Restaurant Week might seem like a fairly straightforward occasion: $24.07 for lunch, $35 for dinner, and you get three predetermined courses at a fancy restaurant of your choosing. If you think it’s that easy, then you’re not getting the whole picture.
Making the most of Restaurant Week (RW for short) requires a good deal of strategy. That’s what we’re here for. Below you’ll find our top tips, gleaned from many RW experiences, both good and bad.
City Dish Top Tips:
1. Make like Goldilocks. If you go to Le Cirque, don’t expect their most expensive dish. Any super-fancy restaurant is going to give you a toned-down version of their entrees. It just doesn’t make economic sense to cut you that good of a deal. At the same time, don’t go to a place that normally offers a $15 entree. You’re not getting a good deal there either. Instead, hit for the sweet spot, one that’s not super expensive, but still a bit more than you’d want to spend on a regular basis.
2. Avoid places with standing deals. Tabla offers a lovely RW lunch. It also offers a 3-course prix fixe for $25 EVERY DAY ALL YEAR LONG. Sure, RW saves you 93 cents, but you could be getting a more special meal elsewhere. Save Tabla and its ilk for a special lunch when it’s not RW.
3. Show me the menu. If an establishment isn’t willing to tell you in advance what it’s serving, don’t trust it. Again, you might get stuck with the inexpensive chicken dish or worse if you don’t get an idea ahead of time.
Now that you know what to do, check out the places we’re dying to try this year.
Posted by: Kim Partrick and Nicole Price Fasig
www.nycgo.com/lovenycrestaurantweek
Kim’s Picks:
The Modern Bar Room: My dinner here last winter was far and away the best Restaurant Week experience I’ve had. And whereas most restaurants only offer a few choices for each course, this menu was a widely extensive and eclectic one. The highlight of the meal was my starter: the upside-down tuna tarte, which is basically tuna tartare turned on its head so that its crispy underside serves as the icing on the cake rather than a soggy afterthought. The entree and dessert were nothing to scoff at, either: a stewed pork belly with root vegetables and a chestnut sundae. With such rich and delicious winter offerings, I can’t wait to see what they bring out for summer.
Chinatown Brasserie: In case it isn’t clear by now, I’m a fan of getting the most for your money. Since most of us don’t go around dropping $35 on a dinner every week, it’s nice when a restaurant not only doesn’t give you attitude for ordering off the Restaurant Week menu, but even throws in an extra course just for kicks. Just as Centrico adds a guacamole course, Chinatown Brasserie tacks on some dim sum to their three-course menu, making your $35 stretch just that much further. As if this weren’t enough, their choices of mains include filet mignon, and even a half Peking duck served with Mandarin pancakes.
DBGB Kitchen and Bar: It’s true, I’m horribly predictable, but despite my ardour for M. Daniel, it should be pretty exciting to sample his newest launch’s very first Restaurant Week offerings. Plus, when else can you have pâté, a true Boulud sausage and, say, a berry ginger sundae for $35? Stumped? I thought so.
Nicole’s Picks:
Country: I came here with a group of co-workers last year and we were seriously impressed with the food and the service. When I made reservations, they actually apologized that they couldn’t create a custom menu for our group and they happily accomodated our extremely large party. The atmosphere was lovely, the food was creative and flavorful (there wasn’t a miss among the bunch, and I know because I sampled every single dish!), and we were treated like A-list customers. All in all, a wonderful experience.
BONDST: Perusing the Restaurant Week site is particularly dangerous if you’re a foodie. It’s easy to get lost in the flurry of menus, but I couldn’t get BONDST’s out of my head. Like Chinatown Brasserie and Centrico, BONDST offers a little something extra. Between the delicious appetizers and entree options, they sneak in a scrumptious-sounding sushi course and the dessert section lets you choose between six options including coconut tiramisu and lychee panna cotta. Um, I’ll have one of each?
Brasserie 8 1/2: Not for the faint of stomach, Brasserie 8 1/2’s Restaurant Week menu offers adventurous and hearty fare including pork belly mini sandwiches, herb-crusted skate, and marinated hangar steak with kimchi, nashi pear, and charred lily bulbs. And don’t rule dessert out here either, with intriguing options like blood orange mirror cake with white chocolate mousse and passionfruit coulis. With an inventive and generous menu such as this, rest assured you’re getting your money’s worth at Brasserie 8 1/2.
Have any Restaurant Week recommendations yourself? How about places to avoid? Let us know in the comments!
Tags: Foodie Events
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