For our anniversary, I camped on Tock to make reservations for Atomix. Here, they actually have 2 different menus: a bar tasting menu and a Chef’s counter tasting menu. I actually made reservations for both, with some thought that I was going to sell the bar one because I thought they would be similar. However after some research, I realized they are actually 2 distinct experiences. I ended up keeping both reservations, and so there will be two distinct reviews for Atomix.

Occasionally, I can grab food for myself after work, and I tend to look for noodles. My partner is not a fan at all of noodles, so I took this liberty to look for something that they would not enjoy. Despite the hot and humid weather in NYC, I rarely mind eating hot soups with noodles. Silky Kitchen has a location near where I live in Astoria, so I thought I’d try out its location out in Midtown near Times Square.

Gatsby Landing has been on my list for quite some time. The menu is reasonably priced, and it’s fairly close to my office and close to the 42nd trains. I figured today would be the day to check it out, since my options are running a little thin since I was looking for a walk-in restaurant. We arrived here around 5:30 PM on a Friday evening, and we were able to walk in easily for a party of 2.

We were near the Columbus Circle area just shopping and walking around. Generally, this area doesn’t have too many great places to eat, and we couldn’t decide what we were in the mood for. I had proposed the thought of Serafina since I’ve never been there and my partner had a fantastic experience back in their home country. We were able to walk in without reservations during the core hours of dinner.

This is either a blessing or a curse of the reservation system Tock. When the time comes to make reservations for super hot restaurants, you literally have less than 2 seconds to grab a reservation spot when they become available. I mistakenly grabbed a bar reservation thinking it was the Chef’s Counter, and I was mildly disappointed. However, I refreshed the reservation system about 10 minutes later, and I noticed there were an opening for counter seating the following week.

We had to run errands around Macy’s, so this was a good chance to check out some restaurant that was fairly light and also didn’t have strong smells. We were able to walk in on a Saturday at 5:30 PM with no reservations. We noticed the menus had both skewers and hot pot as options. I saw that many people ordered hot pot with cotton candy on top, and we contemplated briefly but decided not to.

On this very cloudy Sunday, we originally were planning to go to a “rooftop” outdoor film viewing on top of a hotel. Unfortunately, it got cloudy fast, and it rained throughout most of the day. The hosts cancelled the event, but we still desired to meet up with some friends. We ended up at Refinery Rooftop, which is just around the corner from the cancelled event. Fortunately, they were able to accept walk-ins around 4:30 PM.

In the rare occasion nowadays, I am able to sometimes grab dinner solo somewhere. I often debate about the cuisine, and I rarely want to eat something super posh right after work. I noticed a new location of a burger chain opened up. I often confuse the Black Iron Burger with the Blacktap Burger places but not this time. I walked in with no reservations at this 54th and 7th ave location and sat at the bar.

Per Se is Thomas Keller’s acclaimed interpretation of the French Laundry restaurant in New York City and has 3 Michelin Stars. I don’t think it’s a replacement for the French Laundry, but it might be indicative of what to expect if we did ever go to Napa Valley to try it out. This restaurant is located in Columbus Circle at the top floor inside the mall. When we walked in, we were astounded by the huge ceiling and the vast feeling of space.

I cannot recall the last time I’ve cracked open crab shells and eaten a huge chunk of crab meat. In Los Angeles, I used to go to a lot of seafood buffets, and they would always have a plethora of snow crab legs that you could eat for hours on end. We decided today to venture out to this all you can eat seafood buffet in the city. We were able to walk in with no reservations for 2 around 5:30 PM on a Friday.