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

JUNIOR'S 

1515 Broadway, New York New York (212) 302-2000, 6:30 to midnight every day.
Located at 1515 Broadway in Manhattan, Juniors is a great spot for breakfast and any quick meal.  We came here every morning for breakfast on our NYC visit because it had very quick service and good food - especially the breakfast and the cheesecake.

There is a patio space and a large indoor space to choose from.

We had breakfast that included bacon, eggs, toast and tomatoes. I chose scrambled eggs.

 My wife had her eggs easy over.

We finished our breakfast with a good strong coffee and a couple of complimentary house made cookies. 

It was a convenient location next to our hotel and we also tried it's next door location that specializes in their famous cheese cakes and other delights.

Junior's is well worth a visit if you are near times square.

 
http://www.juniorscheesecake.com/our_restaurants/times_square/

HUDSON COMMON

356 W58th Street, New York, NYC (212) 554-6217 

Located in the trendy and hip Hudson Hotel in NYC is a large common area called Hudson Common.  This hotel space is very chic!!

It resembles a large beer hall with large tables.

We originally came here to have tacos in the garden, but all the available spaces were occupied. 

So we went inside to the common. They unfortunately did not serve tacos inside!

We were reluctant to have dinner here after reading the limited menu and did not really want any of the choices available.  

Mark and Thomas had the pulled pork sandwiches with coleslaw and summer corn salads.  They were not impressed!

My wife and I had the common burger with bacon and kale caesar.  The burger was boring and the bacon was like rubber and inedible!  The kale caesar was large but had too much vinegar.  My wife and I left half of the meal unfinished!

We also ordered some fries to share. They were nothing special and we couldn't even finish these!!

My wife and I ordered a nice bottle of wine and the boys had some beers.  This was the best part of our meal!

When we left, we were very disappointed that such a trendy hotel with such a great vibe could have such a lame menu and not seem to care!!  We will never eat here again!  The saving grace for our visit here was the wonderful sky terrace, which we went to to wash this terrible food down.  The sky terrace is amazing.

We highly recommend the sky terrace for drinks and the view.  It is a relaxing and wonderful space and we will certainly return here when we visit NYC again - but stay away from the Hudson Common food!!

https://www.morganshotelgroup.com/hudson/hudson-new-york/eat-drink/hudson-common

 

Wahlburgers
46 Blue Jays Way, Toronto On., (416) 489-8922, 11:30 am to 12 am 7 days a week
I went to Wahlburgers with my son Mark (http://www.markallen.ca/) after the auto show in the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.  It is located in the Soho Metropolitan Hotel.

It was a very cold evening and Family Day, so there were a lot of people around and not many restaurants were open in the area.  The result, Wahlburgers was packed and we had to sit at the bar.  It was a nice bright restaurant and we had a good view around us.

There is a large variety of seating here, which makes it feel larger than it is.  There is a balcony, bar seating, and long tables and booths.  However, there is far too much green and far too much Wahlburg here.

The menu consists of a variety of burgers and sandwiches, all about 10 dollars.  We both chose the Thanksgiving Day burger.  It consists of fresh ground seasoned turkey, stuffing, Paul's orange cranberry sauce, roasted butternut squash and mayo.

It was a nice burger, but very clumsy to eat.  The turkey was tender and delicious, but the sauce was messy and overwhelming, causing the burger to fall apart.  The patron beside me had the Portobello Mushroom Cap burger and was quite perturbed that the burger fell apart due to so much sauce.

Mark chose the fries and I chose the Sweet Potato Tots.  The tots were delicious!

Mark had a Wahlbrewski North (brewed by Mill Street Brewery), while I had some wine.

I had a couple of glasses of chianti.  All in all it was a reasonably priced meal that was good but not anything special.  The burger was small, the attitude was indifferent and we probably will not return.  There are many places in the city that have very good burgers and are more eager to serve them.


http://wahlburgers.ca/