First time NYC Visit

[BryanZ]

There's a pretty nifty revolving bar at the Marriott in Times Square. People love that stuff.

[Alchemist]

How about Freemans for a NYC Noob? Great hidden door, lots of celebs, packed to the gills, warm, happy interior, (if you are not a vegaterian) and the food will sustain the person who is walking all over the city. Plus the cocktails rock.

Edited December 15, 2007 by Alchemist (log)

[raji]

Touche... I was thinking Terrace on the Park out by La Guardia...

I think Grimaldis is the perfect pizza destination for a tourist. Its still my favorite Margherita in NYC and is located at the most beautiful bridge and view of any downtown in the world :-)

[tupac17616]

Les Halles - I have no expectation of a culinary delight, but when you read a book you build a visual imagination, I'm visiting just to give myself visual reality. Probably just for Brunch on Sunday.

Somehow I find it quite amusing that reading (I assume) Kitchen Confidential has given you the urge to do brunch there

There are so many better options that the other eG folks have already suggested, my friend! Help them help you.

[docsconz]

I think Grimaldis is the perfect pizza destination for a tourist. Its still my favorite Margherita in NYC and is located at the most beautiful bridge and view of any downtown in the world  :-)

←

I absolutely agree with Grimaldi's as the best choice in this situation. It's location just uinder the Brookly Bridge offers an unparalleled view of lower Manhattan. Just go for lunch around 12 noon. You can have chocolate for dessert at Jacques Torres around the corner.

[Pan]

Interesting...

As a non-native who visited last year in March for the first time I can say there are some really good suggestions on here that should be heeded.  Personally I think if you visit NYC and skip Momo Ssam Bar you are missing out big time.  I literally still crave it to this day, it is extraordinary.

I had dim sum at Chinatown Brasserie, it was excellent.

←

Another vote for Katz's over Carnegie Deli and any of various other places over Lombardi's. (What kind of pizza did you have at Arturo's yesterday, weinoo?)

I had dinner (all dim sum items) and cocktails at CB on Friday. The food and drinks are great and the room is pretty, and the coat-check folks did a lot to find a hat that turned out not to have been checked, but instead to have fallen and gotten lost in the lounge. But many other things about the place are BS (never picking up the phone when we try to call to tell them we're stuck in traffic; trying to avoid giving us a booth, which we requested when reserving; a snooty Maitre D' who tried to convince us that the folks in a booth waiting to pay their check were going to be there for 30 minutes, so that he could avoid accommodating us, after all; really loud, obnoxious, repetitive dance music [or "music"]). So anyone who wants pretty consistently good dim sum (with the exception of some of the bao, which can get a little soggy) in the modern Hong Kong style -- not quite as complex in taste profile as CB's, but inventive, pretty impressive, good, and quite modestly priced at lunch -- without the BS, should go to Dim Sum Go Go.

That said, doesn't London have great dim sum??

[weinoo]

Another vote for Katz's over Carnegie Deli and any of various other places over Lombardi's. (What kind of pizza did you have at Arturo's yesterday, weinoo?)

←

We're devotees of the half something/half plain. Usually, the non-plain half is sausage or pepperoni - the other night, we were with an out-of-town friend who doesn't eat meat, so we went for half mushroom/half plain. Not quite as satisfying, but delicious nonetheless.