kathleen

We have one free evening while in NYC and would like to go to the Morgan. It would be a Friday evening and the Morgan is open until 9PM on Fridays! We’ve been told that it’s a remarkable and impressive building, and the exhibits there are thoughtful, intriguing, and well organized. There’s one exhibit which will be up at that time that I’d like to see, Cy Twombly: Treatise on the Veil. Anyone seen it? We also want to view the Library and it’s ceiling, as well as the Rotunda paintings. Anything else there we should not miss?

Also, where to eat dinner nearby? We’ll be coming from the direction of the Marriott Courtyard/Central Park on Broadway & 54th, probably walking, so anything along the way? We’re open to any kind of food and moderately priced. Thanks.

thursdaysd

You can eat in the Morgan's cafe. I ate lunch there and thought the food was good, and it's open until 8:00 on Fridays.

http://www.themorgan.org/sites/defau...yNightMenu.pdf

kathleen

Thanks thursdaysd, The "Friday night" selection of food at the Morgan isn't so great- not really a dinner, though we had thought about it. The lunch menu is very different and looks great but we only have the evening free and we'd rather find somewhere else; something that is a dinner place.

doug_stallings

You should have a reservation even if you are eating on the late side.

There's a good Greek restaurant, Ammos, on Vanderbilt near 45th Street that would be about halfway between your hotel and the Morgan. But it may not be what you consider "moderate".

There are a lot of other restaurants in Murray Hill further east, but that's going to be out of your way, so you'll probably do better by walking further west where there are more choices.

La Bonne Soupe is very close to your hotel. It's more of a traditional French bistro, but it's a favorite of mine in the area and very reasonably priced.

I also like Tony's di Napoli on 43rd. It's a family-style Italian restaurant that is very touristy but still serves good food and has reasonable prices.

Osteria del Doge on 44th is a bit more upscale and also has great food.

There are many many restaurants close to your hotel, so if you have a food preference, we can probably recommend something else as well. There are, for example, a lot of good Japanese and steak restaurants between the Morgan and your hotel, but they aren't all moderate.

kathleen

Thanks Doug. We won’t go hungry with all the food suggestions here and on other NYC threads. The Ammos Greek place sounds perfect. In fact they all sound great. Maybe another will fit into our schedule somewhere else. And, I think we would appreciate a Japanese restaurant suggestion.

Do you suggest reserving a few days ahead or a few weeks ahead (like right now) since the trip is the first of Oct.? Before the opera we’ve narrowed our choices to The Lincoln, Bouludsud, or Café Fiorello. For Sunday brunch before the play we’re considering Viceversa, Eatery, Molyvos, or Pigalle. Breakfasts- probably the Red Flame Diner or Pershing Square Café. We will be eating our way through the weekend with so many top notch choices!

doug_stallings

These all sound like good choices to me, so I don't think you can go wrong. The Lincoln is stellar and convenient to the opera, but it books far in advance. I'd make a reservation 4 weeks out if you want to eat there. Anything else is probably safe 1 or 2 weeks out, but early October is a busy time here.

I'm not sure what you're looking for on the breakast side. Neither Red Flame nor Pershing Square Cafe is close to your hotel or worth a detour in my opinion.

Junior's is a fun place for breakfast, which is pretty good. If you were willing to go to Brooklyn, you'd have a better experience, but it's a slog. Only the Times Square outlet serves breakfast, and then only until 10:30.

Second Avenue Deli (now on 33rd near 3rd Ave) also serves a great breakfast (of course, no bacon since it's kosher).

Maison Kayser near Columbus Circle has really excellent pastries and croissants (and coffee), but sitting down is too steep. It's strictly take-out for me from there.

And there are some expensive places like Sarabeth's and Norma's, but they are both splurges. I just can't see spending a lot of money for breakfast unless that's going to be a main meal of the day ... unless you want to go to some place that's truly special and unique. If you have time, there are places worth traveling to for breakfast.

doug_stallings

By the way, if you want to do an upscale Greek meal, then I'd probably choose Milos on W. 56th over either Molyvos or Ammos. But it's pretty expensive.

doug_stallings

I've been thinking about Japanese. You might consider Ippudo West Side, but it's a bit overpriced though has some of the city's best ramen. Totto Ramen is cheaper.

Gyu-Kaku on W. 44th is also pretty good, but it's more of a bbq place and a chain. If you like yakatori, then Yakitori Totto is good, but it's also a hole in the wall and gets very busy.

For Sushi, look at Sushi of Gari 46, or if you want to really splurge, Nobu has a restaurant on 57th.

And for something Asian but not Japanese, Momofuku Ma Peche in west 56th in the Chambers Hotel and is the only Momofuku restaurant uptown.

kathleen

I’ll consider the Japanese. It’s not my first choice, but since there will be four of us, it maybe someone else’s. I still like the original suggestion of the Greek place - Ammos - on the way to the Morgan.

For breakfast, we thought we’d start out with a walk to the restaurant, heading downtown towards the 9/11 memorial. After breakfast, take the subway the rest of the way to the site. This is why I thought Red Flame or Pershing Square. On the other hand, we could subway straight to the 9/11 site if there are better choices for breakfasts there. We're aiming for a breakfast classic, I guess - eggs, maybe bacon, potatoes, toast, juice, coffee, but not so much, pastries or croissants

I just made the reservations for The Lincoln. I wanted the 6PM time, but they were filled (already), so we have the 5:30. We’ll just have a little extra time before the opera. No problem.
Thanks.