For tourists in Manhattan, breakfast, lunch and dinner can be pricey

On Saturday evening, the Catch of the Day at the uptown branch of Landmarc in Manhattan was roasted Long Island Fluke. The restaurant serves "contemporary bistro fare that blends French and Italian favorites," according to its Web site.

Landmarc is popular with families, probably because it is one of the most affordable restaurants in the Time Warner Center, home to Per Se and Masa, where you can easily spend many hundreds of dollars on dinner.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Unless you're a tourist who is willing to settle for fast food with mysterious ingredients, eating breakfast, lunch and dinner out in Manhattan can be pricey.

After we checked into the Park Hyatt New York on West 57th Street on Saturday afternoon and rested, we walked a few blocks to the Time Warner Center for dinner at Landmarc.

Our reservation was for 5 p.m. to give us plenty of time to eat before a 7 p.m. jazz concert a couple of floors above the restaurant.

We ate dinner at Landmarc in May 2011, when I described the experience this way:

"Crowds. Noise. Great food and service."

But Landmarc has changed.

I didn't recall the industrial-chic decor: 

Walls covered with black metal, lots of natural wood planks and exposed rebar -- steel reinforcing rods used in concrete construction.

The restaurant is the first in New York I've encountered that doesn't serve bread, and if you want a glass of wine, you're out of luck, because only half- and full bottles are available.

2011 and 2015

In 2011, we were seated at a table for two sandwiched between two other couples whose every word I could easily overhear; on Saturday night, we were shown to a booth.

The food is still really good, but Traver, our waiter, left a lot to be desired.

We ordered one small grapefruit juice, an appetizer to share and two entrees (fish and a burger), and when my wife saw the bill, she was shocked: $85.47, including tax, but not tip.

I left a $12 tip, a couple of dollars short of the recommended 18% shown on the credit-card slip, bringing the total to nearly $100.

A Landmarc Chopped Salad of beets, cucumber, tomato and other ingredients with added shrimp.

The Landmarc Hamburger.

The dining room gets noisy when full.

Where is the serving spoon?

At Landmarc, we started by sharing an appetizer portion of Chopped Salad for $16, and asked for grilled shrimp as an add on for $7 more.

The crunchy salad and the tender, barely cooked shrimp in a large soup bowl couldn't be faulted, but the food runner brought the dish without a serving spoon, making it difficult to share.

I couldn't get the waiter's attention until we had almost finished the appetizer, and he seemed miffed when I pointed out the lack of a serving spoon -- a problem I've encountered many times before.

Traver also seemed impatient when my wife couldn't decide what to order, and she complained the rim of the water glasses and some of the plates could have been cleaner.

My entree was a wonderful roasted fillet of Long Island Fluke served over Mediterranean Farro (grains of wheat) with black-and-green olives, oven-roasted tomatoes and parsley pesto ($31).

Fluke is a great eating fish cooked or raw, and this moist, flaky fillet was no exception.

My wife's Landmarc Burger was $20, including an extra $3 for blue cheese.

Landmarc, 10 Columbus Circle, in the Time Warner Center, New York, N.Y.; 1-212-823-6123.

The Parisian Combination at Cafe Europa in Manhattan included a Wild Mushroom and Swiss Cheese Omelet with home fries, mini bagels, coffee and tomato juice ($14.95). My wife's All American Combination included OJ, tea, scrambled eggs, French toast and sausage ($15.25).

This branch of Cafe Europe, which is popular with foreign tourists, judging from the languages I heard, is at 205 W. 57th St. in Manhattan.

Breakfast at the hotel?

On a rainy Sunday morning, we took one look at our luxury hotel's menu of breakfast entrees, each costing more than $20, and decided to eat out.

We borrowed two umbrellas from the doorman, and walked less than a block to Cafe Europa at Seventh Avenue and West 57th Street.

We ordered two breakfast combinations and with tax and a $5 tip, the total came to $37.88.

For a light lunch, we tried Le Pain Quotidien (The Daily Bread) on the next block.

A bowl of soup, glass of wine and salad with smoked salmon set us back $42.22, including tax and a $4.50 tip. 

A large Organic Minestrone is served with two kinds of bread at Le Pain Quotidien in Manhattan ($8.95). I also ordered a glass of red wine ($8.50).

