53 — Restaurant in New York

I give a restaurant a five star if I would make a point to go back again. Visiting New York for 24 hours to help move my brother out of the city, this was where he wanted to have his last dinner in NY. Specifically, loving a good seared foie gras, he wanted to have the eel club again, and it absolutely did not disappoint. So much so that we ordered a second round to end out our dinner (aside from dessert, of course). This is likely the one restaurant recommendation I would give to someone asking me for a place to eat in New York. The service was good, if a little pretentious, and the ambiance was pretty hip. Here's what we ordered and how we liked it.

To start:

Eel club: absolutely incredible. One of those dishes where you take a bite and just want to close your eyes, tune everything out, and savor it. Such a beautiful balance of texture and flavor with the crunchy grilled crostini topped with the eel and the buttery, melt in your mouth foie gras, and finally the tart cherry. Just felt really balanced and delicious. I will say I felt like the eel got a little lost in the flavor and textures. I don't necessarily say that as a criticism because I obviously enjoyed eating it, but I think it's worth noting. Again, so so good that we had to order it twice.

Salmon carpaccio: I was disappointed. I love a good salmon carpaccio, and this one just fell flat. I'm not sure if the quality of the fish wasn't great or if it was overpowered by the excessive sauce on it, but it was our least favorite dish of the night and I wouldn't recommend it.

Xiao Long Bao: soup buns with ground chicken and truffle that were great. Obviously really hot upon arrival. I love steamed buns and these were awesome. Very flavorful, was spooning soup off the plate it was so good and everything was so elevated by the truffle!

Beef Sate: Really nice, well cooked and seasoned beef. The pickled onions were a very refreshing topper to the skewers. Loved it. Both of us actually preferred the skewers without the peanut sauce. I'm a "no sauce" guy in general, but the feeling was mutual at the table.

Cereal Shrimp: awesome, unique twist on a sweet and savory shrimp dish. It was essentially cereal crusted. I had to resist the urge to just spoon piles of that cereal into my mouth after finishing the shrimp.

Ice cream sandwich: I was leaning toward the mango pudding but per my brother's request we went with the ice cream sandwich for dessert. It was fine, but I can acknowledge that could just be because I have specific preferences. I prefer ice cream softer, but this was served with the ice cream really hard and needing to be bitten using your teeth. The sandwich crust was kind of meringue in nature; an airy, crunchy sort of texture that to me had no flavor. I didn't love it. I ended up using a spoon to eat the sandwich interior. It was really good, but just kind of left me disappointed. My brother enjoyed it though! He liked the unique twist in an ice cream sandwich.

Overall an amazing dinner and if I had one night in New York again, I would absolutely want to come here for dinner. I would order everything again except for the carpaccio and ice cream sandwich. And that eel club needs to go on a list of the top...

Service 5/5 Food 2.5/5

Service is excellent, Greg was handling 10 parties with grace and enthusiasm. Truly outstanding professional.

Tl;Dr: Best part of the meal was the dessert and the shumai. Go here if (a) you're not cost-conscious and (b) not in the food sector.

We ordered scallops, razor clams, shumai, xiaolongbao, skate, and quail. If you really can't care for prices and quality, you won't care for this review. Definitely more for a Midtown-corporate dining crowd.

The dimsum options seemed fun, but I recommend you go to Hutong for elevated dimsum. If Hutong dimsum are 10/10 for taste and creativity, 53 is like a 5/10. Putting things like "truffle" and "lobster" is a lazy way of cooking and doesn't deserve the price. Anyone can buy truffle oil and ground chicken meat for 8 bucks and make xiaolongbaos...not worth 23. They weren't even soupy. Premade store bought CPG tastes better. Lobster shumai was good because lobster is good...there were maybe 4 units of caviar each shumai, so not sure why they would suggest it as an ingredient when really it's a garnish.

Steamed seafood is not as good as your run of the mill Chinese diners or Malay diners in Chinatown. Any Cantonese restaurant will give you way better razor clams (and more) and tastier (with less sand too probably). Scallops were very sweet and fresh (XO sauce was okay). I guess razor clams are a miss, not sure what part of the execution makes it worth it.

The quail is an absolute avoid. You're not getting crispy quail...you're just getting poultry in sweet sauce. It's like and ode to carryout kungpao chicken, but worse. The sauce is just corn syrup and a few slivers of peppers, the quail is not crispy and offers zero texture, and they only give snow pea tips and cashews. At least at the carryout they'll fry your poultry for texture, give you a sauce that might have chenpi in it, and add tons of veggies. Anyways, the quail is...

As part of my Birthday celebration we chose restaurant 53 on 53rd Ave in New York City. Our evening at 53 was nothing short of spectacular, from start to finish, with impeccable service that made the experience memorable.

Our server, Jack, was phenomenal, delivering outstanding service with a smile and timely attention to our dining needs. My apologies for not mentioning all other service personnel who checked on us and who rendered an equally wonderful service.

Complementing our meal, the sommelier expertly navigated us through their wine selection, ensuring the perfect pairing with our dishes.

We began our culinary journey with a shared Mizuna salad, adorned with chanterelle mushrooms and the luxurious touch of truffles—an exquisite start.

For appetizers, I indulged in the Crystal Dumplings, beautifully crafted with morels and spinach—a true delight for the senses.

Meanwhile, my wife enjoyed the lobster spring rolls, brimming with a generous serving of succulent lobster, which she found absolutely delightful.

Then we shared a satay of trumpet mushrooms with mint chimichurri, another excellent executed dish for mushroom lovers like me.

Moving on to the main courses, I opted for the Mushroom Clay Pot. This dish was a comforting ensemble of sticky rice and earthy maitake mushrooms, cooked to perfection.

My wife savored the skate, masterfully seasoned with sambal and delicately wrapped in a banana leaf, which infused it with an aromatic richness.

For dessert, I chose the incredibly refreshing coconut sorbet, while my wife treated herself to the creamy Madagascar vanilla ice cream—both desserts were a perfect end to our meal.

Thank you, Team 53, for a truly wonderful dining experience. Your dedication to culinary excellence and guest satisfaction shone through every aspect of...