I've eaten burgers at pretty much all the so called best burger locations. Form my experience Walkers stands out.

On occasion we've been able to obtain weekend reservations to Milos with little advance time.

On occasion we've been able to get last minute weekend reservations to Milos.

Walker's restaurant is an only in New York type tavern restaurant on Moore St. between Hudson & Varrick. Virtually everything on the menu is good. They have what in my opinion is the best hamburger and roast chicken to be found in New York. The clientele includes everybody from families to single yuppies. The service is excellent. Of equal importance perhaps is that the prices are extremely reasonable.

The key to enjoying Milos and not bordering on bankruptcy is to go early and have their pre theater menu which is four courses for $49.00. The food is every bit as good as what is on the regular menu.

I'm in Los Angeles visiting kids and grandkids. I've long heard about Langers in LA being as good if not better than Katz. I decided to go to Langers yesterday. Here's my verdict. The pastrami, was not nearly as good as that at Katz, albeit better than decent. I didn't see them cutting it, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't hand sliced. The slices were too thin. The portion wasn't as big as a Katz sandwich, but was big enough for me. The one area where the Langers sandwich really stood out was the bread. Simply put it was by far the best rye bread I've ever tasted on a deli sandwich or anywhere else for that matter. The bread alone made the sandwich comparable to that of Katz. I know its the pastrami that counts the most. But its not a sandwich without the bread. If Katz was able to acquire a comparable bread, their pastrami sandwich would be perfection.

Although they are more expensive, but not inordinately so for lunch, the overall experience at Taillevent, Guy Savoy and Michel Rostang is far better than at the restaurants previously mentioned. They are all within walking distance of the Lancaster.

Coincidentally, today's New York Times contains an excellent review for the Arlington Club, a relatively new steakhouse on the upper east side. The review is excellent but the rating is only two stars. I understand that two stars is very good, but in my opinion not as good as the content of the review indicates the restaurant is. The contents of the review are all extremely positive except for that of the sushi which really doesn't belong on a steakhouse menu.

Willi's Wine Bar, close to the Palais Royale, good value, excellently priced for food and wine. Quite friendly. I love sitting and eating at the bar.

I love good wine as well as good food. Much of my wine is relatively rare and expensive. If we were to order it or comparable wines in restaurants it would break our bank. Thus when we dine in restaurants in New York, we try to restrict ourselves to those that have a corkage policy. I don't mind paying corkage. Actually I like doing so. I really don't want to feel that I'm getting something for nothing. I realize that glassware and service have costs associated with them. I'm willing to pay for it and I will also tip accordingly. I also try to bring wines that are not available on a given restaurant's wine list. A couple of years ago four of us had a wonderful dinner at Bouley in New York. We had checked on the restaurant's corkage policy. They had one. We ate, drank and tipped well. Three weeks later we made a reservation to eat there again. Once again we brought our own wine. After sitting down we were told that they had just discontinued their corkage policy. We could ony have wine that was ordered from their list. The wise thing would have been to leave then and there. Instead we just ordered cocktails and had our meal without wine. I'm sure that the food was probably just as good that time as the previous one. Unfortunately we were so upset, we didn't enjoy it. The restaurant not only knew that we had brought our own wine the previous time. It was on their computer. We also told then about our previous visit.In my mind they should have done at least one of two things.
(1) Advise us of the new policy when the reservation was made.
(2) Made an exception because of the obvious mixup in communications.
They did neither.
I'm sure that they will likely not miss us. But we will never dine there again nor will we recommend that anybody else does.

Consistently good and meeting most or your criteria is Craft.

This is sacrilege. Whenever I want a cup of American tasting coffee in Paris, I go to McDonalds.

Actually Murray's is owned and run by the same folks that own Zucker's. You should find their food similar. The onloy difference I've found is that Auckers will toast their bagels whereas Murray's will not.

There are very few places where I've enjoyed having lunch as good as le Cinq and none better.

I've had an ambien amnesia experience as well. Went to a dinner, delivered a speech and recalled absolutely nothing. I always thought the problem might have been having a glass of wine after taking the ambien. Perhaps it was just the ambien.

I stand by my statement. The fact that Chirac took Clinton there does not make the neighborhood beautiful or even nice. Perhaps I should not have characterized the restaurant as a dump. It is clean and the food is well presented. The feeling that one gets when entering it is that one might be entering a restaurant as if one were in the 30s or 40s. Actually it probably hasn't changed much in appearance since then.
John, what is a "Bobo"?
The fact that probably hundreds of luminaries in addition to Chirac, Clinton and Kohl have dined there is not a reflection of the neighborhood, but rather of the restaurant and the experience of dining there.

Jim,
Based on your statement that you would be won over by a taste of exquiste foie gras and amazing roast chicken, there is one place that would fill your bill. That's the ultra expensive bistro Chez l'Ami Louis. Their foie gras is delicious and is a huge portion of three large slabs. Its enough for four people. The two of you would not have a problem. As for their roast chicken, if there is a better one anywhere, I've never come even close to finding it. I would add an appetizer of their amazing escargots(enough for two and the best to found anywhere) and a side order of the pommes galette and you have the perfect meal. Their wine list is extensive and is particularly strong in burgundies. The only negative is that the place is somewhat of a dump in a seedy neighborhood.

Its one of my very favorite dishes. I've had it wherever I've seen it offered on a menu - from New York to Miami; from Philadelphia to San Francisco. You will have to go through the Lincoln Tunnel to find the very best that I've ever experienced. Its to be found at a place called If Villaggio in Carlstadt New Jersey. Its located on Rte 17 not too far from the Meadowlands Sports Complex. Its worth the trip. Its that good.

