V-Flyer

Off to NY for first trip shortly and been trying to make some dinner reservations but have only managed to get a table in the lounge (rather than the main restaurant) at Daniels for dinner. Have any of you eaten in the lounge here and is it a good experience? Or would I be better off cancelling that reservation (bearing in mind it's pretty pricey if not getting into the main restaurant will impact on our enjoyment) and try instead to book a table in another restaurant or maybe get the hotel concierge to try and get us into the main restaurant at Daniel's?

Many thanks [oo]

Hi,

Unfortunately I can't advise on Daniel NYC but would thoroughly recommend The Boathouse restaurant in CentralPark.

http://www.thecentralparkboathouse.com/

Ate there on the 30th december just gone. One of the best meals and service I've ever had. Not cheap but the views from the main restaurant over central park, the lake and Manhattan are beautiful. Make sure you make a reservation though, it gets very busy! Oh and ask for a window seat if possible!

Regards
Marc

Daniels is superb it rates as one of my all time greats. Don't go for the lounge table get your hotel to book an early table in the main restaurant. I say early as jet lag allows you to eat early as you will still be on Uk time. Don't miss this place it's as good as it gets either in London or new York. Let us know how you get on.

Regards Milan

From recommendations here I went to One If By Land - Two If By Sea, excellent food, great place for romantic evening if thats what you're after, service was excellent and having got engaged that afternoon really made the end of the day even more special

Thanks all. Am going to try and see if we can re-arrange the previous evening to see if we can instead get a restauarant table at Daniel's that night and if not, will try the Sofitel's concierge service. We're only there for 3 nights and don't want to book anything for night of arrival so only leaves us 2 nights for dining out and we wanted one to be the tourist thing (i.e. The View at the New York Marriott Marquis) and the other to be a fine dining 3 Michelin star night and the reviews for Daniel's seem to be very, very good.... should not have left it so late [:I]

Will keep trying.....

If you decide to downgrade to a 2 Michelin Star, I would avoid Gilt at The New York Palace. Had a bad experience there resulting in a meal for 6 people being fully complimentary including the wine

I dined at Daniel on my 38th birthday after falling out of Concorde earlier on in the day. They have the most stunningly huge and outrageous flower display as I remember. Food was definitely Michelin (although Michelin didn't exist in NYC in those days) and defintiely French. The problem I have as an EU resident is that service just isn't service unless there's a big Franco influence in there. As it was, I found the demeanour in services to be little different to dining anywhere else in the US, in fact, dare I compare it to Denny's? Ouch! In my esperience stateside, this isn't at all unique to Daniel's though.

Cheers, H

Thanks all for the tips and advice. Have now managed to re-arrange the preceding night and have bagged an early booking in the main restaurant at Daniel's for the Fri instead. [^]