New York City Guide - Restaurants

The selected restaurants have been divided into five categories: Gastronomic, Business, Trendy, Budget and Personal Recommendations. The restaurants are listed alphabetically within these different categories, which serve as guidelines rather than absolute definitions of the establishments.

Visitors to New York who wish to dine in that special restaurant should make a reservation well in advance. It is not unreasonable for patrons to call for a table in the trendiest eating places a few months in advance. Sales tax of 8.375% is automatically added to the bill but service charges are only standard for large groups.

Dollar symbols can be interpreted as follows:
$$$$ (over US$75)
$$$ (US$45 to US$75)
$$ (US$25 to US$45)
$ (under US$25)

These prices include starter, main course, dessert and a half-bottle of wine or equivalent. Not included is tax or a customary tip of 15-20%.

Chanterelle

Not even the respectful din of other guests can distract one from the exquisite meals at what must be the most unfussy of the city's top French restaurants. Its décor is simple (Austrian shades, crystal chandeliers, fresh flowers and bare walls except for the etchings in the entranceway), which gives diners more of an opportunity to concentrate on the delicacies put before them. Grilled seafood sausage is a perennial favourite on the ever changing menu that often features a lush duck consommé with duck and foie gras dumplings, roast squab with black truffles and crisped sweetbreads. Service is excellent.

2 Harrison Street (at Hudson Street) in Tribeca
Tel: (212) 966 6960.
Website: www.chanterellenyc.com
Price: $$$$

Daniel

Named after renowned chef-owner Daniel Boloud, this restaurant is consistently ranked as one of the city's best venues for sublime French fare. The decor exudes classical opulence. With an accent on seasonal ingredients, culinary masterpieces have included roasted Maine lobster with ricotta stuffed garganelli, corn, chorizo and lemongrass emulsion and a duo of red wine braised short ribs and peppered shallot confit with seared rib eye, caramelized Yukon gold potatoes and chanterelles. Jacket and tie are required for gentlemen.

60 East 65th Street (between Park and Madison Avenues)
Tel: (212) 288 0033.
Website: www.danielnyc.com
Price: $$$$

Gramercy Tavern

Danny Meyer's contemporary American restaurant never goes out of fashion. A place New Yorkers take out-of-town guests, the restaurant offers two kinds of dining experiences – the airy first-come-first-served bar offers delicious but uncomplicated meals, while the formal dining room presents extraordinarily skilful fare, such as duck foie gras and roasted cod. Those on an expense account should go all out on the market (fixed-price) menu and get a little taste of nearly everything. Those who cannot get enough of chef Tom Colicchio's wares should try his spectacular second restaurant, Craft.

42 East 20th Street (between Broadway and Park Avenue)
Tel: (212) 477 0777.
Website: www.gramercytavern.com
Price: $$$$

Le Cirque 2000

In its new home on Beacon Court, designer Adam Tihany makes a whimsical circus statement with ceilings that reach over 8m (27ft), a giant abstract 'big top' and monkey statuettes. The presentation of the food is just as overstated. Diners can savour Colorado rack of lamb or Long Island duck Moscovy on enormous plates (some with monkey designs) to the Venetian-glass fantasies that hold devilishly delicious desserts like crème brulée. Bar menu offers less expensive fare.

1 Beacon Court, 151 East 58th Street (between Lexington and Third Avenues)
Tel: (212) 644 0202.
Website: www.lecirque.com
Price: $$$$

Mainland

Dimly lit and earthy looking with rust colour accents and brown and gold banquettes, this comfortable and trendy restaurant serves up incredible Peking duck. In fact, chef Brian Young spent much time in his native China preparing only that. The dumplings with shrimp are right up there, too. In fact, you can't go wrong with practically anything on the nouveau Chinese menu. Take the strip steak for example. It is served with seared garlic broccoli and caramel sauce. The staff, who serves up all of these yummies, could not be friendlier.

1081 Third Avenue
Tel: (212) 888 6333.
Website: www.mainlandnyc.com
Price: $$$

Fluffy's Café and Bakery

Located steps from Broadway, this small snack shop, with a few tables and a counter that faces the street, has quick service, delicious bakery goods, wraps and fresh fruit, all very reasonably priced. It is a perfect breakfast, lunch and snack stop for someone on the go or for take away. No alcohol.

855 Seventh Avenue (between 54th and 55th Streets)
Tel: (212) 247 0234.
Price: $

Mamas Food Shop

American comfort food has been on the rise in Manhattan for a while, but this East Village spot has been serving it long before New Yorkers insatiably craved the stuff. Diners can choose from helpings of fried chicken, grilled salmon and 'mac 'n' cheese', which derive from the 1950s TV dinner era. There is also a large array of oh-so-satisfying vegetable sides – broccoli with garlic, roasted brussel sprouts and mashed potatoes, to name but a few. Diners select a combination of three dishes at the counter and then find a table in the flea-market furnished space. A microwave for re-heating the goods and the tattooed staff are the only reminders of the present era. No credit cards. No alcohol.

200 East Third Street (between Avenues A and B)
Tel: (212) 777 4425.
Website: www.mamasfoodshop.com
Price: $

Max

Everyone knows how much a box of pasta costs in the market. And this link in the chain seems to respect the intelligence of its patrons by not charging a fortune. The house rigatoni and eggplant topped with mozzarella cheese is a steal… and delicious. Similarly, the owners could get twice the asking price for the melt-in-the mouth gnocchi. Although the restaurant, which also serves scrumptious salads and fish and meat dishes, now has three outposts, the original East Village space is always packed with hipsters getting more than their money's worth. Country-style Italian table and chairs are crammed together in the main dining space, with barely room for diners to move between them and a sideboard teeming with pepper grinders and bowls of parmesan cheese. A walk through the kitchen, which bisects the restaurant, takes one to the narrow bar area and another small dining space. No credit cards.