Check out the reviews on tripadvisor. They are alomst all very positive.

At best they are comparable. My guess is that if anything they are slightly more expensive. Off the top of my head I would say that its going to cost between $150-$200 a person depending mostly on what you drink. Its certainly cheaper than Guy Savoy, Robuchon and Twist, but probably on a par with Picasso, le Cirque, Prime and SW Steakhouse.

I was rather disappointed by Pierre Gagnaire. I found the food rather confusing and for lack of a better term I didn't find the ingredients simpatico with each other. Most of the time, I had no idea what I was eating. None of it was mind boggling except that it confused me. Perhaps I lacked the proper sophistication to appreciate it.

Several years ago when it was still at the Barbary Coast Hotel, Esquire magazine called Michael's the best restaurant in North America. Although its prices are anything but cheap, due to the high quality of the food, the low number of covers and large staff to customer ratio, the place loses a fortune even when every setting is sold. I've been told by a long time executive of the hotel group that owns the place that the restaurant is regarded as the piece de resistance of the owner's empire and that he is willing to have it keep hemorraging money as a loss leader and as the showpiece of his empire with no skimping done to it in any area..

If you've never eaten there I would suggest Michael's at the Southpointe. The food is nothing revolutionary, but its quality and freshness are unsurpassed anywhere. You can close your eyes and imagine that you are Diamond Jim Brady. Reading the menu you might think you were transported back to the 40s, 50s or even earlier. Everything on the menu is good . The Dover Sole is the best I've ever had anywhere, even in England. Its small with a waitstaff ratio of one to one.

In a recent visit to London and Paris we ate at five three stars(The Fat Duck, l'Ambroisie, Gordon Ramsay, Pierre Gagnaire and le Meurice and one two star. Lunch at le Cinq, the two star was the meal we enjpoyed most.

Next time you go be sure to go to le Cinq for lunch. We just got back from a trip to London and Paris. We went to five three stars(The Fat Duck, Gordon Ramsay, l'Ambroisie, Pierre Gagnaire and le Meurice) for dinner and to le Cinq the only two star for Sunday lunch. Of the six places our favorite was le Cinq.

I too had lunch at le Cinq as reported in another topic. We ate at 5 three stars during our trip to London and Paris. Although le Cinq is only a two star, my level of enjoyment of our lunch there was greater than that at of the dinners at each of the five three stars.

Just returned from a nine day honeymoon and a vacation with friends to London and Paris. The two highlights of the trip other than eating were center court seats at Wimbledon and a visit to Omaha Beach in Normandy.
The Fat Duck - A truly incredible experience. Very unique food that was very tasty. The ambience is virtually non existent with very low ceilings. A tall person is in danger of hitting his head on the ceiling. Service was great. The feeling I had was okay I've done it. Very little reason to return and eat the same food presented the same way.
Gordon Ramsay Royal Hospital road - Everything we had was delicious, but nothing truly unique. A very nice room. If you were sitting at the wrong table you lacked space. We were five and quite comfortable. The best dish was a desert - tarte tatin for two absolutely luscious.
l'Ambroisie - Probably the best of the three stars. Everything we had was absolutely delicious, although nothing truly innovative. We were seated in the front room which was quite nice. I had the distinctive feeling that this was the non French room in the restaurant with lots of English being spoken. Unlike others, I don't have an issue with this. Prior to coming to this restaurant, I had the impression that the staff could be quite cold to non regulars or Americans. This was decidedly not the case. I would definitely return.
le Cinq - We had Sunday lunch here. The experience was everything one would expect a three star restaurant to be, even though it only has two. Everything was exceptional - the room, the service, the food(every dish was a winner), the graciousness of the staff and the value. I'm very certain that even though we didn't know anybody I had the feeling that there were several VIPs in attendence. Despite this we were treated with great hospitality. This was perhaps the most beautiful room in which I've ever dined. This place ranked as number one.
Pierre Gagnaire - A very nice room with excellent service. Perhaps by this point we were getting jaded. We just had far too much food. Virtually everything was good, but nothing memorable. I had trouble keeping up with what we were eating. Perhaps it was just my lack of sophistication.
le Meurice - A wonderful palatial restaurant second in ambience only to le Cinq. Everything was excellent - the food, the service, three seperate visits by the gracious chef. Nothing was awe inspiring.
If I were rating the six not as a critic but only by my level of enjoyment, this is how I would do it:
1-le Cinq
2-l'Ambroisie
3-The Fat Duck
4-le Meurice
5-Pierre Gagnaire
6-Gordon Ramsay
The only two that I would want to return to before experiencing other three star type restaurants would be le Cinq and l'Ambroisie.

We have reservations at both The Ledbury and Gordon Ramsay Hospital Road this Friday evening. Tomorrow is decision day. Its only fair to cancel by then. Which one should we choose?

We are two couples going to Paris for four days. We arrive on a Saturday and have reservations for dinner at l'Ambroisie. The next day we are scheduled for lunch at le Cinq. On Monday we are having dinner at Pierre Gagnaire. The next evening we dine at le Meurice. I know enough not to have two multi starred dining experience in a single day, but having four consecutive such experiences in four days tells me that we might be overdoing it.
My buddy is absolutely insistent on doing this, saying that he may never get back to Paris again and he wants as much of the three star experience as he can get. I wonder if doing it on four consecutive days will dull the experience

My wife, I and another couple are scheduled to dine at l'Ambroisie next month. The two guys will eat anything and everything. One of the ladies will not eat meat, but she will eat fish and seafood. My wife is basically a vegetarian. Will they restaurant accommodate the food preferences of the women? Are there enough food choices on the menu to satisfy them? What course of action might you suggest that we take?