I am visiting with the family in Dec and want to eat at Babbo , Tao , Buddakan , Crispo , Gramercy Tavern , STKS and the Blue Fin and cant wait .
We love busy bustling trendy places but nothing stuffy or pretentious .
Have i chosen correctly for this with the above or should i try elsewhere ?
Thanks
Steve & Co

i am coming to nyc in december and read nice things about this restaurant in zagats saying its the top place there .
is this a stuffy place or a trendy cool place and is it worth the good write ups given there ?
thanks
steve

Hi everyone
I hear the above is interesting place to eat . Has anyone eaten here recently ?
Thanks
Steve

I have booked at the above restaurant ( 963 Lexington Ave, New York 10021
At 70th St ) and wonder how many of you have nice things to say about it .
thanks Steve

Firstly i would like to know if the places i visited last time are still of the same quality and second i am interested in new recommendations . I only have 6 nights and so need 6 restaurants to dine at !
We had lunch in MOMA in the cafe place which was enjoyable .
We enjoyed Max Brenner on the lower east side possibly . Is it no good anymore ?
I meant PJ Clarkes ! Are there others that are better
Many thanks
Steve

I will be arriving around Xmas with the family at the above address and need somewhere closeby thats not to expensive but fun . Somewhere with some atmosphere and "very Manhattan" or with salads , burgers , pizzas or something else .
We will be tired after a long journey so nothing to complicated would be in order and perhaps within walking distace .
Thanks
Steve

We had such a fab xmas trip last year that we decided to go again this year !
Last year i ate at :

For dinner

River Cafe
Tao
Marseilles
Old Homestead
Balthazar
Carmelites or something for pizza

For lunch

Bloomingdales
MOMA
Max Brenner chocolate place
PJ Harveys hamburgers

Some advice on whether these are still worth going to would be welcome . We are going for 6 nights and cant wait and are happy to pay the similar budgets .

We are also considering Buddakan and Stks as substitutes . Any view on this ?

Many thanks you big foodie apples

Steve

i went to XO last week and apart from very nice surroundings the food was poor and the prices very high . the menu is organised in a confusing way and the whole place is up its own backside . forget it and dont waste your money

nothing run of the mill means exactly what it says , nothing boring , average or ordinary and certainly nothing like basil faulty would be happy with . i am trying to find some new places with good food and atmosphere thats all .

i live in hampstead and am needing to find some thing new for 2007 . i enjoy the freemasons , cafe japan , the bull , l'aventure , dim t ,nahling , the pump house , fredericks for eg and i am wanting to find some new places in and around the area .
anyone know of some new or reliable places ?
nothing run of the mill please !
cheers
steve

i think leiths in notting hill has some good courses . not sure how lenghty they are .

fredericks in camden passage near the angel islington is a super venue . i like the rear room very much indeed which has a wonderful contemporary feel with lovely plants , flowers and fab paintings . the food which these days isnt the top of the food league is still very good .

Cafe Japan in Golders Green in NW London may not have the surroundings but its food is first class and it is really good value . its always full and happy faces great you and the other regulars .

Hi Sushi next door ( and in Hampstead ) is nice but not as authentic .

Jun Kichi is nice in Hampstead , has a good atmosphere but is more expensive .

i went to Yuzu a year or so ago in West Hampstead and was impressed on the contemporary japanese with a twist , but having gone back there a few months back its gone downhill .

I have mixed feelings about Sushi Say in Willesden which is good but Cafe Japan gets my vote every time .

well everyone , i wrote this controversial statement as one to draw a response and have enjoyed the strand hugely so far .

i do believe that all americans should be forced to eat a full range of cheese from mild to highly mature in all the huge number of varieties that exist today in europe , it would make you all better people !

yes we ( brits and europeans ) probably are lightyears ( as gusofsteel states ) ahead as some of you have stated and i hope that you guys catch up soon , because you are missing out big time . there is nothing quite like the class of a mild but complex chevre or the big noise ( or stink ) from say a munster or pont levec . its sad that your gov has prohited 60 day old plus raw milk . several interesting points are made by swissfoodie , lyn , hotoynoodle and cary 218 too .

i couldnt go everywhere in manhatten when i was there for such a short trip but i will def make a point of visiting your specialist cheese shops ( Murrays and Saxlebys in the Essex market ) next time and sampling some of your home grown wares and look forward to it very much next time .

