Hi-
Husband and I are staying in NYC a few days next week...... Looking for restaurant suggestions for dinner. Our budget most nights will be Moderate --- with one special night where we don't mind spending a little more.

Our hotel is on East 50th Street (anywhere in that vicinity would be a bonus but, we don't mind taking a taxi across town either).

Also, we have one morning where we are getting massages at the Townhouse Spa (W. 56th St)...... Any suggestions for a nice lunch in this area?

Healthy restaurants a plus (we don't each much beef). Italian, Asian Cuisine, Sushi, etc.

Thanks in Advance.

Tabla is very upscale and they have a vegitarian menu-
Asian-Asiate in the Time warner-excellent but expensive and would make a great choice for your special evening
Atlantic Grill-seafood-moderate
Myvlos-greek seafood-expensive
Landmarc in the time warner-Continental casual
Japanese and Sushi-Megu uptown moderate-expensive

Oy! So many choices. One great place we happened on to on February night was Sangria 46 at 338 W. 46th St. It's near the theaters, so if you're going to catch a show it's a great place to go. Great paella.

The nicer restaurant in the Metropolitan Museum of Art is great, too, in case you're going there.

Check out Opentable.com for some great ideas.

I live in east midtown so probably quite close to your hotel. My first advice to you would be to get out of the immediate area for dinners, as this is quite a pricey area for dining. If you want to stay local, you might like Ethos Greek restaurant on First Avenue and 51st street. You can get an idea here; the website is for the original location, but there is a newer branch at the location I mentioned above:


http://www.ethosnyc.com/index-2.html

The places mentioned by Cindy are good, but some of them are in a very high price bracket.

I will be happy to offer more tips if you give me a bit more info on what you like and how much you want to spend.

What is your idea of moderate and what is a splurge?

In Manhattan at better restaurants moderate is dinner for two $100. The really good places will be $100+ per person and I've paid $200 per person so it depends.

The Modern is reasonably close to your hotel and a great restaurant, whether you eat in the more elaborate and fancy grill room or the more casual and moderately priced bar room (I actually prefer the bar room menu, which has small plates so you can pick and choose whatever you want and eat for as little as $50 per person if you order carefully and do some sharing.)

Surprisingly, Smith & Wollensky has good fish, though it's a steakhouse and otherwise very meat-oriented.

You could also easily walk to Bobby Flay's newest restaurant Bar Americain, which is on west 52nd Street (probably 15 minutes walk from your hotel).

The best (and not most expensive) seafood restaurant in NYC is Le Bernardin, and if you are willing to spend the money (at least $150 per person for food and wine), you can have an unforgettable meal. It's also about a 15-minute walk from your hotel, though on the west side.

For Asian, Vong is close to your hotel. It's a Vietnamese-French restaurant. Old and some say a little tired, but the food is still good. It's about 5 minutes from your hotel.

If you want to travel, you could go down to Greenwich Village and dine at Blue Hill, where the Obama's ate recently.

I'd just add a small caution about Asiate. It has a new chef, and I haven't eaten there since last summer, when I was underwhelmed.

First, you really need to define moderate and special for us. As others have mentioned NYC restaturants tend to be more expensive than most places.

If you go to menupages.com you can see actual meus with prices - ao get an idea of what you will spend - keeping in mind the cost of even a basic wine, 8% tax and 20% tip.

We really enjoy Asiate - and last went only about a
month ago - but they're not giving anything away.

Pampano on East 49th is delicious and very attractive. The cuisine is labeled 'modern mexican' - translation: accent on very light seafood. www.modernmexican.com

Mention was made of the "nicer restaurant" at the Metropolitan. Not sure what you are referring to. If it is the Trustees Dining Room - yes that certainly is "nicer" but it is available only to members of a certain category - and it is expensive. The Petrie Court has a cafe overlooking the park and that is pleasant and the new American Wing also has a cafe in the Engelhard Court - and it also overlooks Centra Park - but - sadly - the windows are frosted so you can't see out into the park because it is a construction site. But for a drink - you can't beat the roof top with a spectacular work of art and a magnificent view of the city and Central Park.

Asiate (French/Asian) that cindymal mentions has a terrific prix fixe lunch for $24 Mon-Fri. It's in the Mandarin Oriental hotel in the Time Warner building at Columbus Circle. It's on the 35th floor with very nice views and a lovely room. It's not too far from the Townhouse Spa and might be a nice place to go after. Le Bernardin (French/seafood) is also near the Townhouse and also has a prix fixe lunch (~$65). This is considered one of the best restaurants in NYC and a much less expensive way to sample it. In fact, most of the best restaurants have more affordable lunches. Jean Georges is also at Columbus Circle and also does a prix fixe lunch.

In the east 50's, Jubilee is very good French bistro and specializes in mussels.