10002
Katz Delicatessen – Cheap eats
I’ve been completely drunk late at night for a hot dog (traditional with sourkrout) but the best option is the pastrami sandwich on rye when you’re really hungry (or going halves) with extra pickle. The place is a bit crazy, a bit touristy, a bit naff, but extremely fun and the food is excellent.
187 Orchard St, New York, NY 10002 in Lower East Side
Grimaldi’s in Brooklyn – Pizza
Under the bridge in Brooklyn is, outside of Italy, one my favourite pizza joints in the world. It is good fun but don’t expect amazing service. It is about great pizza and a terrific atmosphere (read you often need to queue!)
1 Front St, Brooklyn, NY 11201 in Dumbo, Brooklyn
Jack’s Wife Freda – All day – Greek
Cool SoHo breakfast joint with a bit of attitude and nice Greek twists. A quick Cava with breakfast made the reality of our holiday coming to an end a little more bearable!
224 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012 – between Spring and Kenmare Streets in SoHo
‘Lil Frankies – cool family friendly restaurant in East Village
We were seated outside (watching out for the bike lane in between) and had a fabulous early evening dinner. I shared pizza margherita with Syd, Catherine enjoyed the eggplant and a big salad, and Sandra had a simple but delicious ravioli. Dessert was outrageous with our triple decker banana split complete with three scoops of vanilla, chocolate and pistachio. It made Sandra’s chocolate cake look tiny in comparison. Everything was terrific.
19 First Avenue, New York, NY 10003
Thai Diner – superb casual restaurant in NoLita
Thai Diner turned out to be a revelation. Everything we tried was superb to exceptional. My chicken and rice was exactly what the doctor ordered, and Catherine’s pad thai delicious. The desserts were just as outstanding, with the sundae full of Thai peanut flavour.
186 Mott Street, New York, NY 10012
Golder Diner – insanely good diner food with classic renditions
We were really quite wet as we waited in a relatively long and wet line at Golden Diner. Was it worth it? Wyatt had really raved about this diner, and from the looks of it he was right. When I had the first taste of my club sandwich I knew he was right. In his words it is the best diner food he’s eaten and he’s right. Sydney’s pancakes (which Sandra and I finished off) were delicious. My very spicy bloody mary, Golden Diner style (we were basically in Chinatown) was a drink to be reckoned with. It was all great.
123 Madison Street, New York, NY 10002
Burger Joint – Burgers
This is a famous burger joint behind the Thompson Hotel. It was a great burger, but an even better old room, full of history. We had seen this on Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations and that added to the significance.
119 West 56th Street, New York, NY 10019
Crif Dog – hot dogs with a difference as the entry to PDT
Whether enjoying a take away dog, or eating one with one of the fine PDT cocktails, Crif Dog has exception takes on this genre of New York’s favourite. My David Chang dog with bacon wrapped Crif Dog and kimchi, was woofed down like a dog!
11 St Marks Place, New York, NY 10009
Murray’s – Cheap eats – bagels – take away only
Murray’s bagels ended up living up to the lofty expectations we had having heard our Airbnb owner talk about. We had a simple one with cream cheese on our flight and it was perfect.
500 Avenue of the Americas, New York
Tompkins Square Bagels – fabulous and famous bagel joint
This bagel joint is worthy of a detour, or an outing of itself. Located across from Tompkins Square is a huge bonus as the park is one of the many green oases in this amazing city.
165 Avenue A, New York, NY 10009
Eataly – Italian food market – eat in or take away – cheap eats – bars
We had made plans earlier in the week when we briefly walked through Eataly (near Madison Square) to go back for a panini and was it worth it?! The porchetta roll was just beautiful and Catherine and I shared one to keep some room for later.
We thought we might have a drink at the Highline Hotel but it wasn’t to be with a twenty minute wait. We headed across the road to Cookshop which was a place Wade had recommended.
