- Best Of
Best of Bangkok
May 14, 2013
Valentine’s Day in NYC
Jan 30, 2013
The Glory of Grains
Jan 24, 2013
Soups Worth Slurping This Winter
Jan 8, 2013
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Topping Rose House – Reviewed
Jun 6, 2013
Gwynnett St. – Reviewed
Apr 25, 2013
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Restaurant Trends to Watch for in 2013
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RG’s Favorite Restaurants
Sure, we’re always chasing down the best new restaurants, but there are some restaurants that stand the test of time as our all-time favorites no matter how many years have passed. No matter how many new, and often modern, Thai spots open, we find ourselves returning again and again to Sripraphai, in Queens. While we’d rather find a favorite closer to our home in midtown Manhattan, we’ll happily travel to the outskirts of Woodside for what’s still the best damn Thai outside of Bangkok. Try as we might to find a seafood shrine as holy as Le Bernardin or an omakase sushi dinner as heavenly as Masa’s, some restaurants remain at the top for good reason. Here’s a few of our All-Time Favorites in New York…
Roberta’s Pizza
This place singlehandedly put Bushwick on the map and we’re not even exaggerating. So what’s the big deal? Killer pizzas, for starters, and then there’s the seasonal plates, many scattered with freshly picked ingredients from Roberta’s very own garden. The best part is you’d never know it from the outside… or the inside, for that matter. Step inside this dingy-looking, converted garage and you’ll feel like you’ve just entered some roadside bar with loud music playing, long wooden tables with benches, painted cement walls and twirling ceiling fans. You’ll probably be inclined to grab a beer, or even better, a cider and you should order something to pass the time while you wait for a table, which is par for the course these days.
read moreLe Bernardin
There are some great restaurants in New York, and then, there’s Le Bernardin. It’s the kind of place people from all over the world travel just to sample Eric Ripert’s masterful (nearly magical) way with seafood. It’s that good. Ripert manages to tease out every subtle nuance of fish with his preparations and flavor combinations. I’ll never forget the just barely Sauteed Langoustines I had recently at Le Bernardin and I’ve had quite a few.
read moreABC Kitchen
There’s a lot to love about Jean-Georges locavore restaurant, tucked inside ABC Carpet & Home. The setting’s stylish with blond wood floors, sleek white tables & a farm table scattered with fresh produce at the center of it all. They didn’t win the James Beard Award for “Best New Restaurant” in 2011 based on looks alone. This is chef Dan Kluger’s coming out party. We love just about everything on the menu, especially the roasted beets with housemade yogurt, carrot and avocado salad, and crab toast. Our favorite card they’re holding...
read moreYakitori Totto
Climb the stairs of this second floor walk-up and you’ll feel as if you’ve stepped out of Manhattan and into an izakaya in Tokyo. One of my favorite food escapes in the city, grab a seat along the counter to watch the yakitori chefs at work. “Yakitori” translates as grilled bird with an emphasis on head-to-toe-chicken, but some of our favorite dishes never touch the grill at all.
read moreThe Spotted Pig
The Roquefort-topped burger alone is reason enough to head to the city’s first gastropub. Still, April Bloomfield has got plenty more up her sleeve than that at this buzzing, two-story watering hole dealing in British bar bites, like roll mops and devil’s on horseback. Bloomfield takes inspiration from all over the world and the result is an exceptional dish of ricotta gnudi bathed in brown butter and fried sage and pork belly with salsa rossa and polenta
read moreSripraphai
It could take you all year to eat your way through the 25-page menu at this Woodside Thai joint. And you’d still want to return time and again for their Pad See Ew, a dark sweet tangle of Wide Rice Noodles wrapped around broccoli, egg and chicken, beef or pork (your choice) that’s Thailand’s answer to Comfort Food. That’s not even the half of it. This no frills joint doesn’t look like it would do delicate well, but the Steamed Calamari with Ginger, Lime and Chiles is wondrously moist and exotic.
read morePeter Luger Steakhouse
This carnivore institution never gets old. Even the servers’ attitudes seem oddly charming at this Brooklyn steakhouse. Settle into a wood table, skip the menu and order the extra thick-cut bacon and a tomato and onion salad. We’ve even come up with our own creation. Slice open one of their signature, onion rolls and layer it with bacon, onion, tomato, a dab of Luger sauce and repeat.
read morePeasant
If you’re looking for the perfect date spot, this is your guy. There’s just something about the open kitchen, brick oven and dripping candles that draw couples back time and time again. But it’s the Tuscan fare and the open fire cooking that has kept us coming back over the years. Everything – the skate, the leg of lamb, the tomatoes – is touched by some form of an open flame.
read moreMilos
This midtown Greek spot is admittedly pricey, but you’d be hard-pressed to find whole fish as fresh as the ice display here. Start with the grilled octopus and tomato salad and head to the ice display to shop for your dinner. (If you see langoustines, grab them.) If not, there’s plenty of other excellent and hard-to-find options the likes of white salmon.
