We ended up going to dinner after the show at Prune. Completely great. I had grilled shrimp app plus greens and shared a radicchio/endive salad with my wife. Had the olive oil cake for dessert. And a tasty Gigondas to drink while we ate. Thanks to all posters.

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Prune
54 E 1st St, New York, NY 10003

Have to be at the Blue Note at 7:15 next Sunday to get a good table -- and want a good, not too expensive bite beforehand. Wife is non-meat eater -- fish OK, wine with dinner is preferable. But we probably won't get to our table much before 6. Is this possible? Prefer non-Italian, but love all kinds of ethnic food, southern cooking. I was thinking something like Mama's Food Shop -- but it's too far east. Thanks for any suggestions.

On our second night, we went to Mochica, per this board's suggestion. My previous experience with Peruvian is in Miami, where it was formica tables, paper place mats and bright lighting -- and great cheap food. Mochica is not that kind of place, it had fancier service, wine list, etc. but it was a good dinner. We shared the potato and cheese sauce app, Papa a la Huancaina, very good. I had a squid stuffed with chorizo in a light tomato sauce, also good, but only 2 squids, so could have been more. My boss had a mixed seafood soup he liked a lot. Pleasant service, a good wine list, and again a hit -- boss happy with me for good resto suggestions.

Thanks to all chowhounders for pointing me in the right direction.

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Mochica
937 Harrison Street, San Francisco, CA 94107

Went to Citizen's Band and it was just right. I had one of the best spinach salads I've ever had -- the spinach was so fresh it crunched. Salad had onion marmalade, ricotta salata,the greens and was dressed in a light (how is this possible?) bacon fat dressing. And on top a hard boiled egg, just underdone, coated with breadcrumbs and lightly browned. Given that it was after midnight in my body, having flown from East Coast -- couldn't have asked for better. My boss had the best burger he's ever had, he said, Kobe beef with house-made pickles and great fries. He had a beer; I had a glass of Zin and we got out of there for $40.

Friendly service, not too noisy, only downside was no cushions on the chairs or bench seating -- hard on my tired from the airplane bottom. I'd go again.

Thanks

What about Triptych? Also not too far away.

Henry's closes at 9, so not a good choice for us.

I see on Google Maps also Henry's Hunan close by. Some good reviews here. A good place?

Flying in on business Wed. night. Staying near 9th and Harrison. Probably not getting to resto until 9PM (midnight in our bellies). Where's a walking distance, not too noisy, not too $$$ place. Our business meetings next day are in Chinatown, so I bet we get a Chinese lunch.

Thanks

BTW - before the server told us about the lard in the rolls, my wife and I agreed they were about the best we'd ever had. After the news, I got the extra one!

We saved D&J's for Monday because it was open. I had the special soup that night which was a pureed sweet potato w/andouille. It was good, but I wished I'd tried the gumbo instead -- it was a little too rich for what I also had. I ordered a redfish special -- which was advertised as meuniere, but was coated in a cream based sauce -- where I come from meuniere is butter not cream. It was decent, but you know how a cream sauce can congeal over a hot piece of fish -- as I write this, I'm struggling to remember what else was in it, but I can quote chapter and verse on our meal at Dante's Kitchen.

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Dante's Kitchen
736 Dante Street, New Orleans, LA 70118

Was in N.O. 10 days ago. Early dinner at Dante's -- the best of our trip, and the woman serving us was one of the nicest wait persons ever. Took great care of us, didn't push anything and seemed really interested in giving us a good time,

Unlike the server at Cochon a few nights earlier who knew my wife ate no meat and then after we'd eaten, whispered that the secret of their rolls was lard. Cochon was fine, but too salty, in my opinion. And I felt we were being pushed to order more than we wanted.

At DK, I ate the shrimp and grits app, then a side of greens w/andouille and one of boudin rouge. Completely great. The spoon bread is amazing, but for 2 of us, one portion was plenty

BTW - we also ate at Dick and Jenny's and I wouldn't go back. Lackluster. Was a Monday night, so maybe that had something to do with it.

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Cochon
930 Tchoupitoulas St., New Orleans, LA 70130

Friends took him for lunch there when he turned 90.

I booked (but can change) for 6PM at Campagna in Waltham. They said not bad at that hour. What do you all think?

My spry dad is turning 95 on Fri. We need a quiet place to celebrate, just 3 of us. He likes a good meal, but a pleasant and accommodating locale will be more important than ultra-special cuisine. We've done Lumiere for his 85th and a nice place in W. Roxbury for his 90th when we had a much larger party (forget the name, something Grill). We don't want to drive into Boston or Cambridge. As for price -- $$$ not $$$$ 'Ethnic is fine, though I wouldn't take him to an Thai or Indian place because he's not going to want too much spice.

Many thanks.

