Israeli Chef Efi Naon opened a relatively new Moroccan-Israeli and Middle Eastern inspired restaurant in the Hell’s Kitchen area. I saw this on Yelp a few months ago, and the menu items look reasonably interesting. I was able to book a reservation very easily on a Friday for 5:15 PM without any issues. This restaurant is close to the 50th E train station and relatively near some of the outer edges of the Theater District.

For this week, I offered my partner an option of European or Chinese. Of course they said European. Claud comes from 2 veterans of the Momofuku Ko restaurant, chef Joshua Pinsky and wine expert Chase Sinzer. I remember this restaurant a while back, but it slipped off my radar with all these new openings in the last few years. When I checked Resy, I noticed there were openings on Friday, so the stars aligned. We were able to get a reservation for 2 for 5:15 PM on a Friday relatively easy.

Rice Thief is one of the few Korean raw marinated crab restaurants in New York City. The focus of this restaurant is to provide deeply marinated raw crabs with lots of seasoning in it. To the surprise of many, the raw crab meat is actually a little gooey but quite flavorful. My partner saw this restaurant on Instagram and expressed interest in trying this out, despite me wanting to avoid bringing them here. I’m unsure how they would do with raw crabs and the mess that is to ensue. Nonetheless, this was the catalyst for us to try out this restaurant.

Foxface Natural was on my list ever since it opened, and I was always curious about how eclectic their food was going to be because of the various game meats they offer. They are one of the few, if not only, restaurants to serve kangaroo tartare. I saw that they had a tasting menu, and that seemed like a good thing to pursue for a Friday evening. I was able to make a reservation for 2 for 5:30 PM on a Friday evening about a week prior.

Sixty Three (63) Clinton was a restaurant that I had my eyes on for a few months now. They change the menu monthly, so it was previously difficult to time the menu preferences to our food preferences. I finally found a menu (July) worth going for, however, little did I know the day of my reservation was the day the menu changed. We had 2 items on the menu with “mushroom”-like ingredients in it. I was honestly nervous about the experience, but usually I will just go with the chefs’ visions.

Jing Li has been opened for a few years now in this location. It actually used to be a different Chinese restaurant, so I’m assuming it’s the same owners. The menu looks very typical of non Sichuan Chinese restaurants. Before we walked in, I already decided to go more of a pescatarian selection and hoping the food quality and taste would be similar to what I’ve had before in the San Gabriel Valley. We were able to walk in on a Sunday early evening without reservations. The whole dining area was quite roomy with tall ceilings and typical Chinese decor.

Konban was a new katsu restaurant that was on my radar for a while. When it first opened, reservations were hard to come by. Now a few months later, it’s easy to make a reservation a week out. Because Manhattan has so few katsu-specialized options, this was going to be a very special experience. I was able to make a reservation for 5:30 PM on a Friday night for two people.

Han Dynasty is yet another Chinese restaurant that recently joined the Long Island City area. They already have some existing locations spread around other parts of NYC. Their food is the same Sichuan style that many of the local restaurants here aim to serve. I think this style of Chinese is becoming too plentiful here, such that competition is bound to be very difficult. We decided to try this out.

Monkey Bar is a restaurant from the same people that are behind Au Cheval and 4 Charles in NYC. The Monkey Bar has a rich history dating back to the 1930s, where it formerly served New York City’s upper social class. In 2022, it reopened under the ownership of the 4 Charles team, and they created a menu that was very similar to the aforementioned restaurants. I was craving for prime rib, so I wanted to give this a try since I am reluctant to snipe 4 Charles reservations.

We wanted to check out the Tin Building down in South Street Seaport, which is a building by Chef Jean-Georges. It was basically similar to Eataly, where it has a market for different cuisines and restaurants. There are only 2 floors, and there isn’t that much to see in my opinion. However when it comes to food, we decided to try the seafood joint, Fulton Fish Co. We were able to walk in with no reservations at 5:30 PM on a Saturday early evening.