read moreMile End
What we love most about this Brooklyn deli is that everything, from smoking the meats to pickling peppers, is done in house. This Montreal-style deli regularly draws Manhattanites over the bridge for their unique take on pastrami — a beautifully smoked, spiced Angus brisket, moister than any we’ve had to date. But it doesn’t stop there. Inspired by the smoked meats from his native Montreal, owner Noah Bermoff decided to recreate the deli food he grew up on in Boerum Hill.
read moreMasa
From start to finish, a mind-blowing meal that will change the way you see Japanese food forever. Sit at the counter, so you can watch the sushi chefs create divine bites of truffle-coated sushi, toro with black caviar, mackerel, and snapper sushi. Dinner at Masa isn’t exclusively sushi. There’s excellent cooked dishes as well, like wagyu with white truffles, langoustines and more.
read moreMarea
Whoever says fine dining is dead has never eaten at Marea. This elegant CPS restaurant is furnished with a high-gloss rosewood bar, chocolate leather banquettes, and roaming silver trolleys toting liqueurs. The seafood-centric menu is as exceptional as the setting. Especially when they’re mingled with pasta, like the fusilli with red wine-braised octopus, spaghetti with crab & sea urchin and the lobster ravioli.
read moreLocanda Verde
Every neighborhood should have an Italian spot as good and as cozy as Locanda Verde. The kitchen’s packing star power with Chef Andrew Carmellini (Cafe Boulud, A Voce) on savory, Karen DeMasco (Gramercy Tavern & Craft) on sweets and Josh Nadel (Cru) on beverage. The perfect mix of creative, yet comforting cooking, the menu is studded with winners, like fire-roasted garlic chicken, roasted sea scallops with spring peas and almond gazpacho, and pappardelle with lamb bolognese. Start with the blue crab crostini and the ricotto crostini, which are both excellent and save room for DeMasco’s innovative gelati, budino, and seasonal tarts. What to drink with it?
read moreGramercy Tavern
As if you needed another reason to visit this Gramercy institution, chef Michael Anthony just won the James Beard award for best chef New York. Truth to be told, we’d come for the impeccable service and cozy, farmhouse-style setting and the first-class cocktails, like the mortoni (Danny Meyer’s take on a negroni) and the concord grape crush. The menu depends primarily on the season, but if you spot ramp custard or any custard at all, order it.
read moreFrank
This East Village Italian never gets old, which is why it’s always buzzing with diners, hungry for their juicy Meatloaf, Fresh Gnocchi or Mussels Marinara. They don’t take reservations, but you can linger at the bar while you wait for your table. As soon as you grab a table, grab a glass of well-priced Italian wine and the gorgeously buttery, imported Burrata, still one of the best in the city, with sliced tomatoes.
read moreFatty Crab
This funky joint (with two Manhattan outposts) peddles some seriously exciting Malaysian food. And if you’ve never sampled Malaysian before, this is the place to do it. The servers are young, faded, rock ‘n’ roll t-shirt types and the dining room is packed with a laidback, but lively crowd gnawing on fiery chicken wings and fatty duck. Start with a rum and coconut cocktail served in a coconut shell with a sugar cane swizzle.
read moreEleven Madison Park
If you’re looking for a one-of-a-kind dining experience, consider Eleven Madison Park – a temple of haute French cuisine. With its vaulted ceilings, marble floors and sweeping views of Madison Park, the stunning art deco setting is reason enough to spend an evening here. Then, there’s the fact they won the James Beard award for Best restaurant in 2011 not to mention that Daniel Humm won best chef in the country just a few years ago.
read moreDi Fara
This hole-in-the-wall pizza joint has bragging rights to one of the best slices in the city, and even the country. Nearly half a decade since he first opened the doors, owner Dom DeMarco is still behind the counter churning out handmade pizzas five days a week. No wonder he’s so grumpy: He dresses every pie himself with freshly cut basil, San Marzano tomatoes, Italian buffalo mozzarella and more.
read moreBlue Ribbon
How many restaurants offer Matzoh ball soup, grilled sardines and fried chicken? Not to mention that they pull it off effortlessly. Prepare to wait at the Bromberg Brothers perenially popular, no reservations flagship eatery in Soho, where you can sample the raw bar or head straight for paella, tofu ravioli or pigeon. My favorites are the raw scallop served in the shell, steamed artichoke and the smoked trout, but you can’t really go wrong here no matter what you’re craving. If you still have room for dessert, the banana split’s the move.
read moreBlue Hill At Stone Barns
Located on the lush acres of Stone Barns, Blue Hill is a working farm, educational center, and best of all, one of the best restaurants in the country. Go early while it’s still light out so you can stroll the property and admire what’s for dinner. The embodiment of farm-to-table dining, Blue Hill’s menu is literally a list of seasonal ingredients, many of which are grown in its own backyard, including the Berkshire pigs!
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