Japonais

Just opened up and in my hood - so when people were going there one night who was I to refuse.

Japonais is one of those places with a dining room and an upstairs lounge. With a group of 7 dudes, I was thrilled that we chose the lounge. Plushly decorated (and the decor was nice too), type of place you can sit in for a few hours.

The food was fine - not much on the menu for a nice Jew like me, seemed like everything was either stuffed with or wrapped in shellfish, but i guess that's my own fault. If i went back and ordered for myself, that would make it a bit easier. But even still, it was a mix of moderately interesting japana-fusion food, a few of which were interesting and good, but were mostly interesting in the non-gastronomical sense only.

Sake was normal, the Kirin's poured just as you'd expect them to. Service was excellent, the vittles never stopped coming.

The Bottom Line
Food: 6/10. probably would be higher if i had ordered jew-food
Drink: 7/10. quantity over quality?
Service: 9/10
Atmosphere: 8/10
Would i go back: 7 blocks away...don't underestimate how truly lazy i am

Babbo

Had to call in a favor to get the reservation here - and even then had to do so a month in advance. Can't blame the restaurant for being popular can you? However, it definitely puts you in a state of very high expectations for the night.

And Babbo does not disappoint. Start to finish, just a unique experience, even in new york. If you have a choice (which you don't), it upstairs...we had a nice corner table, and they actually space the tables a reasonable amount, so you feel like you have the restaurant to yourself.

I'm sure you've heard of some of Batali's famous dishes, like mint love letters and beef cheek ravioli - but everything we tried on the menu was excellent. For main course, possibly the best duck i've come across. Also had a salmon entree, and i guess that was the downside of the meal if you can even call it that. Sommelier was excellent - paired up some quartinos; went great and they were actually modestly priced. Service was of a "stay out of your way" sort, which was a great touch.

The Bottom Line
Food: 9.5/10
Drink: 10/10
Atmosphere: 9/10. the music was odd
Service: 9.5/10
Will i go back: Can you get me in?

Buddha Bar NYC

Went to Buddha with a broker a few weeks ago...the story on the place is always that they have a big gold buddha. But honestly, their buddha doesn't hold a candle to the one at Tao. It was an early dinner, which had kind of a cool atmosphere with some sun coming in through the huge skylights.

Now people, i honestly couldn't figure out the menu...and not to brag but i do have degree from the world's finest technological university. And I wasn't the only one...we eventually just told the waiter to order what he thought would be good. Wine list was excellent, and we had a number of bottles. Food was good, some interesting things, but it's family style so i'm always gonna come out agin that a touch. Service was good...while we were there. Apparently somebody in our group gave the waiter somebody else's card, and he proceeded to stalk our group for a while. We were all a touch weirded out by this - i think the dude was looking for work.

The Bottom Line
Food: 7/10. Too typical to rate higher
Drink: 8/10
Atmosphere: 7/10. Loud, but some reasonable scenery
Service: 5/10.
Will I go back: Probably not