The Reading Room
The Reading Room is a restaurant that caught my eye on Yelp’s “New and Hot” list. The menu is fairly small, simple, but seemed like it could be a good one. I’ve been looking for restaurants around my work area that I could potentially refer others for drinks or a not too expensive dinner. This restaurant is located in the back of The Gotham Hotel on 46th between Madison and Fifth Avenue.
Ambiance
The interior has a nice ambiance. It has a lot of modern wood accents, and it feels a little like a modern speak-easy vibe. The restaurant is fairly small, but it feels spacious.
The service was good and speedy.
Food
The Vanity of Duluoz ($18 - left) came with Jefferson Ocean bourbon, Nonino Amaro, Oloroso sherry, and orange bitters. This was pretty smooth, and it reminded me of a Manhattan like flavor.
The Jungle Bird ($16 - right) came with Blackstrap rum, pineapple juice, simple, lime juice, and passion fruit float. My partner enjoyed this.
The Grilled Octopus ($18) came with parsnip hummus, grilled trevisano, parsnip crisp, and nduja vinaigrette. There was just a single piece of octopus leg served to us. The octopus leg had a nice grill char to it, and the texture was nice and bouncy. Around it was the parsnip and trevisano.
The Braised Short Rib ($38) came with butternut squash risotto, grilled broccolini, and orange gremolata. The short rib was very soft and fatty. It had lots of red wine flavor in it. The risotto was also really good too. The portion size for the price was about right.
The 12 oz. NY Strip ($45) came with roasted garlic mashed potatoes, grilled broccolini, and red wine sauce. The steak was cooked a perfect medium rare, and it was quite flavorful. It had a great char to it, and it didn’t have a whole lot of fat. The garnishes all tasted pretty good too.
Added August 28 with a Second Visit with coworkers
The Banshee Cabernet Sauvignon ($16) was a blend of cabernet sauvignon, malbec, and merloc. This was a medium body red wine that tasted dry but with a lot of red fruit forward flavors and smooth to drink. It paired well with the hanger steak.
The Steak Frites ($36) came with Hanger Steak, hand cut fries, and chimichurri. THe steak was cooked a perfect medium rare and was pretty tasty.
Final Verdict
The Reading Room was surprisingly pretty good for the value. If you’re around the Bryant Park area in the 40s streets, this restaurant is pretty low key and accessible.
Yelp Jabs
Food was subpar but due to the service, this place deserves a 4 star. I liked that the manager? stopped by twice to check in on us. Not a place I would return twice though but glad we did stop by!
This Elitist only wrote this much, but didn’t bother to share why the food was subpar. Thanks Elitist for your super helpful comments about the food.
This little dining room boasts loud music (for no reason) and comfortable seating with a small but nice menu.
The way the sound bounces and projects in this room is not great. Thankfully when we went, the music was not loud.
Revisions
- Aug 28, 2024 - Came back for a second visit with coworkers.
- Nov 11, 2022 - Initial revision.