200 5th Ave, New York, NY 10010
Dominique Ansel – Bakery
We then set off on one of our big walks to collect our very first Cronut ever from Dominique Ansel. Catherine had to order this two weeks prior after midnight. It was worth it. Technically perfect, and full of flavour (this one based on banana), the cronut is filled with banana mousse and smartly covered with some bright white icing. We walked back to Washington Square Garden to eat it and watch the crowds of people go by.
189 Spring St, New York, NY 10012
Magnolia – Bakery / cupcakes
Well known cupcake place – top quality down the road from Corner Bistro and open till late if you feel like desert on your way to a bar (or home!)
West 11th Street, 401 Bleecker St, New York, NY 10014
Intelligentsia – Highline Hotel – Coffee
While I am skeptical of the number of branches of some of the better coffee shops around the US, Intelligentsia is a quality place to imbibe your favourite coffee.
180 10th Ave, New York, NY 10011
Stumptown – Coffee
This is a nice branch of a coffee shop chain a few blocks off Washington Square. As we drank our iced cold brew and iced tea we made plans for how to come back to NYC for a much more significant period of time. Hopefully it will happen one day.
30 W 8th St, New York, NY 10011
Little Collins – Coffee
Excellent coffee and optional extra of Vegemite on toast. A nod to the cafe culture of Melbourne.
708 3rd Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Bluestone Lane – quality coffee chain
Blue Bottle Coffee – quality coffee chain
Today I grabbed coffee at Blue Bottle on Bryant Park. Like Bluestone Lane, Blue Bottle generally has better quality coffee than most places. If I’m not sure where to go for an independent in an area, I’ll look up these.
Bars and pubs
Most of these bars are centred around Greenwich/West Village which is my favourite area with some very notable cocktail bars in East Village.
West Village Bars
You can’t really make a mistake – head any direction and you’ll find a cool bar / pub that is busy (often a bit too busy!) The last time I went to Highlander which is a great whisky bar. Heaps of the bars mentioned are in close proximity to each other.
East Village Bars
Many of the East Village cocktail bars are a bit snobby to tourists, but there are plenty of good ones so don’t let rejection put you off. Around Bowery there is no such restriction.
Aldo Sohm – Fancy wine bar next to Le Bernardin in Midtown
This place is very nice, and connected with Le Bernardin, but the afternoon was pretty windy, and there weren’t many outside. Catherine and her Mum returned prior to a show another night and enjoyed both the excellent wines on offer, and some early dessert.
151 West 51st St, New York, NY 10019
Valerie – ornate cocktail bar in Midtown
Memorable cocktail bar that is medium sized, but feels exclusive. Perhaps stop after a couple if you don’t want to feel like I did on the last day of a work conference!
45 West 45th Street, New York, NY 10036
Death & Co – incredible cocktail bar in East Village
Death & Co is a top class cocktail bar that has all the speakeasy aspects that give it a feeling of exclusiveness and indulgence. Over a couple of evenings here I tried four cocktails and they were all superb. Same with Catherine. I didn’t quite realise the “Camera Shy” with Hibiki Harmony Japanese whisky was so expensive but you only live once! Washed down with some popcorn and on to the Supper Club featuring our own Four Pillars Olive Leaf gin, this was a night to remember.
433 East 6th Street, New York, NY 10009
PDT (Please Don’t Tell) – some of the world’s best cocktails in East Village
We made our 9.30pm booking at Please Don’t Tell entering from the classic phone booth inside Crif Dog. We sat on the bar and honestly the two cocktails I tried were both incredible. The Black Tie will probably be the no.1 cocktail I’ve ever had just once, but I expect it will be just as good the next time I get to try it. While there was some BLT Crif Dog confusion, my David Chang dog with bacon wrapped Crif Dog and kimchi, was woofed down like a dog!
