New York City - Restaurant selection in east Manhattan [Murray Hill] for dinner

Looking for some good restaurant recomendations to take a group of 6 out for a nice dinner. It's a business dinner so somewhere with good service and great food is what I'm looking for. Prices around $10-$15 for appetizers and $20-$30 for entrees is ideal. Not a big fan of classic italian, but fine dining italian is great (only reason I mention that is because there's a LOT of italian places). Also no steakhouse or sushi. Area would either be around NYU medical school or the VA, which I think is the Murry Hill area?

Current ones I'm looking at ar i Trulli, Marcony, Giorgios, and Strand. Any comments on those restaurants or additional suggestions? Somewhere with valet parking would be nice too (if places do that. I'll have a car and will have to leave it t NYU and come get it after dinner otherwise.

Not a big fan of classic italian, but fine dining italian is greatWhat does that mean? :D

Probably means something like Convivio's as opposed to Grano. But given that price range fine dining is definitely out.

If you could go up in price a little, something that would be great for a business dinner is The Hurricane Club, Park Ave South and about 26th Street.

how about hillstone on park and 27th? it's in your price range, and the ambiance is relatively formal. tamarind on 22nd is a really good indian place that might fit the bill.

the fine dining restaurants around the area (11 madison park, craft, gramercy tavern) are going to be out of that price range unfortunately.

how formal does it need to be? there are some really good japanese places in the 40's (i.e. Aburiya Kinnosuke) but they are a bit less formal.

Not looking for too formal. Business casual would be good. Dress is something I didn't even consider, and is a concern I guess. The people willl be NYU researchers coming straight from NYU so dress might be more casual.

I will check out hillstone.

As for price range, average entree price of around $30 is ideal, with a number of the items in the upper $20's and others in the lowe-mid $30's. Craft and Gramercy Tavern looked great, but agreed it is just above what I'd like to be spending.

I'm not interested in Indian or Japanese... As it's hard to predict everyone's tastes, and some people might not like those foods. Pan-Asian or japanese fusion would probably be fine.

I've also just now realized that this will be during Restaurant Week in NYC. I've been out to a few of these in other cities, and know that they will offer a reasonably priced, limited prix fix menu. Would all of the restaurants also still offer their full menu, or would I be stuck with the restaurant week menu?

Current ones I'm looking at i Trulli, Giorgios, Any comments on those restaurants or additional suggestions? Somewhere with valet parking would be nice too (if places do that. I'll have a car and will have to leave it t NYU and come get it after dinner otherwise.

You can street park for free after 6 or 7. Read the signs.
Giorgios of Gramercy has delicious food, nice atmosphere for a small place, and reasonably priced food. They have a short, but workable wine list. The somm knows what she's doing. We've been eating here every blue moon for about 10 years. I always recommend it to trade show friends that are looking for a nice place.

I haven't been to i Trulli in a long time, but remember it as being big. Good food too.

dh

I decided on Riverpark, which looks great. Prices re about in line with what I was looking for and the atmosphere inside seems perfect. Another big plus is that it's walking distance from NYU Med School, which is where I will be coming from. That takes parking out of the equation, as I'll just leave my car at NYU until after dinner. I'll let you know how it all turns out.

That's a good choice. If you're in the mood for a vegetarian main course, the "burnt flour" cavatelli is sensational!

The dinner there was great. Food was very good, but nothing amazing flavor-wise. Presentation was great, and often times I find that at business dinners the presentation goes a long way. They were a little slow to take our order, and slow with the dessert menus at the end. Other than that they were very attentive and kept the wine and water glasses filled. We started with a very nice Pinot Noir, and had a cab for the main course which they decanted upon ordering. The setting is beautiful, would be even better during nice weather.

And I actually did have the burnt flour cavatelli for my appetizer, lamb for my main course. Everyone really liked it there.

The dinner there was great. Food was very good, but nothing amazing flavor-wise. Presentation was great, and often times I find that at business dinners the presentation goes a long way. They were a little slow to take our order, and slow with the dessert menus at the end. Other than that they were very attentive and kept the wine and water glasses filled. We started with a very nice Pinot Noir, and had a cab for the main course which they decanted upon ordering. The setting is beautiful, would be even better during nice weather.

And I actually did have the burnt flour cavatelli for my appetizer, lamb for my main course. Everyone really liked it there.Thank you for the review. Sounds like a place to avoid. Your description of enjoying the presentation better than the taste of the food is telling. Couple that with slow service at the beginning and the end? Thanks the heads up.

Thank you for the review. Sounds like a place to avoid. Your description of enjoying the presentation better than the taste of the food is telling. Couple that with slow service at the beginning and the end? Thanks the heads up.

TBH, it fit the bill for what I wanted in a business dinner. I don't think I would go back if it were just my wife and I. I probably would go back again if I were taking other clients out (hopefully ones that don't read this, lol).

Lots of places in NYC for business dinners where you can have BOTH good food and good presentation :)

I went to riverpark right after they opened and also had some weird issues with service, but I thought the food was generally pretty good. I really like their atmosphere, and they definitely have a unique view. I think it is appropriate for work lunch/dinner, except the location is actually pretty inconvenient for anyone coming from a midtown office.

I would say for the most part it is worth at try, though.