NY Restaurant Week

In all two weeks that was Winter Restaurant Week in NY I was able to try exactly one restaurant. Restaurant week is an opportunity for us with tight budgets to try out the different participating restos, some of which I can't even imagine looking at the menus. The idea is that restaurants offer prix fixe lunch for $24.07 and dinner for $35, stressing the idea that NY is open 24/7 (of course, so is Manila!). My friends did try out one of the more expensive places, a French restaurant, but were quite disappointed. I suppose, they will not offer the top items on their menu for that price.

After poring over countless menus online, the one restaurant that appealed to me and my friends was Blue Water Grill. Naturally, island people that we are. Although this was not really a restaurant that was unattainable at all, I still thoroughly enjoyed the set lunch we had. The place was huge but had a surprisingly homey feel. We were led to the loft area which was perfect for people watching, especially since we had a good view of the bar (tender!) downstairs.

For my appetizer, (apart from the bartender who was certainly eye candy!) I had the fried oyster maki roll. It had the ideal mix of crunch and chew, and its light lemon foam dip gave it that distinctive Asian-Western fusion taste. My main entree was a perfect follow up to the maki roll--a seared tuna salad lightly tossed in vinaigrette dressing. I was pleasantly surprised with the refreshing dessert which was a selection of three sorbets: kiwi, pineapple and mango. Although the kiwi sorbet was a taste I don't think I will soon acquire, the pineapple and mango were a perfect end to the meal. Overall, I think I can say that I did a pretty good job ordering for this little "adventure". What's so great was that I realized I could actually go back to Blue Water Grill on a regular day and not be afraid of breaking the budget too much.