11 St Marks Place, New York, NY 10009
Jimmy’s Corner – institutional dive bar in Midtown
Jimmy’s Corner was a great place to have a quick beer with some interesting banter, including one bloke showing everyone a scrrenshot of his wig he was going to wear at Comicon.
140 West 44th St, New York, NY 10036
Blue Ribbon Downing Street Bar – Small cocktail bar – snacks offered
We stayed briefly for a cocktail each, with Catherine preferring mine better so we swapped. Her tequilla based cocktail was very strong – just what I like. I had ordered different than my usual negroni or martini so the swap was a nice one, with my gin and pedro combination a nice drink.
34 Downing St, New York, NY 10014
Dante – Terrific West Village bar – food available
Dante was a nice place for a pre-comedy drink. A beer and negroni later (for me) and an Aperol spritz for Catherine and we were headed to the Comedy Cellar around the corner. This has the additional acclaim of making the world’s top bars list.
79-81 Macdougal St, New York, NY 10012
230 Fifth – Rooftop bar near Madison Park – casual
After we finished we headed towards a rooftop bar we tried on a previous trip in 2015. 230 is not a classy rooftop but more an open air pub with a great view of the Empire State Building. It is great to just have a G&T and take in the surroundings which would be hard to get used to. Such a beautiful place. We walked home having enjoyed a great evening.
230 5th Ave, New York, NY 10001
Smithfield Hall – Sports bar
I was up at 5.50am getting ready to witness a terrific performance by the Socceroos against France in the first World Cup 2018 match. While France ran out 2-1 winners, the Aussie’s did an awesome job. The bar is terrific and I couldn’t believe that at 6am it was packed!
138 W 25th St, New York, NY 10001
Milk & Hops – Take away craft beers – bar too
On the way back from the Highline we stopped at Milk & Hops which has an excellent and extensive collection of craft beers. I chose two local ones, enjoying the sour when I got back and the porter the next day.
166 9th Ave, New York, NY 10011
Pegu Club – Cocktail bar
Bar on West Houston that we had a cocktail at while waiting for Balthazar – very cool place but a little difficult to find (upstairs so look for the number).
77 W Houston St, New York, NY 10012 in SoHo
White Horse Tavern – Pub
I’d never been before but it is an old pub that has that smell of history, or the patrons?! A bit of fun after a long holiday and a quality Long Island Ice Tea. We had just been past Magnolia for a close to midnight cupcake too – and it was full!
567 Hudson St, New York, NY 10014
Sweet and Vicious – NoLita bar
Cool bar in NoLita that had a busy Friday night crowd and nice garden area.
5 Spring St, New York, NY 10012 in NoLita
Arthur’s – Jazz bar
Another Jazz Club in West Village, this place had great entertainment, plenty of room to dance and a happy (read drunk) clientele – good fun.
57 Grove St, New York, NY 10014 in West Village
Brandy’s Piano Bar – Entertainment – bar
With a particularly early dinner at 6.30pm we had plenty of time to get to Brandy’s Piano Bar for its later evening session. Tonight’s piano player (Thursday night) was part comedian, part specialist musician, and part drunk! He was fantastic. With a capacity crowd eventually, the whole place was rocking. This was a great get by Catherine and our night was more than complete.
235 E 84th St, New York, NY 10028
Breslin Bar at the Ace Hotel – Hotel lobby bar with nightclub underneath
I’ve been here a couple of times now. You always seem to get chatting to someone because everyone is having a good time and everyone is drunk! It must be the very well made, reasonably priced cocktails. Once I got a Hendrick’s martini for $8 at happy hour but that was year’s ago now!
16 W 29th St, New York, NY 10001
Flute Bar – Champagne bar
Trav and I met a barperson working at this champagne bar and the offering of two for one champagne on a Tuesday night was too much to pass up. This is a great pre-dinner drink bar but its location has moved since the last time I went there on a later trip.
205 W 54th St, New York, NY 10019
BLK's Food Blog 