Octo is a Korean-Chinese restaurant that brings Chinese dishes developed in Korea. I visited South Korea back in the 2014s, and they definitely had their own spin on Chinese food, which is what attracted me to this restaurant. South Korea has its fair share of Chinese foods that are pretty similar, considered they have shared cultures. Located near Koreatown, we made a reservation for 5:30 PM on a Friday night very easily.

The Golden Wuish (Duck House) was featured in several social media outlets, and my partner was craving for duck after returning from Boston. I remembered that this looked pretty gimmicky, so it could be fun whilst having a decent dinner. The restaurant is located in a dark spot next to a hotel, so it was initially somewhat odd to locate. When we walked in for our reservation at 5:30 PM on a Friday night, we were seated towards the front.

Mooncusser is a Boston seafood prix-fixe restaurant that has seasonal course tasting menus. It’s located in an upstairs area above its sibling restaurant Moon Bar. I stumbled onto this restaurant because I was looking for something seafood centric and would not hurt the wallet too much. This restaurant seemed like it had its good days in the past, and the crowd has kind of moved on but hasn’t left it entirely.

I’ve never visited Boston before, but after scouring the culinary scene somewhat, I saw that this restaurant was called out for having really good baked Alaska. If you’ve read this blog frequently, you’d know that I’m always in the hunt for a good baked Alaska. I was able to make a reservation for this restaurant a month ahead for a 7:15 PM on a Friday night. The area that it’s located in is rather dark, but the interior was definitely bustling.

SAGA is a Michelin 2-star restaurant run by the Kent Hospitality Group. The late Chef James Kent received a lot of good reviews for his restaurants, and this one was on my list to try, especially after trying Crown Shy. This restaurant is located in the same landmark Art Deco tower as Crown Shy. Crown Shy is located at the first floor, whereas this one is located on the 63rd floor.

We were definitely in for a treat in our visit to Los Angeles. My cousin raved about this place, and we were finally able to join for a lunch meal. They made a reservation for 4 around lunch time on Christmas eve, and it was fairly busy. For $125, you get a curated selection of omakase sushi that had a lot of interesting fishes that you would not typically have in New York City.

Lamplight Lounge was one of the few in-park Disney restaurants that we wanted to try because we heard some decent things about. I was able to nab a reservation pretty easily for 2 for 7:00 PM on a Friday night. The food is similar to a gastropub, and in the winter if you get a late enough reservation, you can actually watch the water show from your counter without cramming onto the bridge or other busy viewpoints.

Mitr Thai is a Midtown Thai restaurant that is located very close to Bryant Park. It can be a great option for Thai if you prefer to stay east of the Theater District. When we walked in around 5:30 PM on a Thursday night, we actually had to wait about 30-40 minutes. The restaurant was very full both downstairs and upstairs. We were seated upstairs in a 2-seater. Ambiance & Service The interior decoration is dark and reminded me of a Tao-like upscale Asian restaurant.

The one appeal that attracted me to try out Five Acres was that they offered a Chicago beef sandwich. For some reason, there are very few places that serve this sandwich that I know of. There used to be Hank’s Juicy Beef, but that closed down. The other Chicago beef place that I know of is in deep Brooklyn. Since we were around this Midtown area, I figured now is the right time to give this a shot.

We’ve seen this restaurant Hamido Seafood on social media all over the place. Like many Astoria restaurants, they pride themselves in having the freshest seafood, and they are somewhat close to Taverna Kyclades down the street. We went to the original Hamido Seafood restaurant at 4 PM on a Saturday late afternoon, and we were lucky to be seated right away before the crowds came. They are located very close to the N/W train off the Ditmars train stop.