Unique dining experience?

My friend and I are going to New York next week. She is a world traveller and I%26#39;d like to take her to a really unusual restaurant for dinner.

Cuisine can be anything..looking more for an experience or fantastic decor. Something to make us say WOW!!

Thanks :)

Melissa

Unique dining experience?

The trend in New York restaurants over the past decade or so has been to strip down atmosphere and return the focus to the food. (So you now have $100/head restaurants without table cloths in rooms of exposed brick, etc.) There are a few stage-set places (TAO, Merkato 55), but most restaurants where the food is worth eating are not going to be about the experience except as it pertains to the food.

That said, you might think about:

River Cafe (for the views of lower Manhattan):

www.rivercafe.com

The Modern (for the views of MoMA sculpture garden):

www.themodernnyc.com/modern/modern.html

Chop Suey (for the views of Times Square; food is not as ambitious as at the previous two):

http://www.chopsueynyc.com/

For really unusual food, I would try:

WD-50:

http://www.wd-50.com/

Momofuku Ssam (or Momofuku Ko if you can manage to get a reservation):

http://www.momofuku.com/

Unique dining experience?

I think Buddakan is a wow setting with good food but I don%26#39;t know whether it%26#39;s ';unusual.';

http://www.buddakannyc.com/

The views of the NYC skyline at

rivercafe.com

are usually considered pretty ';wow';.

If you%26#39;re here next Sat. and there%26#39;s still room, you might be able to do dark dining at Camaje.

http://www.camaje.com/specialevents.html

River Cafe,and Modern have my vote;I also like One if By Land..on Barrow St.for its historical carrigehouse background;Cafe des Artiste is very pretty,near Park,nice atmosphere.You may want to take her on a dinner cruise around Manhattan-different and fun.

You want ';Wow';, fantastic decor and unusual, all wrapped into one?

- Go to a Russian restaurant in Brighton Beach. Esp on a Friday or Saturday evening, it%26#39;s quite a scene. Hopefully you%26#39;ll see a few birthday parties or retirement parties going on, and get invited to make a toast.

Primorski%26#39;s is my standby, but other famous ones are Tatiana, Imperator, Arbat and National.

http://www.tatianarestaurant.com/

http://www.come2national.com/

The service will be gruff and impatient, but get over that. Don%26#39;t take it personally. Just enjoy the atmo and the vodka. You won%26#39;t be disappointed, guaranteed:

Other ideas:

- Katz%26#39;s Deli, 2nd Avenue Deli or Carnegie Deli

These always impress, if only for sheer volume of meat. 2nd Ave is my fave, followed by Katz%26#39;s, but Carnegie is a classic experience.

My parents just took some old friends there last week, and it was a slam dunk.

- An Ethiopian restaurant.

I haven%26#39;t been to one in a while, but the food is delish and unique, and good for veggies and carnivores.

See these posts:

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g60763-i5-k1505057鈥?/a>

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g60763-i5-k1001566鈥?/a>

I forgot to include the webstie for Primorski%26#39;s.

http://www.primorski.net/main.htm

If you want to know why I reco Russian restaurants, search their reviews on Yelp to understand all:

yelp.com/biz/鈥?0restaurant

yelp.com/biz/鈥?0restaurant

http://www.yelp.com/biz/primorski-restaurant-brooklyn#hrid:ZC5XEWsIbxsxSQb5zN1gpA/query:Primorski%26#39;s

Our top menu items: Georgian bread, Lamb soup, pelmeni pasta, lamb ribs, herring and of course, vodka.