Description: On our first night in New York we broke one of my cardinal rules. We had a meal at a venue not just on a square but on
Times Square. I have always been of the opinion that when you eat right next door to a famous landmark your bill will be artificially inflated to pay for the experience. And when we checked the menu in the window my feared resurfaced - $26.50 for a main course? Strewth! I almost insisted that we keep walking for another couple of blocks.
But I’m glad that I didn’t. For the restaurant in question was
Carmine’s, and it proved to be a whole lot better, a whole lot more economical, and a whole lot more fun than I would have guessed. I would actually go so far as to suggest other visitors to NYC could do a lot worse than have a meal here. If that is the case, one might want to consider phoning up to reserve a table in advance. Certainly when we arrived on a mid-week eveningwe were informed by the maitre d’ that there was a 45 minute wait for a table. However, he said, we were perfectly welcome to
sit at the bar and order from exactly the same menu. This proved to be a really fun suggestion.
Carmine’s at heart is a fun place. It’s a place for friends and family and social occassions. It is almost a pastiche of what I expected of a New York Italian restaurant – a long wood-pannelled room with portraits on the walls, absolutely stuffed full of diners, the convivial chatter of conversations almost drowning out the muted Rat Pack-style soundtrack (
Come Fly With Me, Mack The Knife, Boy From Ipanema etc). The long wooden bar was backed by racks of spirits and TVs showing a Yankees baseball game but it was deep enough to use as a table. We pulled up stools and jammed ourselves in elbow to elbow with the other barflies.
Our barman / waiter was great. Professionally great – it must be said that he really worked for his tip. He saved us from making possible
the cardinal error at Carmine’s: ordering too much food. We almost ordered two main courses to share between the three of us. Flat out he told us that he thought that would be too much food and that instead we should think about ordering just the one main and maybe a side. And it was a good thing that he stepped in to our rescue. Our
Pasta Bosciaola came out heaped high on a big platter to be dished out to us. There was certainly enough there for two full platefuls for each of the three of us. No wonder the mains cost between 20 and 30 dollars if that was the size of a portion. This was the daily special. It was penne in a tomato sauce with dry spicy sausage and mushrooms. We had also ordered a side sish of
meatballs ($14.50) and meatballs was what we got. Six of ‘em. Each the size of an apple. The barman dished out the grub to us, ensured that when our glasses were running low he was there to top up from our bottle of water or give Marie free refills of cola, pulling me a pint of Brooklyn Pennant Ale (lovely and cold and really rather nice – much nicer than the weak excuse for beer America exports to the UK), and taking our photo. In fact I would go so far as to recommend eating at the bar as an experience in itself!
The total price for the three of us was roughly $62 and we had food left over, meaning that actually our meal was pretty good value. It just goes to show that rules are sometimes made to be broken. Even though Carmine’s is a – let’s say – tourist-
friendly restaurant located right on Times Square I felt that the overall cost of a meal here was lower than expected and well worthwhile for the entertainment factor. I do hope that Carmine’s does not make me reconsider anymore of my cardinal rules of travelling!
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