NYC Summer restaurant week July 12-25

the Modern is nice but I usually go there for the bar. The tuna tartare is magnificent.

Le Cirque is a bit of a dinosaur, see if Aldea has a special going on.

Do you have a list? If so, people can give you their recs

Alto

DBGB
Esca

+1 on ESCA. How many people do you have? Sometimes if you got enough people, might be better to just order regular menu and share.

In that list, based on my experience (not Restaurant Week experience, normal dining). Here are my picks:

My top picks:

• Alto - it's lunch only and be ready to be surrounded by bankers, lawyers and other suits. Food is great though.
  
• Asiate - lunch only but that's great because you want to take advantage of that view. Haven't been in 5 years but food was very good, under-rated place. View is unmatched, but I doubt you'll get a great table with a RW reservation...
  
• Cafe Boulud - lunch only, my favorite Daniel Boulud restaurant
  
• Convivio - go for the sunday supper, some of the best pasta dishes in NYC
  
• Dovetail - I know whiteslashasian disagrees but I really like
  
• Matsugen - now my favorite Japanese restaurant in NYC, period
  
• Nougatine at Jean Georges - truly excellent, it's actually in the same premises as Jean-Georges and share kitchen and most staff. A great value normally, maybe not as striking during RW
  
• Perry St. - another Jean-Georges favorite of mine. I would go lunch rather than dinner
  

Other good choices:

• Aquavit Cafe / Aquavit (Dining Room) - like both very much, depends on whether you want something casual or more formal. Don't know if it's as good now that Samuelsson is gone though
  
• Artisanal - especially if you like cheese
  
• August - very good WEst Village neighborhood place, cool little patio in the back
  
• Devi - one of my favorite Indians in NYC, get the lamb chops
  
• EN - nice atmosphere, good Japanese food, great house tofu
  
• Esca - lunch only unfortunately, good seafood place
  
• Gotham Bar & Grill - lunch only unfortunately, highly under-rated restaurant, very nice experience there
  
• Il Cantinori - very good Italian, nice scene
  
• The Modern-Bar Room - I only dined in the main room but I hear the Bar Room menu is very good too
  
• Tamarind - "upscale" Indian, can be a turn-off for some but I found their lobster tikka masala delicious
  
• Tocqueville - under the radar, under-rated place. Not a huge fan of the room but food is excellent.
  

Is this the week when everyone tries out restaurants they otherwise can't afford, and then post their reviews on Yelp based on the limited prix fixe menu?

yes. Another reason to ignore yelp. Restaurants usually have their full menu, and then a restaurant week prix-fix of 3 courses. Many of the restaurant week courses pale in comparison to the actual restaurant experience (hence why I never order dinner from a restaurant week menu) ... but lunch is actually a good value that I recommend. Back when I worked downtown, I had lunch at Nobu every other day it seemed (it was only like $10 more than an "artisan" sandwich place).

another thing about manhattan is there is "tasting" menu all year around for a lot restaurants, you can consider that semi-restaurant week.

Has anyone else taken advantage of NYC restaurant week, summer 2010?

I tried two places this past week, Matsugen for lunch, and Frankie and Johnnie's Steakhouse for dinner. Both were good, perhaps even very good, I am just of the opinion that they weren't really exceptional deals. Yes, they provided an experience that I prob would not have otherwise had, however, I can have very good meals for $25 lunch and $35 dinner, respectively, any day of the year.

I enjoyed Matsugen, (a much bigger space than I expected). . .the first course is a bento box consisting of a small salad, two pieces of tofu, tempura and 1/2 a sushi roll (3 assorted pcs) and the second course is 1 of 2 soba noodle dishes, which were good, and the dessert is a custard with a burnt caramel like top. . .I don' know if it was burnt, and therefore slightly bitter, on purporse. . .but I liked it. Despite the fact that it was a work day, I enjoyed a fresh grapefruit/soju cocktail, which was dangerously easy to drink on a hot day. Overall, the food was very good, although I doubt I would go routinely. . .noodles are, to me, a cheap lunch, however this was a good experience.

As for Frankie and Johnnies, (and at the outset I note that going to a steakhouse for rest week could be questionable) I had never been, and the restaurant, while tucked away on 37th st, is a nice space. The waiter was typical NYC steakhouse, made certain to tell us that the entrees did not include sides, so in addition to ordering pricey cocktails, we ordered a $10 side of mashed potatoes. I started with the house smoked salmon, two slices, not a huge portion, but the quality was top-notch, amongst the best I've had. My idiot friend, however, is not a seafood fan, and ordered a F&J house salad, which turned out to be some iceberg, raw mushrooms and a slice of tomato. . .not impressed. The main course was a modified surf and turf, a small filet, 4-6oz maybe, which was admittedly, delicious, and sitting atop was 1 butterflied shrimp. . .not one of the nice shrimp cocktail sized guys but typical size like the 18-20 per lb. count I can get at Whole Foods etc. Dessert was key lime pie or choc mousse, some ppl might say it was a small piece but as far as dessert goes, I thought they were more than adequate. . .they were generic bordering on good. Overall, the food (absent the salad and sad, lonely shrimp) was excellent, however, the $59 pp Morton's 3-course price fix is a much better deal (and I am not a huge Mortons fan but it is far and away the most cost effective meal at a rated NYC steakhouse). Overall, 2 ppl, 1 drink each, the price fix and a side of mashed potatoes tax and tip was $150 during restaurant week. $150 for 2 ppl is not terrible by NYC standards, however, I can get an exceptional meal at other places in that range throughout the year. In regards to steakhouses in general, I'd rather go $100 pp less frequently and do it right.

Anyone else have a review/other recs out there?

Pretty good list. Love Gotham, and Aquavit has not gotten worse really. I was there recently and it didn't disappoint. also a big second on Cafe Bouloud.