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.
We had a late lunch with some friends, and they wanted to take us to this interesting Spanish restaurant nestled in Little Italy, which is nestled in a few blocks between Nolita and Chinatown. This area is not something we frequent, and we were excited to try this restaurant because we were told that this is very authentic. We arrived around 1:30 in the afternoon, and it was still fairly bustling. This restaurant has a Michelin bib gourmand, which is given out to restaurants with good quality and good value cooking.
This new Southeast Asian restaurant is located on the third floor of the Columbus Circle mall. The restaurant is part of the “Quality Branded” restaurant group, which also included Quality Italian, Don Angie, and Zou Zou’s to name a few. What was exciting about the menu here was that it was leaning into higher end Vietnamese and Thai flavors. We were able to make a reservation a few days in advance for two people at 5:15 PM on a Friday evening.
Michael Mina is an award winning chef and restaurateur that currently runs and operates over 40 restaurants worldwide. He opened this restaurant in the JW Marriott Essex House, right across from Central Park south and near Columbus Circle. This is his love letter to the classic American steakhouse. Bourbon Steak has multiple locations in the United States, so it’s not an entirely new restaurant. I picked this restaurant particularly because of their prix fixe menu that seems to give a pretty good spread of what this restaurant has to offer.
We’ve always had a soft spot for local breakfast places where it’s living the traditional American experience. Red Coach is not only a hotel for Niagara tourists on the U.S. side, but it also has a restaurant that has received some decent reviews from Trip Advisor and other travel sites. We decided to give their breakfast a try. Do keep in mind that this is located on the U.S. side of Niagara, but I catalogued this in Canada for simplicity. We were able to walk into the restaurant at 8 AM and were seated next to the window.
On the Niagara Canadian side, there is a lot more tourist attractions, views, and restaurants. My partner really wanted to check this revolving dining room out, so I made a reservation for 2 for 4:30 PM a few days in advance fairly easy. When you arrive into the bottom floor, the bottom floor of the tower has a seemingly outdated game mall with super old games. It felt like a blast in the past. Then you take the escalators up to the elevators that bring you up to this revolving tower. The elevator went up to the dining room floor pretty quickly, and you get a nice view of Niagara Falls.
Restaurant Pearl Morissette is located near the Niagara region of Canada in an area called “Jordan Station” neighborhood of Lincoln, Ontario. My partner and I visited Niagara Falls recently, and wanted to make a trip out to this restaurant from the U.S. side of Niagara. The drive into this area was very easy. Because we foolishly decided to eat at this restaurant rather late, we initially did not find any availability. However we checked again a few days before our trip, and we were able to book a table for 2 for 8:30 PM on a Friday night.
The Musket Room has been around for a while, and it is located close to the Broadway/Lafayette train in Manhattan. Chef Mary Attea is the head chef of this restaurant, and according to the Michelin Guide, the kitchen is predominantly women. We picked this restaurant to try for tonight primarily because the menu looked like a slightly different take on New American than what we were used to. I was easily able to book a reservation for 2 for 5:30 PM on a Friday evening a few days in advance.