The best splurge restaurants in New York City
The most decadent restaurants to spend your tax return .
Fancy a seafood dinner to through all your monies at? Le Bernardin is the answer. Eric Ripert’s shrine to all things sea-related is classy af, but without the fuss. The kitchen works like a Swiss-made watch - all precision and grace.
Listed 5th in the S. Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurants list, among many other accolades, Eleven Madison Park is the epitome of fine dining in New York City, period. While a meal will set you back a cool $295 (including gratuity), Daniel Humm and Will Guidara's stunner really is a once-in-a-lifetime must.
Daniel Boulud’s empire began in NYC with this Upper East Side restaurant and it remains one of the most luxurious in town after more than 15 years. Order the off-the-menu canard à la presse (pressed duck) and feel the the king or queen you always knew you were.
Chef Michael White may not be Italian by birth, but you’d never know it after a meal at Marea. Opened in 2009, it quickly rose in the ranks to become one of the best Italian restaurants in not only NYC, but the country. Don’t miss White’s astounding seafood dishes.
Radical when it opened 19 years ago for its unorthodox approach to French fine dining, Jean-Georges still manages to inspire pilgrimages to its Central Park locale. Combining French, American and Asian influences, the food here might not seem so avant-garde today, but it’s still expertly crafted cusine from one of the finest chefs in the world.
If pasta is what you’re craving, Babbo does it spectacularly well. Joe Bastianich and Mario Batali’s OG Italian has been bringing in the droves since 1998. Bring a group of friends and have the pasta tasting menu - $95 will get you five life-affirming pastas and two desserts.
Winner winner, steak dinner. It’s all about the aged beef at Peter Luger, the classic steakhouse under the shadow of the Williamsburg bridge. If an old-school, white tablecloth experience is what you’re after, this will do it. Just remember to bring the Benjamins with you - it’s cash only.
If a 30-course meal prepared by one of the best sushi chefs in the world isn’t luxury, we don’t know what is. Steps from Grand Central Terminal, Sushi Yasuda serves the freshest fish flown straight from Japan in a tasteful, minimal space.
Make the trek to this Long Island City atypical steakhouse for a meal you’ll never forget. Their famous Wagyu Tomahawk steak - a mammoth steak of prehistoric propotions - will shock even the most savvy carnivore.
