In my first visit to Blanca back in September 2018, I was a solo diner and had just moved to New York City pretty recently. I wrote down, “Really good. Definitely get the drink pairing. Michelin 2 star. $300 per person including drinks.” The vibe and space was absolutely fantastic. I then met my partner, and the pandemic arrived. Blanca shutdown and just simply never reopened until a few weeks ago.

We came here on a date night to do the dinner and jazz thing. We purchased our tickets online, then head over. With the tickets, there’s a required minimum of 1 drink per person if you’re not having dinner, or if you are having dinner, there is a required 1 entree per person sans appetizer. On this night, it was the Harold Mabern Trio. The cocktails were ok. It’s been a while, so I don’t quite remember exactly what these were.

This is a restaurant located close to the end of the Highline. It’s down on 10th ave at the corner. It’s actually next door to its bar. So if you want to visit this place, don’t open the first door on your left. Open the second door. The sour beer on the top was quite good. It had some flavors of a Guinness but obviously with the sour in it.

This place is one of Jean Georges’ new seafood-centric restaurant situated right at the corner of the Pier near South Street Seaport. This area has a tiny Boston like mall where people can shop and eat at some decent restaurants. The iPic theater is also here too. The area is largely going through some sort of construction. The restaurant is located at the edge of the pier and overlooks the water facing towards the Brooklyn Bridge.

I’m introducing a new category for restaurants that have gardens. This one has an interesting one. I didn’t find it particularly that great, but it seems to be an attraction for others. This is tucked near or in the Standard Hotel, I don’t quite remember. In the summer, the indoor seats are mostly vacant, so definitely ask for a seat near the window if you decide to sit inside.

The vibe in this place was pretty cool. It reminded me of being in one of those Lord of the Rings tavern. The poutine was pretty salty, but it was a good match with the beers. I wish the cheese curds were a little warmer and more abundant. The savage is actually regular hot wings. The hot wings tasted like they were fried first then doused in sauce after. It’s a nice texture combination, and it’s how I prefer my hot wings.

Stumbled onto this while trying to go to Bobby Vans steak. That place was closed unfortunately. The service here was pretty subpar by New York City standards. The filet mignon was ordered medium rare, but in my opinion it came out medium. The temperature on the steak as a whole came out cold as if it was sitting there for a tad bit too long. The blue cheese sauce was really salty, but perhaps it was there to hide the lack of taste on the steak.

This is the main site to the sister site Maison Pickle. The food here is really good, filling, and not too expensive. Of course, you have to get the pickles. For appetizers, we got 4 pickles (spicy, green beans, green tomatoes, and regular). We also got a side of fried pickles. I liked them all to be honest, and would love to get the carrots next time. Next, they had 3 different types of root beers on draft.

We ordered a slew of appetizers. The drink fir trade. The blood sausage, bread, and chicken liver mousse was just OK. There wasn’t much memorable about it. The iberico katsu sandwich was surprisingly very good, and I could probably eat a handful of these easy. The main course, cote de boeuf, was pretty good. I actually did not care too much about the sauces, but the quality of the meat was pretty good and tender.

Jazzy bluegrassy restaurant. Same people as Fine & Rare.