51 Avenue B (between Third and Fourth Streets)
Tel: (212) 539 0111.
Price: $$

New York Noodle Town

Although other places will charge more, the noisy and fluorescent-lit New York Noodle Town never fails to feed its guests properly. Diners can choose from roasted fowl, salt-baked crab or soups and should be sure to get an order of the city's best Hong-Kong-style noodles. The shared tables are full at almost any hour (the restaurant closes only briefly in the early morning) sometimes with celebrities. Beer but BYO wine (no corkage fee).

28½ Bowery Street (at Bayard Street)
Tel: (212) 349 0923.
Price: $

Brasserie Julien

This small, crowded bistro is a real family affair, with the restaurant named after owner/chef Philippe Feret's son, and various dishes on the menu named after other members of his family. The bar, with its flame-like orange and red lights, and much of the rest of this art deco-styled restaurant was built by him. Check out the wall decoration in the rear of the restaurant. It is a copy of the Chrysler Building elevators with a clock displaying Central European Time so you think Paris. Philippe, a former chef at Windows of the World, infuses his seasonal menu with perennial favourites like cheese fondue, and Moroccan Chicken Bistefya, wrapped in phyllo dough and stuffed with raisins, almonds and eggs. Live Jazz on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

1422 Third Avenue (between 80 and 81 Streets)
Tel: (212) 744 6327.
Website: www.brasseriejulien.com
Price: $$$

Do Hwa

The West Village is blocks away from the city's Little Korea and yet the upscale spin on Korean menu favourites does not leave diners feeling like they are missing anything. On the contrary, the comfortable yet semi-industrial space lends a special something to the bibimbop (rice, vegetables and sometimes meat served with kochujang, the ubiquitous red pepper paste condiment, with a fried egg) or meat-heavy tabletop grills, served with a platter of spicy kimchi and a dozen other condiments. An East Village sister restaurant, Dok Suni, is always crowded and more casual, much like the neighbourhood itself.

55 Carmine Street (between Bedford Street and Seventh Avenue)
Tel: (212) 414 1224.
Website: www.dohwanyc.com
Price: $$

Dok Suni
119 First Avenue (between Seventh and Eight Streets)
Tel: (212) 477 9506.

Garden Court Café

Soft background music, high beamed ceilings, flowering vines and large, live trees create a serene atmosphere in this small, glass-enclosed bistro located in the Asia Society. Chef Nima Khansari's changing menu includes light and delicious fare with unique vegetarian dishes like cold cucumber soup and signature dishes like curry chicken salad and crab cakes. The restaurant is known for its tea selection. After lunch, visit the changing exhibits at the museum as well as the shop, which has a good selection of books and interesting items from the Far East. Open for lunch only. Closed Mondays.

Asia Society, 725 Park Avenue at 70th Street
Tel: (212) 570 5202.
Website: www.asiasociety.org/visit/cafe
Price: $

Gobo

The first of its kind, Gobo is nearly an upscale vegetarian restaurant. Perhaps this is because the creators of this Zen-like space have given the kind of attention to tofu, tempeh and vegetables that other restaurants give to meat dishes. And to many a patron's surprise, the ingredients are not all that different from other Japanese inspired or contemporary meals. Meat-free meals have never looked this good.

West Village location
401 Sixth Avenue (between Waverly Place and West Eighth Street)
Tel: (212) 255 3902.
Website: www.goborestaurant.com
Price: $$

Upper East Side location
1426 Third Avenue
Tel: (212) 288 4686.

Il Corallo Trattoria

A local favourite, this Italian bistro is cosy, inexpensive and delicious. In the summer the French windows are open to allow diners to catch a breeze and watch the passers-by. Everything is good but try the rigatoni Pugliese – pasta, mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, black olives and eggplant in garlic and oil. There are always chicken, meat and fish specials plus homemade desserts.

176 Prince Street (between Thompson and Sullivan Streets)
Tel: (212) 941 7119.
Price: $$

Lupa

Although his upmarket restaurant, Babbo, and the new affordable Enoteca Pizzeria- Otto, span the price-range of Italian cuisine, it is Mario Batali's medium-priced restaurant that is just right. To the rustic dinner tables waiters rush crusty bread and such succulent items as a ricotta-filled eggplant involtini appetiser, linguini with walnut pesto primi, and a veal saltimbocca (with prosciutto and sage leaves) secondi. Diners who do not deny the importance of ordering the incomparable tartufo dessert leave happier than Goldilocks.

170 Thompson Street (between Houston and Bleeker Streets)
Tel: (212) 982 5089.
Website: www.luparestaurant.com
Price: $$

Prune

Despite its old-fashioned name, the creative rustic American fare at this tiny East Village bistro competes with some of the city's best restaurants. In summer, a wall of French doors opens, to allow for semi-sidewalk dining. Although it is small, many mirrors and sufficiently bright lighting help counter Prune's diminutive size. However, it can be very difficult to get a table here and guests should book reservations early, for a chance to sample the stellar and sometimes eccentric, decadent fare. Top choices include fried sweetbreads with bacon and capers. Popular mains, such as the roast suckling pig and a meaty yet juicy capon on garlic bread, have guests coming back for more. Simple vegetable sides are also raised to their highest potential under the guidance of Chef Gabrielle Hamilton, whose childhood nickname gives the restaurant its sweet name. Prune also serves a weekend brunch.

54 East First Street (between First and Second Avenues)
Tel: (212) 677 6221.
Price: $$$