discwiz

After finishing work, I headed out to explore the great city of New York. I left our hotel and walked straight to Fifth Ave. I then proceeded to walk all the way to the zero block, passing by 5th and Broadway along the way. (I can't take credit for the picture above, it was so cold I didn't take pictures because my hands were numb even with fleece gloves on)

So, I came across Macy's and Saks, but we have those at home, so I wasn't really impressed. I headed back to the hotel and looked on the internet for all the stores I was expecting to see. Well, it turns out, I turned the wrong direction at exactly the wrong time. if I had headed the other direction just one block, I would have hit all the really cool places. I figured I'd head back on Saturday since from our hotel between broadway and 5th was a bit sketchy.

So, I headed out to Times Square and got a slice of pizza, it was from Ray's pizza and ok, but not great. I think Times Square is not the place for small local tastes, but I was starving and didn't have a lot of energy to walk further in the dark alone. Anyway, I continued around Times Square and went in the Hershey's store and M&M World. M&M's World is definitely the best, but I only bought some bulk M&M's. The other stuff is a bit ridiculous, M&M plates, M&M aprons, spoons, forks, shirts, etc. It's a fun place to stop into.

Once Jason and Frank finished their first day in comic heaven, we headed to Craftsteak. It's a fancy steak restaurant that Frank had also visited in Vegas. The first thing you notice is the very modern clean decor with a huge walk-in, see thru wine cabinet. We had a reservation at 10:30, but when they arrived they had to prepare a table for us. After waiting about 10 minutes, we were taken to a very comfortable table with low couch-bench seating. We decided to start with a bottle of wine suggested by the server. We gave her a $75 - $100 price range and said pick out the best. (Why not splurge, we're only in NYC once every 30 years!) She suggested a Syrah (I mentioned to her that I like Syrah), but it was out, so she went with her 2nd option, which to our delight was only $55. It was really delicious and full bodied, which we don't always get with a Syrah.

We ordered all ordered steak and Jason ordered fresh mackerel from the raw bar to start. We were brought fresh baked buns, in a little iron pan, and pork confit with little crackers to start. The little buns weren't that great (and I love bread), the topping was cooked in a way that they tasted like hot soft pretzels, but that's not my thing, so I let Jason finish mine off. Jason said the confit was good, but it was pretty difficult to identify the type of meat until the server told us what exactly it is.

Next we got our entrees. I got the 6 oz filet medium rare, Jason and Frank both got the 10 oz Flat Iron steak. My steak was corn-fed and theirs was grass fed and was noted as a grade 6. Our server told us that the grade is the quality of meat and fat content. They actually have a grade 11 strip from Japan that comes for $30 an ounce. We didn't try that, but it better taste like no other cow for that price. Anyway, our steak was amazingly tender. Jason and Frank actually thought mine was the best. They were all served on hot iron with no butter or anything like Angelo & Maxie's (it didn't need the butter). The steak is served, however, with 4 small dishes of sauces. A bernaise, chimmy churry, creme fraiche horshradish, and a steak sauce. The steak sauce was the best, but still not needed because the steak was so amazing. We also got a side of baby shiitake mushrooms and roasted cipollini onions to go with the steak and french fries. We decided on fries because the table beside us got a few big plates of them and they looked amazing. We weren't disappointed, they were lightly seasoned and had vinegar already drizzled on them. They were amazing.

After our big meal, we still decided to try a little dessert. Jason and Frank shared a dessert of Glazed Donuts, which looked just like krispy kremes. They were served with a side of vanilla cream, apple jam, and chocolate pudding. That was good but not too exciting to me. I had three samples of ice cream. I had a scoop of caramel, scoop of vanilla bean, and a scoop of black forest sorbet. The black forest sorbet was so creamy and rich, that I couldn't believe it was not ice cream.

After dessert, they gave us a small plate of little cookies that tasted like mini-moonpies and little kiwi and grapefruit jellies. The jellies were super tart and the little moonpies were delicious.

Overall, I give the restaurant an A on atmosphere and an A on food. It's super expensive, so I'm not sure we'd go back (except in another 30 years), but it was definitely worth a visit.