The Modern is a well known 2 star Michelin restaurant that has an appealing tasting menu. Its sibling restaurant, the Bar Room", is located in the same area as the Modern restaurant, but literally is divided by tall gigantic glass panes. The Bar Room has a more casual feel, where there’s music pumping through the speakers, and it feels more bustling like the general NYC city culture. On the other side of the pane is the extravagant tasting menu, which we also visited. Go to the Kitchen Table review for more of how that experience was like.

Located near the Vessel and Hudson Yards, Zou Zou’s was on my partner’s list for quite some time. They simply love Mediterranean small plates and dips. We actually had to make a reservation a few weeks out to nab our reservation at 5 PM on a Sunday night. The restaurant lies in this little courtyard where it leads into one of the Peloton offices. When we arrived, we were able to check in a few minutes early. The hosts asked us to wait at the bar, and when they were ready for dinner service, they will come get you and bring you to your table.

The Reading Room is a restaurant that caught my eye on Yelp’s “New and Hot” list. The menu is fairly small, simple, but seemed like it could be a good one. I’ve been looking for restaurants around my work area that I could potentially refer others for drinks or a not too expensive dinner. This restaurant is located in the back of The Gotham Hotel on 46th between Madison and Fifth Avenue.

We’ve been frequent shoppers at Murray’s Cheese for our normal night in eating cheese and charcuterie. This location in Long Island City also has a restaurant part of it. I’ve taken a few glances at the menu, and there were some individual things that caught my eye. Fortunately, it was a lazy Saturday, and it was raining. This would be the ideal night to try this place out. We were able to walk in without reservations at 4:30 PM on a Saturday afternoon.

We were in the SOHO area doing a quick errand run. Because it was so cold, we decided to eat near the Prince Street subway station. We ended up at The Mercer Kitchen because they had walk-in seating, and it seemed interesting. We were seated in an intimate table right next to the bottom floor’s receptionist. We learned later that this is one of Jean George’s restaurants, and it’s scheduled to close at end of month permanently.

Gatsby Landing has been on my list for quite some time. The menu is reasonably priced, and it’s fairly close to my office and close to the 42nd trains. I figured today would be the day to check it out, since my options are running a little thin since I was looking for a walk-in restaurant. We arrived here around 5:30 PM on a Friday evening, and we were able to walk in easily for a party of 2.

We were in the Midtown area shopping yet again. The previous night we went to Serafina, which was pretty awful. Luckily we had more choices, and this restaurant was nearby. It caught my eye because it had a nice indoor patio area that was lit by natural light similarly to The Milling Room. The menu seemed reasonable as well as the price, so maybe there can be some value found here. We were able to walk in without reservations on a Sunday at 5:30 PM.

Carla is a local neighborhood restaurant close to Long Island City and Queensboro Plaza. At first glance, the restaurant’s menu seems very basic, but sometimes I think this could be misleading. I had been periodically glancing at the menu, and I noticed it changing every so slightly on a monthly basis. Since we had a lazy Saturday, we decided to try this place out. The restaurant’s motto is all about good vibes. We walked in as a party of 2 around 4:30 PM.

It was my partner’s friend’s birthday, and they had asked for my partner to make a reservation to a Michelin Star restaurant that was not overwhelmingly expensive (< $120 per person before wine). My partner started looking for more contemporary cuisines, and stumbled onto this which was a bit below the radar of restaurants. I remembered looking at the menu a while back, and nothing really struck me as a must-have … but I’m always open to trying to prove myself wrong.

Au Cheval is well known restaurant based out of Chicago. They specialize in elevated burgers and American dishes. When they opened a New York City location, there were crazy lines out the door. The bigger brother to this restaurant is “4 Charles” which specializes in prime rib. Both the burger and prime rib sandwich at Au Cheval are also found at “4 Charles”. I don’t have the patience to book a “4 Charles” reservation and pay the crazy insane prices for steak, so I thought I’d try some of their offerings here. Because they charge $2.49 plus tax, per person, for a reservation on Resy. It’s pretentious, but that did allow us to secure a reservation easily.