Need a reliable dinner recommendation in the Big Apple in a hurry? Check out these tried and test New York restaurants to avoid disappointment 
 

More than eight million people live in New York City, and that’s before a further million commute into the city every day and a staggering 66 million tourists visit every year. They all have to eat somewhere, and the city’s 26,000 restaurants are there to serve them. Diversity has always been huge in New York as successive waves of visitors and residents either brought their food traditions with them or went in search of restaurants that served them. To help you plan your dining, we asked MCC’s head of concierge services, Houria Tawfika, for the latest suggestions for New York according to you, our members! 
 

You can make reservations for these, and hundreds of other destinations, by contacting our Bookings service, or messaging a member of the team via WhatsApp on +966 533 633 607. Did you know we can also help with your domestic and international travel plans? Get in touch to find out more… 

Carbone

Carbone, which has received a Michelin star every year since 2014,  pays tribute to the iconic Italian family trattorias of the 20th century but sets out to raise the cuisine to a more sophisticated level. This high-end Italian-American restaurant started by chefs Mario Carbone and Rich Torrisi is a long way from the basic ‘red-sauce’ eateries so beloved of New Yorkers for decades. True, it offers a stripped-back, red-brick wall, contemporary setting, but its menus are deceptively simple and elevated - lobster fra diavolo being a case in point. The restaurant has a celebrity following and it can be hard to get a reservation, so be sure to start planning well in advance, whether for lunch or dinner. 
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Sona 

One of the newer kids on the New York block, Sona’s menu is the creation of chef Hari Nayak, who wanted to bring Indian cuisine up to date. This fine-dining restaurant on the Lower East side opened in 2021, with the principal owner, entrepreneur Maneesh K Goyal, having been quoted as saying that he dreamed Sona could do “what Nobu did for Japanese food”. He may not have Nobu’s Robert Niro as a backer but he does have actress Priyanka Chopra flying the flag for the restaurant  although she has no financial stake in it. The idea is to present a menu reflecting the ‘global Indian’. If you do make a reservation, try to get a table in the main dining room at the back with spacious leather banquettes, rather than the smaller tables at the front. Oh, and do try the crab puri with caviare. 
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Scalinatella

This small Italian-American restaurant sits in the basement of its building but don’t let it put you off -  its excellent food attracts a crowd of chic Upper-East-Siders  who go there for the atmosphere and to eat such delights as white-truffle pappardelle. Many a well-known face has been spotted there - George and Amal Clooney and Rihanna, for example, and Halle Berry was spotted there at the end of 2021. Be careful if you’re wearing very high heels - there are quite a few stairs. 
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Jams

California-born celebrity chef Jonathan Waxman trained in France and opened his first restaurant, in collaboration with restaurateur Michael McCarty in Santa Monica in 1979. He has since gone from strength to strength and his Jams restaurant in Midtown New York is a celebration of American cuisine. Set in the 1 Hotel Central Park, Jams is about stripped back, industrial chic decor but with a menu of mouthwatering Americana lifted to a higher level. Fish tacos with spicy slaw and guacamole, falafel burger with lemon-tahini sauce, organic chicken and fries - this is a place to visit from breakfast and brunch through to dinner. 
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Kappo Masa

Light, minimalist and achingly smart, this high-end contemporary Japanese restaurant comes from top chef Masayoshi Takayama - known as Masa, hence the title - and his business partner, art dealer Larry Gagosian. They met 30 years ago in LA when Larry was a frequent customer at Masa’s restaurant Ginza Sushi-ko. In New York they joined forces to present a sophisticated take on Japanese cuisine in the upper East Side on Madison Avenue. Chef Masa believes in simple food, beautifully cooked and presented - his innovative dishes are served on tableware specifically designed for each one. This is fine dining and expensive but the chef’s table and sushi omakase menus are exquisitely done. 
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