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Lumiere Restaurant
1293 Washington St., West Newton, MA 02465

Thanks for the reply. You know, I'm not especially interested in being vindictive or anything. I was hoping for a response when I contacted Red Cat via the web because I value feedback myself in the work I do, and try to see these things as opportunities to be better the next time. But as only a sometimes visitor to New York, I began this thread because I didn't know what was common and what wasn't.

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Red Cat
227 10th Ave, New York, NY 10011

They did not respond to my note about service. Why bother engaging your customer base through your website if you don't try to make it work? Bad marketing all around.

Yes, not rave worthy. Thanks for the replies, all.

Interesting that this is normal. Our dinner companion is a Brooklynite and she was more upset than we were. So I'm clear, it wasn't the wait itself that bugged me, but the lack of consideration in managing it.

Came in from out of town for my wife's birthday on a Sat. night. Made a post-theater 9:45 reservation at Red Cat. Called at 9:35 to say play got out late and we would be a few minutes late, and arrived about 9:55 or so. They were slammed. Our table was still occupied. Hostess apologized, sent us to the crowded end of the bar, and ignored us for the next half hour. We were checking a Blackberry for where else to go, when our table freed up at 10:30 -- 45 minutes after the reserved time. I think I went to the front of the room twice to check on our table and remind them we were trying to celebrate a birthday, but all I got was "Sorry, we can't do anything. Your table won't leave"

Not true. They could have given us a glass of wine while we waited or come over to see how we were, etc. I felt kind of stupid just standing there -- if you've been there, you know how crowded and noisy the far end of the bar is, and close to the bathroom entrance.

Once we were seated, they did send over a free plate of tempura green beans. But it took a long time for us to relax and enjoy ourselves after such hapless treatment. Food was good, but by the time it came, it was too late to enjoy it fully.

So -- I used the restaurant's website to send a polite but critical description of our less than happy night. The restaurant has not replied to my message. Not how I would do it.

Am I expecting too much?

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Red Cat
227 10th Ave, New York, NY 10011

Sigh. Just found out my driver friend can't make dinner at all, working too late. Another diner lives in Hell's Kitchen, and he has a 3-year-old to consider (baby not coming to dinner but dad may have schedule issues), so I think I'll search for a HK resto.What's quiet there?

Am meeting some old friends next Friday night. One of our group is driving from work on LI to home in NJ and takes the midtown tunnel. To make the driver's life easy, we need a place not too far off his route. I'm coming in from MA, so I have no clue as to what neighborhood makes sense. Most of the others are on the west side, UWS HK, or coming in by train from CT or NJ.

Need a place that's good for conversation. Not $$$$. At least one of the eaters is not overly-ambitions, sigh. We met once for Korean, and I think it was too challenging for her. One of us eats no meat or poultry. Next night my wife and I are at Marseille, so no French or bistro..

Food is important, but so is the ability to be comfortable talking, What do you hounds think? Thanks.

We're going to Marseille. I'll post a review after the meal. Thanks to all.

Thanks. Esca and Taboon are probably over our price range. My wife is a pescatarian (no meat or poultry) so 5 napkin burger is out, even if there are things she can eat there, I think it would weird her out to be at a burger place on her birthday. The Ovest website was non functional for me -- lovely splash page and no ability to enter, so I don't know about atmosphere and menu. Leaves Marseille, which I will investigate further. Gracias,

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Esca
402 West 43rd Street, New York, NY 10036

Taboon
773 10th Avenue, New York, NY 10019

Ovest
513 W 27th St, New York, NY 10001

Looking for a dinner after the show at the BAC (37th and 10th). Want to walk to dinner and don't mind a little hike, but 10-15 mins, tops. It's a birthday dinner so it can't be too casual, but we don't want super high end either. No Indian,Thai or Chinese, but other ethnic places are dandy. We love eating at Hanbat in Herald Sq, for example (but that's too rushed and noisy for a birthday), and had a great dinner during restaurant week at Fishtail ($35 prix fixe, amazing), but too far to walk and without prix fixe beyond our means, sigh. Would prefer a place we didn't have to scream over the table at each other to be heard.

Thanks

Fishtail on Thurs. night for what is now, the summer menu, $35 prix fixe as their RW menu is over. Fewer choices than the posted RW menu, but it was fantastic.

We'd been walking Manhattan for hours and showed up nicely dressed but lugging water bottles and our Goretex rain jackets around our waists but were treated right up front as finely as anyone (and there were many less well dressed than we, and many better dressed.)

We'd booked for 9:30, but our evening event let out much earlier than we'd expected. We called hoping for a better time, were given 8:45 but were seated on arrival at 8:15. Smooth, effortless service with charming, young staff -- no put-on airs here, which was great.