My wife's Salad with Smoked Salmon was $17.20 at this branch of Le Pain Quotidien, 922 Seventh Ave. in Manhattan.

See: A luxury hotel and dinner at Per Se

A celebratory meal at a temple of seafood

Crudo Al Taglio or sliced, raw fish at Marea in Manhattan.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
Editor

The menu at Marea offers an incredible variety of fresh seafood.

In fact, during a celebratory meal at the fine-dining Italian restaurant in Manhattan, I saw listings of fish I have never heard of, including Japanese greenling and Pacific parrotfish.

Marea means "tide," and I was delighted with what swam my way during a four-course, prix fixe dinner to celebrate my birthday on Sunday ($97).

I started with Lancia or raw Hawaiian blue marlin with sturgeon caviar in mussel vinaigrette, and the chef added a gift of Passera or raw Long Island fluke with lemon, caper and mint.

The fresh fish literally melted in my mouth.

House-made squid-ink pasta with sepia and other seafood.

   


All pastas are hand made in-house, and even the words in Italian make my mouth water: "Pasta fatta in casa."

For a second course, I chose Garganelli or squid-ink pasta with sepia, shrimp, scallops and butternut squash. 

The firmness of the pasta contrasted with the tenderness of the rich seafood. 

Roasted Alaskan Halibut with toasted kale and pomegranate seeds.

 

My entree of Ippoglosso or Roasted Alaskan Halibut was perfectly cooked. The thick, snowy fillet was moist and delicious. 

I don't eat meat, but missed mention on the menu that pancetta or cured pork belly was included in the dish, and had to weed out four or five small pieces.

For dessert, I had the Tasting of Three Cheeses -- variously made from buffalo, cow, sheep and goat milk -- the perfect end to the meal.

I nursed a glass of prosecco, a sparkling dry white wine, until the end of the meal ($11).
 

The final course was a Tasting of Three Cheeses.

 

I was offered complimentary petits fours, but had already broken my diet by eating lots of bread crusts with olive oil, so I asked the server to take them away. 

My no-bread, no-pizza, no-dessert diet has been so successful I was able to wear a sport jacket that was made for me 22 years ago.

I was surprised and disappointed not to see a salad listed on the menu, nor was I offered one, even though Italians usually end their meals that way.

The service at Marea is excellent, thanks to a big staff of captains, waiters and servers/bus boys, as well as a wine steward.

The young wine steward discussed whites with the couple on my left, and I noticed he was somewhat disheveled, with a mismatched suit jacket that was too small for him, a short beard and a shock of dark hair.

The servers describe each dish as they put it down in front of you, but sometimes, I couldn't understand their heavily accented English, and had to ask them  to repeat themselves.

The dining room at Marea echoes with the chatter of contented diners.

I dipped bread crusts in fruity extra-virgin olive oil.

A gift from the chef made from butternut squash, razor clam and frisee.

The drive into Manhattan was easy, and sidewalks around the nearby Time Warner Center were full of people enjoying the final hours of the weekend. 

There were only a few signs that Super Storm Sandy hit six days before, but streets were closed around the construction crane that broke atop at a 75-story building on West 57th.

I arrived early for my 6:30 p.m. reservation, and was seated next to a young Korean-American couple who spoke in California-accented English about celebrating "2 years together."

"Can you believe 2 years have gone by already?" he said.

"It seems longer," she replied.

Later, she brought up another woman he had dated, but he protested that was for only 3 months. She reminded him the relationship had lasted 8 months.

Meanwhile, I had a nice conversation with the young couple on the right, discussing food blogging and food safety.

Dinner at Marea was my fourth heart-healthy seafood meal in three days -- each one a small victory over harmful animal fats.

I had lunch at Seafood Gourmet in Maywood and dinner at Baumgart's in Englewood on Friday, and dinner at Legal Sea Foods in Paramus on Saturday.

I left Marea, wearing a warm overcoat and a fedora, and strolled over to the Time Warner Center, where I took the elevator to the fourth floor and the entrance to Per Se.

I'll return to Marea, of course, but looking over the menu offering a multi-course tasting meal for $295, including service, I thought Per Se would be a great place for my next birthday.

 

The entrance to Per Se in Manhattan.

 
 

Marea, 240 Central Park South, New York, N.Y.; 212-582-5100. 

Web site: Delights from the seven seas