Murray Hill NYC restaurants
 

In early November we'll be staying in NYC in the Murray Hill area. A quick search shows that restaurants are in good supply; any recommendations? We especially like French food, Italian, Chinese, Mediterranean,Thai,Vietnamese, and really good hamburgers.. Since we'll be dining one night at Boulud Sud, we would prefer some bistro choices for other meals.

Thanks for the help.

Lots of Indian restaurants there.

The actual boundaries of Murray Hill are pretty limited, but stretching it a bit --

Artisanal at Park Avenue and 32nd for the best grilled cheese sandwich you'll ever eat. All their food is great, but fairly pricey -- incredible cheeses there -- you could go in and just sit and sniff for awhile and feel full! LOL

Asellina in the Gansevoort Hotel at Madison and 29th is fun, trendy, and very good -- less pricy that would would guess.

Anthony Bourdain's long established brasserie, Les Halles, is at Park and 29th.

Is it cocktail hour yet?

"less pricey than you would guess".

RARE restaurant, in shelburne hotel, lexington and 37th, has good burgers on their menu abd rather moderate (for nyc) prices.

Turkish Kitchen is very good

2nd Ave Deli for me is the best Jewish Deli in the City

Pio Pio for Peruvian chicken

La Marca 3rd Ave and 22nd Street for lunch is one of the best food buys in Manhattan.

Our favorite Indian restaurant in that area is Saravana Bhavan especially for the dosas.

Almost every restaurant on Park South is not worthwhile.

If you want travel about 15 minutes south to the East Village a whole new world will open up.

"best grilled cheese sandwich": I'm always searching for the perfect one; so that goes on the list. Thanks.

East Village? Please tell me more.

Little Basil Thai is very very good. I go there whenever I stay in or near Murray Hill.

http://www.littlebasil.com/

Also 2nd Ave Deli. Best Matzoh Ball Soup. fantastic pastrami, corned beef, order one sandwich for 2 people. They give you a bowl of two types of pickles and fresh slaw when you sit down, gratis. And when you finish, a shot of chocolate egg cream shows up. Blintzes and knishes are very very good here too.

+3 2nd Ave Deli.

Yes. 2nd ave deli

La Vie en Sichuan is a good Chinese restaurant on East 33rd between Madison and Fifth Avenues.

2nd Ave Deli also has great side dishes if you are unfamiliar with Jewish cooking try the noodle and potato kugel.

There are literary hundreds of restaurants in the East Village. Some of my favorites are Motorino and Luzzo's for pizza whole pies.

Au Za'atar for Lebanese food.
Northern Spy and Brindle Room for hip American.
Cacio e Pepe for Romano cooking
Nai for tapas
Lucien for more expensive French Bistro.
Paul's Da Burger Joint where you will be the only tourist.

and Veniero's for great Italian pastries.

East Village: Le Philosophe for very good decently priced French. The food is traditional with a little twist and I thought it was great.

Link to restaurant I mentioned above, in Murray Hill.

http://www.lavieenszechuannyc.com/

Here is my report, from another site:

"Six of us had a very good dinner here last night. The restaurant is subdued in decor, and the white tablecloths and the well-thought-out presentation of the dishes contrast with the Flushing haunts where I take most of my Chinese meals.

I did not take detailed notes on each dish, so will present the list with brief comments in places. Service is attentive and menus are translated. We made our selections from the paper menu; I will note numbers of each dish:

APPETIZERS:

13. Sliced Pork Ears with Garlic Chili Sauce. Excellent flavor; ears were finely shredded. Not very spicy, despite chili pepper notation on menu. (None of the dishes we ordered were what I would call "very spicy," although most featured bright and complex flavors)

20. Spring Bamboo Shoots in Sesame Oil. Tender and delicious, personal favorite.

24. Crispy Cucumber. These appeared to be Persian cucumbers that had been quickly blanched, then sliced into lengths and served with a Hoisin sauce. Not at all what we were expecting and not typical of Sichuanese cucumber appetizers that I have tried, which are usually resplendent with garlic. Not interesting enough to order again.