Despite the huge number and quality of the wine producers coming from California and probably elsewhere these days , i can't imagine ( despite what gary_soup says ) however that you will get close to our beer , ale , stout and lager ever , but i suppose you never know ! i would highly recommend a budvar from the czec republic any day ahead of a budweiser!

i just have to rave about this old and wonderful pub / restaurant that i have been to several times . Its in the middle of nowhere ( but just off the M40 ) with a most exquisite sculpture garden and pretty garden areas ( and heli pad ! ) . its an old pub with wonderful food with serious qualities . its no surprise its won the best food in oxfordshire award in the past .
on a warm day you can sit outside under the vine , in colder times enjoy the old fashioned interior with more sculptures , i love it ! The anglo - med food is all prepared fleshly and with huge style and more .
check it out at www.sircharlesnapier.co.uk and find the location but dont tell your friends !

i am a brit and i have just returned from manhatten on what was a really wonderful trip with super food .
one thing i have never understood about america is why your cheese is so very processed and lacking in taste .
brit and euro cheeses are so very flavourful with huge variation in style and design .
i have been to a great many places in the usa but have never been able to understand this ?
any answers ?
thanks
Steve

i have just returned from a most enjoyable trip to Manhatten with my family . Having asked others here for help on a number of subjects , Steve_R asked me to review my dinner visit to the River Cafe which i went to my my wife and kids aged 15 and 17 .
we all had a very nice time there and its not at all surprising to find it as romantic and in a beautiful setting as all who go there have said .

i asked the MD nicely if we could sit by the window and having sat at the bar for 15 mins my wishes were granted . my eldest and i started with lightly cooked bluefin tuna which was pleasant but not much more than that and the other two had the warm pear salad which was very nice indeed . i then had the venison which was very tastey and tender , my wife enjoyed her black bass and the kids enjoyed the duck breast and the rack of lamb . i chose a nice sancere which is one of my favorite bottles .all shared the special chocolate brooklyn bridge dessert which was super .

call me stupid but i didnt realise we were actually dinning on a boat , i thought it was just designed to look like one but i was glad it was tethered and didnt move an inch !
the service was first class but i thought it odd that i was being pushed for a wine order before the menus were provided and this was after we had ordered drinks at the bar . any views here ?

i think we all felt to some degree that perhaps the restaurant was living a little on its reputation and some dishes were a little overelaborate .

i know that you might be shocked by this but i found the bill "cheap" at $512 ! in sterling this is only £60 per head which for a first class meal isnt a lot for us london brits living in probably the most expensive city in the world . for eg in the river cafe in london a meal would probably come to $200 per head . i take my hat off to amercians who come to london and arent broke by the time they go home !

well what an interesting reponse one and all and thank you for your help.

i have been to nyc and now have returned to the uk . i indeed did go to johns near times sq and found it a nice way to start my families time there after a long flight and journey . that the restaurant was minutes from my hotel was a very welcome thing . thank you chow_gal for your thoughts .

the family enjoyed the pizza and was glad to have visited the restaurant .

i dislike the deep pan pizza and was therefore happy to find the base enjoyable but if i have a criticism its more to do with american cheese which i find very processed and lacking in much flavour .

please note that its my humble opinion that the best pizza served in the world is not in the usa which i have visited many times but simply has to be in italy . its something to do with the flour they use there , the wonderful tomatos from the base of versuvius volcano near sorrento the other ingredients and the ovens . pizza was invented by the italians and with the love that they cook all their wonderful food with i guess my view wont change at all !

Scotty - thanks for the advice and your humour :) however i think i can say without any argument whatsoever that the best pizza in the world is in italy . its something to do with the flour , fresh ingredients and ovens and of course italy and its wonderful country !!

the real one in rome i went to as a kid was rather nice where i was served by Alfredo himself and given his famous golden serving spoons to eat my dinner with ! a priceless memory for this foodie .
i know nothing about the ny one unfortunately .

chow gal , i am right in thinking u like it and the food is good ? i am flying in with the family on sat and staying near times sq and so felt this would give these brits a touch of usa within an easy distance and be a good choice before we crash . if its awful i'd rather not bother .

any views here for an out of town brit ?

if you like japanese try the very good value cafe japan in golders green which has excellent menu . jun kichi in hampstead is more expensive .

can you CHOWS give me the low down on what looks to be a fantastic place ? a good one for xmas dinner ( if its open ? ) or not for some true brits visiting very soon ?

have you or others been to marseilles and if so how does it compare to cascina ? i am looking for an xmas dinner place with fun and more and have also been recommended cibo

are all the johns in manhatten the same ?
i intend to go to the one in times sq when i arrive as i am staying near by or is this a mistake ??
thanks steve

has anyone been to this restaurant and if so is it any good ?
thanks
steve

hey steve r . thanks for the help mate . i cant beare touristy places anywhere .

can you or sean suggest really fun , funky and fabulous places for my adult kids ( and their poor mum and dad ) for our final few nights there ?
many thanks
steve

hey sean , i like your comments and thanks for the advice mate. i'll be sure to think of you whilst i am there with my fam singing god save the queen ( sex pistols style maybe ) under my breath !

are there any tricks for getting a seat by the window and does it matter if i dont succeed much ?

many thanks indeed . i promise to write up River Cafe and hope its as nice as its london relative !

the chinese option looks interesting . Do i need to book up these options and are their anymore than the two you suggest ?

will consider the other major areas too you mentioned .

thanks to the othersfor their suggestions too

steve