La Masseria  

235 West 48th Street NYC, (212) 582-2111 Mon,5:00, to 11:00, Tues. and Sat. 4:30 to 12:00 pm, Wed. to Fri. 5:00pm to 12:00 am. Sunday 3:00 pm to 10:30 pm

While visiting Manhattan we booked a Broadway play and decided to make a dinner reservation near the theatre.  We had no idea we were in for a memorable meal at La Masseria.  It has 1 Michelin Star!

The inside is spacious and there is a large outside patio.

We purposely made an early reservation so that we could take our time.  Our waiter (who talked like Joe Pesci) was efficient and very personable.  We reviewed the menu.

A wonderful, fresh basket of breads arrived along with a delicious caper oil for dipping.

My wife and son Thomas and I split a beef carpaccio three ways - the arugula was very fresh, the parmigiano was copious and the beef was so tender.  The entire plate was huge and cold.

My wife and son chose for their main the gnocchi.  They were like marshmallow pillows - the best they ever had!!

For my main I chose the fettuccine bolognese.  The pasta was house made and extremely thin and very tender.  The bolognese was filled with flavour and very generous.

 For desert - I was excited to see tartuffo and it did not disappoint - it was well presented and yummy.

My wife had the tiramisu and it was very light and generous.

Thomas had the creme brulee it was large and delicious.

This was one of the finest meals we have had in any Italian restaurant anywhere.  The service was excellent and the food was divine!  We highly recommend it when in New York!!

http://www.lamasserianyc.com/

 

POLO BAR
1 East 55th Street New York NY, Open 5:00 to 10:30, 1 212-207-8562

Located in mid town at 55th street is the Ralph Lauren Polo Bar.  Five of us decided to try it while visiting NYC.

We entered this restaurant through the bar, which is glamorous.  

We were quickly whisked downstairs to the restaurant.

The restaurant downstairs took our breathe away, it was stunning!

We perused the menu.

It was a rather simple menu for such a lovely space.

The house sommelier came by and asked if we needed help in ordering the wine - he suggested a nice Californian, so we ordered two bottles (there were five of us). The wine was great!

A couple of us also had a cocktails.

As we were deciding a bread like item arrived that resembled Yorkshire pudding - it was light and very soft!

My wife and I shared a shrimp cocktail and it was very good!

A couple of us had the special app of the evening steak tartar - it was outstanding.

However, after this the meal went downhill!  Three of us ordered the chicken and mashed.  The chicken was almost raw - so we sent them back to the kitchen.  A manager came by and said they would make it up to us!

New chicken dinners arrived.  A couple of us found them too spicy - but we were very forgiving, until we were asked if we wanted desert and none of us wanted one.  They forced three deserts on us in lieu of the raw chicken (by the way a thermometer is a useful kitchen tool)! 
This was one of the deserts they gave us.

A cheesecake was another desert they gave us.

They also gave us a selection of sorbets!
We finished our dinners with cappuccinos!

Though the surroundings were magical and very glamorous the menu and kitchen need a serious re-engineereing.  The menu is boring and overpriced and the kitchen needs some training!!

 


http://www.ralphlauren.com/shop/index.jsp?categoryId=54938256