LUXURY SIGNATURE DISHES

2. Spicy chicken with Fried Dough Twist. Crisply deep-fried, abundant oil, lavished with dried red chili peppers. Even after eating a healthy portion, I was reaching across the table for the last bits and pieces. Fried dough fusilli-shaped twists were somewhat chalky; I left most of these on the plate and I suspect others did the same. (See details of these--Mai Xiang-- in ScoopG's notes on this dish, in his post of 10/14) I would certainly order this again.

4. Chonquing-Style Braised Fish filets. Healthy sized chunks of flounder that were at the point fo falling apart, served in a reddish broth with cabbage and chili peppers. I liked this dish and I am not usually a fan of braised fish dishes. Others were on the fence about it. Broth was just a tad spicy, but no real heat.

5. Double-Cooked Pork. I did not try.

4. Minced Pork with Pickled Long Beans. Although I was told that this is a signature Sichuan dish, I had never sampled it before, but had been curious after seeing photo on Serious Eats. Interesting dish; abundant pickled flavor. Some heat from diced fresh chilis. Interesting, but not one of my favorites.

22. Spicy Cumin Mutton. Very different from the legendary cumin lamb dishes of Fu Run and Little Pepper, this featured velvety, soft braised lamb slices. No overhwhelming cumin flavor and little heat despite the name but, again, I liked it qutie a lot. (There is another mutton dish listed above this one--sauteed spicy mutton; perhaps this more closely replicates the LP favorite).

VEGETABLE

16. Sauteed Pea Shoots with Garlic Sauce. One of the best Chinese green vegetable dishes I've had all year. Exceedingly fresh and perfectly cooked.

For dessert: Complimentary platter of honeydew, watermelon, and Navel oranges. Fortune cookies (complete with Chinese lesson).

The restaurant remains BYOB. Service was attentive. They accept reservations. The restaurant was busy on a Wednesday night. Divided bill totalled $26 per person including tip.

14 East 33rd Street between Madison and Fifth."

For breakfast in Murray Hill
Penelope
Sarge's Deli
Scotty's Diner

For burgers there's at Shake Shake ( upscale fast food including wine and beer) at 40th st. & Lexington
Bareburger also has an outpost in MH.
For pizza, Marta in the Martha Washingon hotel (very popular, book on advance)
The Ginger Man and the Australian are bars with lots of beer options
Artisanal is a good bistro known for their cheese...in addition to the fab cheese sandwich, mac and cheese is fantastic and good cheese fondue.

Marta is very good, but it is their pizzas that really shine. It's not in Murray Hill but, rather, in the NoMad area north of Madison Square Park. Large and bustling. Good service, as per Danny Meyer.

Not far from Marta, also in NoMad neighborhood, if you want to travel that far, NoMad is wonderful but pricey. Look into their lunches if time permits. It is an exceptionally good restaurant and everyone I've brought there has been more than pleased. It is on my short list of great local restaurants. There are various rooms, each with atmosphere and decor different from one another. Look at them on their website:


http://www.thenomadhotel.com/#!/dining/menus/lunch


http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...eyer-marta.cfm

Thanks for all the tasty recommendations. These pages are in my trip binder for quick review.

There is Vatan - a thali only Gujarati restaurant
Nearby but not Murray Hill is The Breslin

Underhill, you have two unique dining threads with overlaps in some of the recommendations.

Not mentioned here is Ethos, a moderately priced Greek restaurant on 3rd Ave. between 33rd and 34th. I like it for the simply grilled fish, which is not cheap but which can be shared. They also have wonderful grilled chicken and some good traditional Greek dishes.

Ali Baba, a Turkish restaurant next door to the previously mentioned Pio Pio, is also good.

I also like Le Parisien, a very small French bistro on 33rd Street between Third and Lex. It's across the street from 2nd Avenue Deli. Reservations absolutely required any night, but it's moderately priced and feels very authentic.

Almost next door is S'mac, which specializes in macaroni and cheese. I haven't eaten there, but I've heard good things.

I recommended Bagel Cafe (Third Ave. and 30th St), which has the area's best bagels (unless you prefer Daniel's up the street).

This feels like "deja vu all over again," as Yogi was prone to say.