Top 10 NYC Restaurants with a view
Whether you study or work in New York City, or whether you just happen to be in the neighborhood, knowing a few restaurants with a stunning view is a must. Especially if you want to impress your visiting friends or your loved ones.
It is not that easy to find THE restaurant, after all taste and colors are not always the same. In addition, with more than 30,000 restaurants in New York City, it would take you 30 years to try one per day. So let’s focus on those with a stunning view of the skyline.
1. Manhatta
Fine dining restaurants are usually all the same with their tablecloths, exorbitant prices and clientele in blazers. But Manhatta is an exception: this French restaurant in the Financial District looks better and costs less than the other options.
Located on the 60 floor, with a floor-to-ceiling windows offering panoramic views of rivers, bridges and skyscrapers, Manhatta offers an excellent service, a huge wine list, an attractive space with enough room between tables that you could drive a car through it and even binoculars on the windowskills.
Look no further if you want to impress your relatives and friends with the city you like the most.
2. One Dive
One World Trade Center not only features New York’s latest observation deck, the One World Observatory, but also three new opportunities to wine and dine in the sky. You can choose from three different options ONE Café, ONE Mix, and ONE Dine.
There is no restaurant in New York that is at a higher up than ONE Dine. The views of the city are truly stunning – especially if you get there in the evening. You can choose from a 3 course meal for $84 per person (not including drinks), or order items from the a la carte menu.
Be aware though: you can only access the restaurant with a ticket for One World Observatory, meaning you have to pay $32 per person right off the bat. Not nice.
3. The River Café
Need to celebrate a special occasion in Brooklyn? That’s what The River Cafe is there for. This restaurant sits on a barge alongside Brooklyn Bridge Park, and it offers a great view of the Manhattan skyline. Brunch, lunch, and dinner are prix-fixe, but breakfast is not. (Also, jackets are required for men.) Yes, this place is expensive, but the food is better than the stuff they serve at other restaurants, and it’s just as good a place to go after your Lawyer Swearing Ceremony.
4. The Aviary NYC
The best way to describe The Aviary is to tell you that it’s on the 35th floor of the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Columbus Circle, and that there’s a $28 cocktail that involves various chemistry class contraptions and smoke, and it’s called “Science A.F.” If you’re not familiar, that’s teen-speak meaning “as f*ck,” which has now been adopted by corporate marketing departments.
It’s mostly a bar, but there is some food, which is tasty, but absurdly priced. If you want to grab lunch one of these day near Central Park, that’d be a good pick!
5. The View
NYC’s only revolving restaurant, The View offers stunning view with a mouthwatering cuisine.
Located on the 48th floor, this cozy place gives you a true experience. From the elevator to the rotating restaurant, you won’t miss any of the iconic buildings from Times Square. Bonus: go there for the sunset, it is absolutely stunning.
6. Gaonnuri
Meaning “The Center of the world”, Gaonnuri is a Korean restaurant located on the 39th floor of an office building, offering breathtaking views of Manhattan. This is definitely unique in Korea Town and, to get a seat next to a window, you apparently need to book a table a month in advance with a special request.
Smartly dressed waiters tap in your orders on iPads before returning with a small dish of banchan. This is the first sign that you’re not in an average Korean restaurant. Rather than the parade of dozens of pickles and salads, you’re handed a small plate of four, which vary from broccoli strewn with imitation crab (inedible) to chewy and spicy dehyrdated squid in chili sauce (delightful). Depending on the luck of the draw, these keep you either occupied or annoyed until the appetizers start to arrive.
7. Robert
If you’re looking for a place to dress up for lunch and you’re not starving, Robert will be a good option. Located in a pretty central area at Columbus Circle, there is a nice view if you get a seat by the window as the restaurant is above an art gallery. Service is attentive and the food is good. Our advice? Go there for lunch! At night, the view of Central Park isn’t that great in the dark.
8. Celestine
Celestine is a Mediterranean restaurant with panoramic views of the city, the Manhattan Bridge, and all the wedding parties in Brooklyn Bridge Park. The dining room has floor-to-ceiling windows that slide open, and the tables on the outdoor patio get that unmistakable aroma of sea air infused with a hint of pollution.
If the food at Celestine is as enjoyable as the setting, it’s however a hit-or-miss. Some dishes, like the very rich morel risotto topped with a poached egg, are good. Others, like the flatbread with so much za’atar that it tastes like it’s been dipped in a mixture of Maldon salt and old weed, are not. But overall that’s a good place to go if you’re around Dumbo.
9. Serra by Birreria
Birreria—the elevated space that’s transformed into an Italian Alps lodge during the winter has been reimagined once again, this time as a countryside restaurant called Serra by Birreria (Serra means “greenhouse” in Italian).
This rooftop brewery (yep, rooftop brewery!) is hidden above Eataly on 5th Ave. Find the secret elevator behind the pots and pans section and take it to the 14th floor.
10. River Cruise Dinners
That’s the bonus one. There’s a lot of Dinner Cruises in NYC , each having the same concept: they offers frazzled New Yorkers a relaxing three-hour, three-course getaway cruise along the Hudson. Pair a romantic view of the Manhattan skyline from a glass-enclosed deck with a veritable feast.
Entrées include dishes like miso-glazed cod with oyster mushrooms and sugar snap peas and jumbo lump crab cakes with corn succotash. Sip on cocktails, wine and beer from a fully loaded cash bar while live jazz musicians provide the soundtrack for a twinkly evening aboard this dinner cruise.
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