And so it begins, 10 days of fabulous meals.
With no regard to my waistline, I once again made a full set of reservations during Restaurant Week. (And even though it is called Restaurant Week, it's really M-F for two weeks - in case you were trying to figure out how one week became 10 meals.)
Last night was dinner #1 at Metrazur.
http://www.charliepalmer.com/metrazur/menu.php?i=239
Metrazur is part of the Charlie Palmer restaurant group and is conveniently located inside Grand Central Terminal. It was freezing last night, with the restaurant inside Grand Central we had minimal time walking outside in the wind and cold. The tables are set on the East Balcony - and most seats have a spectacular view of Grand Central with it's incredible ceiling (some of the seats have a view of the open kitchen). I thought it might be noisy, but the open space allows the sound to drift away. There is the general din of the station below and an occasional muffled train related announcement, but it adds to the ambiance.
We both started with the crab cake. The cakes were large and packed with fresh crab meat. The cakes sat on a bed of some kind of tasty slaw type salad. (I just read the on-line menu, the official description is a celeriac remoulade.) The plate also had a few dabs of a red pepper aioli. The cakes had a nice golden brown crust and just a few seasonings inside along with the crab. They were a great start to the meal. From what Michael could see in the open kitchen, they were one of the most popular appetizers being served.
For dinner Michael had the steak. It was a dry spice crusted sirloin (yes, I got that description from the on-line menu). The portion was decent, I didn't try any but it looked pretty tasty. The steak came with jus and turnip gratin. The turnip gratin was pretty much the same as scalloped potatoes, but they were served a little on the cold side.
I had gnocchi in a brown sauce with roasted chicken and mushrooms. The chicken was tender and had a nice slow roasted flavor. The mushrooms were a mix of wild mushrooms and they also had a great flavor. The gnocchi were average and the weakest part of my dish - I was expecting them to have a better flavor, but they were very plain.
For dessert Michael had the panna cotta (he does love those custard dishes) and I had two scoops of sorbet. The panna cotta was very nice, it was served with some fresh diced mangoes and strawberries on the side. I loved the sorbet - it was a nice refreshing end to the meal. One scoop was blood orange - it was tangy and not too sweet. The other scoop was coconut - it was creamy and delicious with that good feeling of being somewhere warm and tropical.
While the ambiance and service were very good the food was average. I probably won't go back to eat, but maybe for a drink in the bar.
Tonight - BBQ at Blue Smoke!