Had the Angry Mussels - pan roasted with crispy basil and a chile powdering. Healthy portion, filled a small cast iron pan -- I was too busy eating to count. Came with herbed melted butter, but they were better w/o - tasted more spice that way. Fine app but I liked my wife's gazpacho more -- finely pureed and well balanced, with Peekytoe crab garnish. Smacked with tomato flavor. Summer at last.

I had the swordfish steak frites -- absolutely perfect with a dab of house made steak sauce and those great fries. The fish was regular portion, and I've never had better both in flavor and doneness. Heaven.

Wife had pan roasted wild salmon with bok choi and 2 curries. Really great -- salmon was sweet and tender -- I loved it and I usually avoid salmon.

Desserts - she had smores and I had a white chocolate pudding with roasted peach. Both were decent portions and really well made. Liked the peach one better, not quite as strong a chocolate hit on the smores -- but it was the only chocolate dessert on the prix fixe menu. House made grahams, btw.

I'll go back on another visit to NYC.

I was there last night, having gone once 5 years ago for an anniversary. While our service wasn't as rocky as yours, it wasn't extra smooth, either. I could tell the waiter was annoyed that we chose to ignore his advice about how much to order; he made a face later when we asked for more biscuits. We split the Caesar salad, and thought it very good, esp the white anchovies not salted more like ceviche. Also raves for the potato biscuits. I next had General Gau's Sweetbreads, nicely done but not out of this world --3 sweetbreads and 2 other crispy cakey things (not sure what) for $19 feels overpriced for me -- esp, with as simple a preparation as these were. Pan friend, a bit of shredded lettuce and a hint of chili. My wife had Chantenay Carrot Soup with
medjool dates, almond milk and kumquat in a foam. She loved it, I not so much. I do not get the lure of foam. We then split a lobster risotto which was made with herring -- because as the waiter explained, herring are used as bait in the traps. The lobster was strangely under-flavored -- barely poached and tender, but not packing a great lobster punch in the mouth, same with the lobster stock. Liked the sour-strong bits of herring much better. Risotto iteself was creamy and soft but bland. My wife loved this dish all the way, but I wanted more snap from the main ingredient. For dessert my wife had chocolate sundae with traditional and untraditional toppings. This means yes, fudge sauce (tiny little splashes) and marshmallow foam and peanut powder. I had a pineapple trifle -- roasted fruit, coconut water, some taipioca pearls a bit of sponge cake. OK but nothing I'd ever have again.

Lovely wine -- Two Ton Pinot Noir 2008 ($36/bottle).

I won't go back. And I loved my meal 5 years ago. One more thing. There's something off-putting to me to begin an expensive meal like this with explanations on portion size, how to order, etc. We were told that nothing is an app or entree, just equal sized (small) portions. I'd rather the restaurant not make me think too hard how to build a meal. I know what an appetizer is, know what an entree is and found it a little confusing to figure out if I were ordering enough and what I wanted. This just feels like a way to get me to buy more than I realize and spend accordingly. Our bill, including wine and tip came to $145 for 2. We left having eaten just the right amount, by the way, thanks to those 2 extra biscuits. 4 dishes between us, plus dessert.

I was away (eating my way through Gaspe and Quebec City) or I would have posted before your trip.

I've had consistently good meals at Aquatini on State St. in Nbpt. The Chef, Alec Maxon knows what he's up to, often forages for his own clams, wild mushrooms, etc. and runs a good kitchen. I avoid the 'martinis' that give the place its name. Just because a drink is poured into a martini glass, doesn't mean it's a martini. The place can get loud on a busy night, but it's where I go whenever I want something better than I can do in my own kitchen. Pricing is on the higher end for Nbpt, but New Yorkers would probably think it a bargain -- mains ~$22-28. They've recently shifted to a French country menu, duck confit salad, etc.

I've had good and not so good meals at Plum Island Grille and pretty good dinners at Bluwater Cafe. Last time I was at Glenn's was not so happy -- I ordered a pasta dish and asked for it to be al dente. I got the usual overcooked glop and after waiting for the server to come over for 5 minutes, finally brought my plate to the chefs at the open kitchen bar. They told me they can't do al dente pasta because they cook it in advance for their lobster mac and cheese. I ordered something else -- fish tacos I think, pretty good but by that time I was too annoyed to enjoy myself. That's what I like about Aquatini. They wouldn't put overcooked pasta on a plate just because it's convenient.

Thanks. We're not on a super strict budget -- in Montreal, we've been to Au Pied du Cochon, L'Express and Au Thym, which aren't budget restaurants, but which aren't 'best meal I ever had' kind of places either. It just seemed to me from the majority posts here that hounds were more upstream than I. L'Express, for example, is the kind of bistro I love.

Thanks for the responses. Wonder if there's a french language chowhound.com? I can get by (poorly) and might put together a list.

Heading for a driving trip around Gaspe and ending in QC. Most of the posts I've found here talk about great but pretty expensive restaurants in Quebec. What's great at a lesser level? Thanks.