Zimmi’s is a new little French restaurant that recently just opened in the West Village. Its menu comes from chef Maxime Pradié, who draws influences from homestyle Southern French cooking. I looked on Resy, and I was able to get a reservation for 2 at 5:15 PM on a Friday evening. When I arrived, it really resonated the classic West Village restaurant, where the word “quaint” and “rustic” are often used together to describe the ambiance and food.
I remember a few years ago before the pandemic, TabeTomo was a very new tsukemen centric restaurant, and it was always on my try list. However, I never was able to make it to the restaurant due to how sparse tsukemen was in general in Manhattan, as well as, the restaurant was closed at random times when I tried to visit. Finally tonight, I got a chance to try this out and to compare against other tsukemen places.
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. When we arrived, we were seated in a booth that was definitely spacious and comfortable.
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.
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.
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 were able to walk into this restaurant at 4:30 PM on a Sunday without reservations. It’s located in the downstairs promenade of Rockafeller Plaza, where all the sit-down restaurants reside near the skating rink.
For Thanksgiving, we decided to try Cafe Carmellini out because their menu seemed pretty decent and had offerings that were present on their normal menu. My partner is a fan of turkey, so I already know what they were going to get. We made a reservation for 12 PM on Thanksgiving with no issues at all. When we walked in, they had us sit at the bar as they were preparing for Thanksgiving service. This restaurant is located inside the 5th Avenue Hotel.
SaiTong Thai was a relatively new Thai restaurant that opened near the Theater District. One of its allures is that it appears to be an upscale Thai restaurant. The menu when I glanced at it seemed pretty decent although the prices were on the higher side. Since we had a theater date, we decided to check this restaurant out. We easily made a reservation for a Saturday at 5:30 PM.
SEA is a casual South East Asian restaurant from Chef Jungsik Yim of two Michelin Star restaurant, Jungsik. The restaurant offers a raw bar, small plates, and shareable plates with creativity. We were able to make a reservation pretty last minute for 5:15 PM on a Friday evening fairly easy. We arrived a little early, and they were able to seat us without issue. We had some high expectations that this restaurant will have great flavors.