So my sister lives in Charlotte and took my mother (who considers herself a “foodie”) to this:
[Counter- – Charlotte, NC | Tock (exploretock.com)](https://www.exploretock.com/counterclt)
It’s over now, but they had the Prince (or the artist-formally-known-as-Prince) themed meal (my mother LOVES Prince) and she had the BEST time.
She’s coming to visit me in late November in NYC for the first time in like four years, and I want to take her to an incredible meal.
Her preferences:
* She likes seafood and steak
* She likes small plate tasting dinner kind of things
* Not a huge pasta gal
* She doesn’t like it when she doesn’t get bang-for-her-buck (when it comes to quantity)
* This makes me think omokase is a no-go
* Ideally sub-$100 or sub-$150 per person
Thoughts??
by Infinite_Treacle
7 Comments
4 that come to mind after a quick thought:
– Crown shy in FiDi; contemporary kitchen with a modern approach, very detail oriented and very good service/attitude of staff
– Semma in Greenwich village; southern Indian cuisine, would definitely fit the „multiple small plates“ requirement
– Oxalis in Brooklyn (prospect park); either carte Blanche or 3 course at the bar, I’d describe it as modern American with strong seasonal and slight Mediterranean influence
– Casa Mono near Union Sq; tapas and very good seafood (not lacking on meat options either), very good wine selection I’ve been told (don’t drink personally)
All of these have/had at least one star if I’m not mistaken and should all be 150 max
Probably should level-set expectations here.
I’ve never been to Counter, but it looks to be an “immersive”/themed testing menu that costs more than $150/person in a city that is generally way less expensive than NYC.
Also the best restaurants here tend not to be large portion type places, usually find quality over quantity. (Except at say, steakhouses).
If you want to wow your mom, you probably should try to give her only-in-NY type places.
Maybe check out Manhatta?
Manhatta and Crown Shy are great options, I’ll add in Place Des Fetes and Tomino Taberna Gallega as well.
63 Clinton is low hanging fruit here but fuck that… let’s show your sister what’s up!
Your mom wants to have a good time? Your mom wants a good value for seafood? She wants something unique? Bring her to Sushi On Me. It’s omakase, that’s a speak easy, that’s under $100. It only sits 12 people and just wait until she’s taking a picture of a smoke bubble and it explodes releasing CBD everywhere.
I never met anybody who didn’t have a great time there. It’s a party. It may not be some classy establishment but she’ll have fun for sure.
EDIT: or go to Pilot or Grand Banks. The $ is close but it’s a wooden sailboat that stays docked with a beautiful view of the water and NYC
There are some spots that come to mind that are real dinner-as-theatre but they’ll end up costing you $$$$. Saga which is 2 michelin stars in a skyscraper comes to mind as well as torrisi but you can’t skip pasta. Something I will note is if you take her to a more intimate tasting menu spot that will inevitably be more expensive like ko or saga, the staff would have a ball with the info you included in this post and I’m sure they’d do something special to tailor the experience to her.
Why not do a bang-bang? the proximity of great spots here is impressive and the vibe shift if you nail it can be really exciting.
Some ideas that are all a short walk from each other:
Small seafood plates + pimm’s cups at dame, then lowkey speakeasy steakhouse vibes at minetta tavern
Ceviches, anticuchos, and pisco sours at llama inn then some chicken parm and clams casino at bamontes
Split a half Peking duck and some noodles at wu’s wonton king with a bottle of wine (BYOB) then get a 3 course dessert tasting at michelin starred Contra. I could go on.
Imo you will never get the best food at these themed spots. But nyc prevails when it comes to variety and vibes
Throwing Cote in here too.
Lula in Brooklyn
11 madison, dovetail, momofuku