That’s a nice area! Super close to the park and the train station on 57th would be super easy to get to downtown or uptown. Food wise I would go for Zabar’s, Barney’s Greengrass, Pastrami Queen. Adel’s halal is on 50th I think so not too long of a walk
1 Like
@Loaxley any good Hyatt’s near Bryant Park? My NYC office is 39th and Broadway so I usually stay at Grayson just due to proximity.
Anybody try the new Goop Kitchen in NYC? I heard they are slammed.
1 Like
On my last trip I first stayed at a hotel in Midtown but I was constantly going downtown so I bailed and switched to a place on the LES.
Meaning there’s a lack of restaurants I want to go to lol
1 Like
The Andaz 5th Ave is right across from Bryant Park. I used to stay there a ton for work. It’s a fine hotel but nothing special. The bathrooms were annoying to me, and the rooms in general feel cold (vibe, not temperature) and sterile. The rooms get significantly better as you move up from the bottom tier, so if you have a suite upgrade award that will make it much better.
2 Likes
Haha that’s true in Manhattan south of 14th street is where you wanna be. A lot more interesting places to eat.
1 Like
What do you think about Grayson?
Grayson pros
- around the corner from Culture Espresso which has amazing chocolate chip cookies
- 4/5 block walk to 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,B,D,F,M,N,Q,R,W subway lines which will basically get you anywhere in Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn
- rooms are industrial and mostly updated
- beds are comfy
Grayson cons
- rooms are tiny
- elevators are loud and make an annoying screeching sound if you are a light sleeper
- there is basically no room for any toiletries in the bathroom
2 Likes
appreciate that! I think we will be doing half Thompson Central Park half standard hotel east village
1 Like
Finally got to try Naro. We liked the menu but had just come from happy hour so we just got a few dishes to share. The gimtini was really good. Definitely didn’t think seaweed, soju and gin would go well together but I’d get this again in a heartbeat.
Very nicely dressed salad and good yellowtail appetizer. Liked the brightness and acidity in the sauce.
Can’t pass up a nice softshell crab.
The sugar donut was perfect to share. That crunchy sesame seed thing was something I would buy a whole package of and eat while watching sports.
Yoon Haundue Galbi was just voted in the NYT top 100 NYC restaurants. The quality of the meat was outstanding. Loved the galbi. Full bar but we still got soju and beer. They have some fun appetizers that veer a little from the conventional.
5 Likes
Thoughts on somewhat low key places to get food before a wedding welcome reception at South St Seaport?
2 Likes
Fish Market (neighborhood sports bar with Malaysian food).. this place is a gem
it’s a shame the Tin Building closed
1 Like
Said nobody from New York 
no.. I enjoyed it, I understand why it went under though. There is nothing going on in the seaport area. I can recommend places walking or driving distances away, but the ask was for seaport recommendations which is pretty meh when it comes to dining.
If so, I would say hit up the Wall Street bathhouse, get some authentic Ukranian food, sweat it out, feel fresh, and then hit the wedding party hard
2 Likes
The eastern end of Chinatown is a 5 min cab ride.
If you want walking distance, Caravan Uyghur and Keste pizza are 7-10 mins away.
The places around the seaport complex are generally serviceable.
Carne Mare isn’t low-key, but his food is usually delicious.
1 Like
If you like dives, this is one of the best.
Also good.
2 Likes
But do you understand why it was built in the first place, ‘cause that’s the real mystery.
I mean it’s not really a secret.. because renovating Pier 17 was a massive project. Tons of renovation aiming at bringing in new restaurants and a new rooftop outdoor concert venue overlooking the Brooklyn Bridge. Investors felt that the Seaport was an untouched area of Manhattan that had potential. Alas, there’s no reward without some risk.
It was built for the same reason why Eataly was built, why Little Spain was built in Hudson Yards, Le District in FiDi, they are all opportunities for $$ for private equity. However, there are not many office buildings in that area so there is no lunch crowd, contrary to the other mega-fund giant food spots. It’s also a 10+ minute walk from the nearest subway station so getting there is not convenient, and as a result it was ignored by consumers. Lastly, a ton of CRE office buildings in that area have been converting to residential in the last couple of years. My visits did leave me with skepticism, but I remember the days when that area had nothing, and to me, having a restaurant like abcV there is much better than nothing. Well, I guess for everyone that’s happy that it’s now closed, you’re going to be thrilled with the balloon museum that’s replacing it.
funny Cowgirl SeaHorse shoutout, not sure I would recommend their Tex-Mex food, but definitely tucked away and a good place to get a drink. Not sure if you saw Black Rabbit on Netflix, but they filmed a bit of it there. The show was about a bar run by two brothers (Jude Law and Jason Bateman) that was tucked away on the corner of Water St in the seaport. 10 years ago, Dead Rabbit, which is about a 10ish-minute walk away from the seaport was voted the best cocktail bar in the world… I still love the place but oh how times have changed.
2 Likes
No, you don’t, because the area never had nothing. At least not in the 40+ years I’ve lived in Manhattan, 23 of them on the LES. That seaport mall, whatever it’s called, has been around as long as I can remember, the Fulton Fish Market, of course, the New Amsterdam Market that briefly replaced it, and there are and always have been dozens of bars and restaurants and stores in that neighborhood. But what the area did not have was an overpriced froufrou multilevel shopping center, and as it turns out, the area did not need one.
Fun fact! That balloon museum started at Pier 36, which is a 10:00 walk from my apartment, so I’m already acclimated to balloon museums. It did me no harm.
I did not, and thanks for the heads up, I’ll check it out.
But what the area did not have was an overpriced froufrou multilevel shopping center, and as it turns out, the area did not need one.
You must hate living there because that area has 3 froufrou unneeded multilevel shopping centers in a square mile lol
not sure how it used to be the same? when today’s Pier 17 didn’t open up until 2017. the Fulton market redevelopment happened in the 2010s, adding in a luxury movie theater. after the fish market moved to Bronx in 2005 that’s when institutional funds started licking their chops. the area is significantly different than what it used to be.