In NY with our friends from Germany - South Street Sea Port and Tabla

This entry is a bit out of the norm as it is not about Westfield directly. But even if live in Westfield and like it very much, New York is close and exciting. Some old friends of ours from Germany are currently on vacation in Manhatten. So we took an early train to NY and spent a day there. Unfortunately in Manhattan it was even chillier than in Westfield, only marginally warming up over the course of the day.
This was the first time for our friends in Manhattan so we played tourist and guide. The world trade center site, battery park and than south street sea port. I haven't been to the latter one in a while, so I was amazed how touristy it had gotten, not in a negative sense. It just isn't very authentic. OK, you can argue it is good that we have it so the tourists go there instead of ruining the neighborhoods that the locals really like to go.
For Lunch we went to Harbour Lights. The cool thing about this place is the great view on the East River and the bridges in the north (remember B-M-W). And despite the weather being somewhat unstable we sat outside. Service was very attentive, friendly and mostly efficient. We had a few small plates for brunch and nobody minded that we didn't have the $30 plus main entrees that were also on the menu. The food is above average, good quality, good display but not particularly innovative. For the price level I had expected a little more, but then again it is a touristy place in NY.
After a stop in the east village and a few places around there were you have fewer tourists, we finally went up to Madison Square Park for Dinner at Tabla.
My wife is a coupon freak and she had a $25 off coupon. This was only valid in the dinning room not at the bar. Yes $25-off sounds pretty good on the first thought. But relative to potentially $350 for the a party 4 (including wine) it wouldn't have been that significant. A bit surprised by the fact that they had only a prix fix menu, and shocked by the starting price of $64 a person (and at least for my taste the somewhat uninteresting menu selections) we were contemplating an exit strategy.
So after getting over the embarrassment of having to ask the wait staff to reseat us into the bar (which they did in an absolutely professional fashion) we felt a lot more comfortable downstairs in the Breadbar. The good thing is you can order a variety of small plates, larger plate, indian breads and chutneys and then share them across the table. The food is excellent, innovative around the concept of Indian fusion, good display. The only thing: When ordering plates to share, after having been there a few times you have pretty much tasted everything on the menu and it might start to get a bit boring. But then, most of it is worth having it a couple of times

In addition, we discovered a very drinkable, exciting and rather unusual new wine I didn't have before. Conundrum is a rather untypical blend of Savignon-Blanc, Muscat, Chardonnay and a few others. I find it effective to characterize a wine by comparing it to a celebrity, e.g. actor, as describing flavors and smells with words is not always adequate. So this one would go as "Famke Janssen", yes the one from X-Man, James Bond and Star Trek-TNG. Mysterious, individualistic, somewhat bold but still elegant. Do I have to say more?

In summary the bread bar is pretty cool. Nevertheless, if you want to enjoy the dinning room, go there for lunch. At $25 a person a much better deal.

Signing Off - The Westfield Blogger