Originally Posted by
jbeans
CTBF is by far my favorite in the city. Ko is good, but I personally think the ingredients used at CTBF are more special, combined with a higher level of cooking technique. Keep in mind the price at CTBF includes service, so the difference is maybe not as big. Personally Ko was a go once and glad I tried type of place, whereas CTBF I've continuously gone back.
You're not missing out on much if you skip Per Se. If you enjoy classic French, I'd also recommend Le Coucou, Le Bernadin, and even Daniel I think is better than Per Se.
LeBernardin is just a wonderful experience and has been for decades. I am also a big fan of Jean-Georges as well, which had 3 stars for a number of years but has dropped to 2 stars. When in think of high end French food in NYC I think of LeBernardin. Been there a number of times over the years, although not recently, and was always just blown away by how good the food, service and ambience was. I would place Jean-George’s in close to that category.
I have not been to the new Joel Robuchon but really was impressed for our one visit to the old one. The new location has two stars. The old one was really kind of unique in combining fantastic food in a somewhat more casual setting.
If you aren’t tied to French you might try Tori Shin. It is a one star Japanese yakatori restaurant. Great little skewers of various chicken parts and some other things cooked over an open fire or hot stones. Chicken artery on a skewer anyone? But seriously it is great if you like non sushi Japanese. There are some Michelin starred sushi places as well.