Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Norma's: 118 West 57th in the Le Parker Meridien Hotel. New York, NY





For NYC restaurant week meal #3, I met my brother, his girlfriend, my mother and my grandma here for lunch today. I will be full for a week. I walked the 30 blocks home in 95 degree heat to try to burn off some of it, but alas, my dress still feels a lot tighter than it did this morning. All that taken into consideration, it was worth every single delectable calorie.
Before we ordered, we were treated to a lovely amuse-bouche of a guava, strawberry, mango sorbet. Lovely, refreshing and served in a frosty shot glass, it was a great preview of the dishes that followed. Our appetizers were a mango/papaya/brown butter/cinnamon crepe (which my bro had, but I tasted and loved it) and a ring of fresh fruit. Both were delicious and presented beautifully. The watermelon ring was a really cute touch and prompted some table-wide oohs and ahs when it was placed on the table.
For my entree, I indulged in macaroni and cheese with lobster. Wow. Not quite the kind of food one pictures eating in the dead of summer, but amazing nonetheless. I would never have thought to pair these 2 totally different foods, but was so pleasantly surprised with the outcome. I polished off the whole bowl (hence the "I will be full for a week" statement) in about 4 minutes.
But wait, there's more. I will always find room for dessert. (Or, I won't find room and will thusly be completely overstuffed, but happy...as in today's situation.) Dessert was Valhrona chocolate french toast with pistachios and strawberries. Now that is just ridiculous. That really could have been the whole meal it was so rich and dense. Somehow or other, I managed to eat about 75% of it, and tastier it could not have been. Why haven't I thought to do this before? It's really quite brilliant.
Thanks to our great server Luis, our meal was perfectly timed, and we were well taken care of. I strongly recommend Norma's for a marvelous brunch, but be forewarned, they close at 3pm.

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