Travelling to NYC Feb 2016

[borinous]

Hi All,

Me and the family are travelling to NYC in febuary 2016 and as it happens we will be in this great city for Valentines day.

As we are travelling with the babysitters sorry i mean my parents it a perfect opportunity to take the wife out on valentines evening.

Anyone got any suggestions of romantic things to do or nice restaurants to try and get in. We are staying on time square so ideally somewhere local to that dont want to go too far incase of child emergencys.

Cheers

[C5driver]

Originally Posted by borinous

Me and the family are travelling to NYC in febuary 2016 and as it happens we will be in this great city for Valentines day.

What's your budget?

[borinous]

if we were in the UK I'd probally spend £50 on flowers and between £100-£150 for a meal out. generally don't do gifts for Valentine's.

so all in arround £200 which is approx $300. this trip could be once in a lifetime so I reckon I could be flexible but unfortunately I don't have limitless funds

[BayMoWe335]

No question, eat at Daniel on 65th.

http://www.danielnyc.com/menu

3 Michelin Stars and outstanding experience.

NYC is kind of underwhelming/dirty unless you do the best it has to offer. See a show as well.

[C5driver]

Originally Posted by borinous

if we were in the UK I'd probally spend £50 on flowers and between £100-£150 for a meal out. generally don't do gifts for Valentine's.

so all in arround £200 which is approx $300. this trip could be once in a lifetime so I reckon I could be flexible but unfortunately I don't have limitless funds

Well...fortunately, you're in midtown, so there's a number of options, even given your restrictions of distance, funds, and possibly time.

www.yelp.com is a good start to find a place for dinner. Other ideas...off Broadway or standby tickets to a show, The Tonight Show taping (around 3:00pm), Rockefeller Square, Top of The Rock, MOMA...

Check out Tripadvisor. Not knowing your speed, there's everything in midtown from stripper bars to snooty cultural activities.

[KingOfJericho]

You don't have to go to the best restaurants in the world (like Daniel) to have a great meal in NYC. What type of food does your wife like? What I will say is that it will be a pain in the ass to go out to eat on V-Day. Lots of price fix menus and reservations will be a must (think a month ahead of time).

Originally Posted by BayMoWe335

NYC is kind of underwhelming/dirty unless you do the best it has to offer.

lol

[Alfisti]

Keep in mind NYC fine dining (as with most large US cities) is designed to absolutely strip your wallet and do near nothing for your stomach. if you order say, a pork chop, you will get a pork chop. And that's it. For like $70 by the time you as taxes, fees, charges and tip.

We went to Telepan (google it), sure good food but ABYSMAL portion sizes and insanely expensive.

I just refuse to do it anymore, i will only eat where i am served a meal, not parts of it.

Wine will start at near $100 a bottle once you add taxes, fees, charges and tip. prices are not what they seem and will always total more than it seems as I assume the UK is like Australia where the list price is the list price.

[UglyBuzzard]

Eat as much pizza as you can

[C5driver]

Originally Posted by BayMoWe335

NYC is kind of underwhelming/dirty unless you do the best it has to offer. See a show as well.

That's not true. Moreover, it's not even a function of your lowered expectations. Good is good no matter what the dress code says.

[4130]

While there are a few nice spots in the Times Square area, most are tourist traps and cheesy. My advice is to get out of the area and head uptown, Village, SoHo, etc. The entire island is easily and quickly accessible via cab or subway. Do some research on Yelp or give us some more insight on your tastes.

[KingOfJericho]

Yeah get the hell out of Times Sq. - Downtown is really where the city comes alive.

[C5driver]

He needs to be relatively near, in case his kid has an emergency. A newbie catching the uptown from Union Sq. might be a stretch.

[borinous]

Originally Posted by UglyBuzzard

Eat as much pizza as you can

I like this idea!!!

[djDori_C]

Originally Posted by C5driver

He needs to be relatively near, in case his kid has an emergency. A newbie catching the uptown from Union Sq. might be a stretch.

Cute, thinking about the kids 😜

[borinous]

Ok I might be able to make it out of mid town as you say getting in a cab isn't the worst of ideas. how far is it away. my kids are young but not babies so my parents can usually handle anything. just don't want to be over an hour away. maybe I'm over estimating how large and how far away places are in the states.

I'm 30-40mins from London and have no issues going there for an evening out without kids.

[C5driver]

Originally Posted by djDori_C

Cute, thinking about the kids 😜

Yeah...I don't get the whole responsible parenting thing either

[djDori_C]

Originally Posted by C5driver

Yeah...I don't get the whole responsible parenting thing either

I'm glad I'm not the only one lol

[C5driver]

Originally Posted by borinous

Ok I might be able to make it out of mid town as you say getting in a cab isn't the worst of ideas. how far is it away. my kids are young but not babies so my parents can usually handle anything. just don't want to be over an hour away. maybe I'm over estimating how large and how far away places are in the states.

I'm 30-40mins from London and have no issues going there for an evening out without kids.

Depending on the time of day or weather, a cab might be the worst of ideas. If you have an hour buffer, then figure out the subways and have at it. Chelsea, Meatpacking, SoHo, East Village...all fun areas.

[4130]

As far as distance is concerned, you'll never be an hour away from anywhere within the island of Manhattan. However, if you're in a cab stuck in traffic anything is possible. The areas we're talking about should all be within 20 minutes of a cab ride or subway fare. Our subway isn't too different from your underground, so you should be able to handle it.

[Fundguy1]

My favorites is Smith and Wollensky on 50th and 3rd. NYC is packed with great restaurants. Hard to mess up.

[Fundguy1]

Also try wo-hop on Mott st by canal. Best Chinese. Down under pizza by wall street, puglios in little italy, mcsorleys pub, and Carnegie deli. All great but not for valentine's day.

[KingOfJericho]

Originally Posted by borinous

Ok I might be able to make it out of mid town as you say getting in a cab isn't the worst of ideas. how far is it away. my kids are young but not babies so my parents can usually handle anything. just don't want to be over an hour away. maybe I'm over estimating how large and how far away places are in the states.

I'm 30-40mins from London and have no issues going there for an evening out without kids.

If you're on the island, most of the places you would visit are within no more than a ~20 minute subway ride and most of the lines pass through the Times Sq area (Times sq, Bryant Park, & Grand Central)