Salmon Carpaccio. Mmmmmm...
53. So called because it is located at 53 W 53rd Street in Midtown Manhattan. It's a relatively new restaurant located right by the Moma. I haven't been to the Moma yet but I'm guessing this place is cooler - partially because I like food more than museums - but also because the restaurant itself makes you feel like your in some sort of fictitious, high-roller hangout (Kenz said she felt like we were in James Bond or something). I know that's not much of a description, so just look it up to see what I mean. My favorite description I've heard is that it looks like it could be Anna Wintour's hangar for her private jet. Ok, onto the food.
Pan Asian cuisine is what we're talking about here, and this place puts a fine dining flair on it more than anywhere else I've been. The dishes were all beautiful, and most all of them had the taste to match it. Our favorites by far were the Chicken Truffle Xiao Long Bao and the Salmon Carpaccio. These days when I hear "truffle" in a dish, I get worried cause so many places just overdo it and then think they can charge an arm and a leg for overwhelming a dish with the stuff. Not the case here, so don't worry. The only thing that made me sad is the XLB only comes with 3 soup dumplings... I guess you'd better just get two to share so that you have an even six.
Speaking of numbers, these dishes are small, so plan to order roughly three per person. Our waiter recommended 6-7 dishes for the two of us, which sounded like overkill, but I think thats spot on. I'll let you do the math on roughly how much this place will set you back depending on what you order, but most dishes were $20-$30.
I don't know when I'll be back here or with whom, but I know that 53 will elicit a "woah" from whoever walks in for the first time because it's just so cool. There are places that rely on the ambiance to make up for mediocre food, but thankfully this isn't one of them. It feels like the perfect spot for a fun night out, celebrating a special occasion, or getting together with a group for a splurgy, family-style meal.
Haianese Chicken