MANHATTAN Restaurant Recommendations

The big one

Hello!

Time to drop my crown jewel, the list for Manhattan that I have curated for over 6 years. There is a lot on here but I can guarantee they are all excellent. Enjoy!

Pic of me on restaurant beat

Lower-ish Manhattan

• Thai Diner

  • Get the breakfast sandwich!

• Spicy Moon

  • Vegan Szechuan food, get the Mapo Tofu.

• Shukette

  • Middle Eastern food. Don’t forget dessert: Tahini soft serve with halva floss and hazelnut.

• Lucien

  • Celebrity riddled French food hot spot.

• Nudibranch

  • Read my review of this here!

• Casino

  • Trendy Italian spot. Get the pasta! No but actually.

• Gemma

  • Also a pasta spot but whatever this is New York!

• Carbone

  • Ok AGAIN were are talking about pasta but look, I’m gonna say you have to do the tourist thing and get the rigatoni and Ceasar salad. Take part in a larger fellow feeling!

• Rosella

  • Perfect sushi!

• Ruby’s Cafe

  • Australian food technically? Bronte burger only.

• King

  • This place has a rotating menu with really fresh ingredients and creative dishes. A little bit Italian, Mediterranean, and general NYC Restaurant™ fare.

• Librae Bakery

  • Middle Eastern bakery. Get the Za’atar Labneh Morning Bun and Rose Pistachio Croissant

• Foul Witch

  • New Italian with off the beaten track dishes.

• Xian Famous Foods

  • Absolute classic. Shaanxi cuisine. I’m an N1 girl. You will dream of these hand pulled noodles the rest of your life.

• Joe’s Steam Rice Roll

  • Cantonese food, these are also awesome noodles in a rice roll format.

• Tasty Dumpling

  • Best dumplings! Cash only!

• Dr. Clark

  • Hokkaido Japanese food. Get the Yaki Udon or Lamb!

• The Original Chinatown Ice Cream Factory

  • Black Sesame or Pandan are my favorite.

• Seven Grams Caffe

  • Chocolate chip cookie only

• Lady Wong Pastry and Cakes

  • Great spot for Southeast Asian desserts in the East Village. Some flavors include: Pandan, Calamansi, Passionfruit, Mango, Ube.

Upper Manhattan

• Mimi’s Piano Bar

  • This place is so fun! Food is admittedly not “good” per se, but but people come and sing to a live piano and it’s an amazing time.

• Cosme

  • Fancy Mexican food spot, the Corn Husk Meringue with Corn Mousse dessert is an NYC icon.

• Rezdôra

  • Very delicious, very expensive, very Michelin star winning Italian spot

• Baohaus

  • Ok just found out that this place is CLOSED but keeping it on here as an RIP. Taiwanese place run by Eddie Huang. I used to get the Pork Belly Bao Buns when I was an intern at a magazine scuttling to get them for my 30 min lunch.

• Zou Zou’s

  • Eastern Mediterranean food. This is a place that was on a best of list and I didn’t want to like it because it’s too far away but I do in fact like it so it’s on the LIST. Get the Lemon Frozen Labneh with Olive Oil for dessert.