Fairway Market Cafe and Steakhouse

I heard about the Fairway Market Cafe and Steakhouse from a Food Network show, that recommended it as a place for a great steak at a very reasonable price. The restaurant is actually secondary to to a much larger grocery store. I suppose that because the food for the restaurant come straight from the store below, the prices can remain low.

V and I went for dinner and ordered from the $29 prix fixe menu, which offers most everything on the main menu in a three course meal. A good $15 bottle of wine rounded out the meal.

For an appetizer I ordered the white bean soup, which I expected to be kind of thick or creamy, but was actually a broth based soup. It wasn't as hearty as I expected, but it was pretty good. V had roasted clams, which were in a nice butter sauce and were a good start to her meal.

We both ordered steaks, V the Prime Dry Aged N.Y. Strip Steak, and I the Marinated Skirt Steak. Both were good, V's more tender and mine with a bit more flavor. I had mashed potatoes on the side that were over mashed, but the fries with V's steak were well seasoned and crispy.

For dessert V had apple pie which was good, but I wished it was warm. I had a slice of carrot cake which was pretty moist and had a coconut frosting. I've had better, but it was a nice end to the meal.

The restaurant is pretty simple, upstairs from the grocery store, filled with wooden tables, light metal chairs and some large pictures and banners on the wall showing fruits and vegetables. We arrived early for a Friday dinner to a relatively empty dining room, but by the end of the meal the place was close to packed. The service was good, and our waitress was vary friendly.

Overall the meal was good, but not great. I suppose for the price it was what you would expect. I don't know if I'll go back, but if I lived on the Upper West Side, I'd definitely be a regular, for a satisfying, cheap, dinner.

Firehouse Tavern

Firehouse Tavern is a great bar/pub just a few bocks from Central Park on the Upper West Side. After the longest run of my life to date, I dropped in with V and a few of her Volleyball teammates. I don't have much to say about the place, other than that I really liked the atmosphere, and the food was above par for a bar (I rhyme!).

The decor is that of a firehouse, natch. There are old fire station things like fire extinguishers, photos of dalmatians, fire helmets and sirens throughout. I believe, though they could have just decorated it so well, that the space was actually once a fire house.

I ordered a BBQ chicken pizza, which was very good, with a hand tossed crust that was chewy and crispy at the same time, with red onions, BBQ sauce, chicken and cheddar cheese. V enjoyed the boneless chicken wings, which I found funny (boneless wings?), and spicy. It's definitely a nice place to come after a long day in the park.

O'Neal's

O'Neal's is a large pub not far from Lincoln Center. I stopped in for a drink and a bite to eat after an event nearby the other day. The space was more of a restaurant than a bar, with a large mural and plenty of table seating. I ordered an omelet, which was an interesting offering on a 'late night' menu. It was pretty simple with potatoes, scallions, and bacon, but no cheese so I can't rate it that high. Fries, served on the side, were crunchy and a nice dinner addition to a more typical breakfast item. Overall it's a simple place, and the cuisine isn't amazing, but it is reasonably priced and better than a lot of typical pub fare.

The Westside Brewing Co.

I liked The Westside Brewing Co. on the upper west side, and I really enjoyed the neighborhood too, being that I'd basically never explored it before. The restaurant was crowded, and really centered on its wide variety of beers (I had one of my Belgian favorites, Kwak!). I had black bean soup and the chicken satay, both appetizers. The satay was very peanutty, which was exactly what I was hoping for. Overall the restaurant had a cool atmosphere, was packed for a Thursday evening and the service was above par. Beers were reasonably priced for their wide variety, and as a bonus each was served in its appropriate glass! If I'm back in the neighborhood, Id try it again.

Señor Swanky's

"Eat. Drink. Save Money. This hip, packed joint is certain to fill your stomach with delicious Mexican cuisine and satisfy your desire for a unique dining experience." (emphasis added)

Five of us got together for a few drinks and a bite to eat after work at Señor Swanky's upper west side location on Columbus Ave. between 84th and 85th streets. It wasn't very impressive, especially for the size of the bill.

Basically this is a Mexican restaurant version of TGI-Fridays in most every respect. There were giant plastic red peppers hanging over the bar, our drinks were served in plastic glasses, and the food was nothing special.

Admittedly we were dining on a night when New York was experiencing a snowstorm so not many people were out and about, let alone up for margaritas in a Mexican restaurant. Still our service was slow, they couldn't accept credit cards (apparently due to a fire), and the prices were ridiculous.

I'll start with my complaints. We had margaritas ($12 each!) which were tasty - and there was a wide variety of flavors - but oddly served in plastic margarita glasses. We got a basket of chips which are hard to do wrong, though I thought they needed salt, and they weren't that fresh (I've often had still-warm chips at other places). The guacamole (I've had better) was expensive for the amount we were served. The entrees, which I had a bite of, I believe a chimichanga and a taco, were tasty but not anything special. There was one good things culinarily, the nachos. While a small portion, each chip had a nice amount of cheese, meat, onions, and peppers, etc and they weren't soggy. I just wish there were more than 8 chips for the $8.95 price.

To top it all off the server added 18% gratuity to the check—for a party of 5?!—bringing the total for not all that much food and I believe 7 drinks total, to $170. Way to much to be paying at TGI viernes.