Hawksmoor is a London restaurant that has a few other locations in the U.S. This is the first New York City location. In the UK, Hawksmoor is known for its food integrity, drinks, and visually appealing dining areas. They claim they have found the perfect way to cook steaks. One of the biggest appeals for me was they have a “Sunday Roast”, which is supposed to be a heavy Sunday meal.

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.

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.