Welcome to Anne's & Neil's Restaurant Reviews!

In our many culinary travels in Manhattan, Anne and Neil have been fortunate to sample several of the city's most satisfying (and some not so satisfying) restaurants. We are writing this guide to help us remember all the wonderful meals we have shared together and to provide you with our humble opinions.

Union Square Cafe

Anne's Rating = * * *, Neil's Rating = IT WAS GOOD

� Union Square Cafe

A friend of Anne's (we'll withold his name to save him the embarrassment of being associated with us, but in case you're wondering, it's Vadim Rubinstein) gave us his hard fought 6:00 p.m. reservation for a Saturday night(!) for four people on February 24, 2001. When we arrived, people without reservations were being turned away, and the bar was crowded. Our genuinely cheery hostess asked us (Anne, Neil, Dan the lawyer and Katie the dancer) to step aside, and within minutes we were shown to our table in what looked to be the smaller of two dining rooms on the lower level. The setting was contemporary and elegant.

After choosing a red wine from a reasonably priced wine list, our waitress made some helpful suggestions from the menu, including a few items that we ordered. Anne had the porcini gnocchi (the name says it all), which was like "buttah" and perhaps the best gnocchi and sauce combination Anne has ever eaten. Our waitress said it was one of the signature dishes. Neil had the fried calamari, which was perhaps the best fried calamari we have ever had. It was done to perfection, crispy and not at all chewy.

Anne ordered the crisp-roasted lemon pepper duck, which came with a sweet chutney and a flavorful medley of wild rice and vegetables. It was quite interesting (in a good way). The duck skin was perfectly crisp, but the crisping may have left the meat a little dry. However, the meat was infused with a wonderful lemon flavor. Neil enjoyed the day's special - short ribs with the bones removed - despite the threat of mad cow disease. It came with horseradish mashed potatoes. He thought it was pretty good. Anne had a taste and thought that aside from the tenderness the chef achieved with the meat, the short ribs and potatoes were nothing special.

Our guests enjoyed a pasta appetizer. Dan had the duck, and Katie had the roasted chicken. Both agreed the food was really good and the wine was very nice.

Overall: The appetizers certainly whetted our appetites for more, but the textures of the food at this restaurant won us over more than the flavors of the main meat entrees.

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Sushi Zen

Anne's Rating = * * * * *, Neil's Rating = I LIKED IT

A guest on our site asked how Anne could give Union Square Cafe such a glowing review but rate it at only * * *. What does a restaurant have to do to get * * * * *? Well, here's the answer: it has to serve amazing sushi and provide incomparable service. This restaurant does both. It is packed at lunch (the only time either Anne or Neil has had an opportunity to go), so make your reservations ahead of time or be prepared to wait. Anne took her sister, Astrid, and Astrid's boyfriend, Patrick, here during the summer and was shown a lovely table in the Zen Garden out back. The main dining room is very calming, showcasing a warmly colored relief of a mountain range.

Now - on to the sushi. We are not sushi experts nor are we sushi daredevils. However, after tasting sushi from various establishments -- from Go Sushi to Sushisay, Teriyaki Boy to Hatsuhana, and Daikichi (yes, we admit) to Nobu, and everything in between -- we have to say that the quality of the fish, the preparation and the overall taste of the sushi here is one whole entire notch above everything else. Anne's favorites include the strawberry hand roll and the poorly named New Jersey roll, which is made from melt-in-your-mouth fatty tuna. Neil is especially fond of the Chef's combination, which includes an assortment of sushi. This little piece of heaven serves sushi that tastes as if it has been just caught moments earlier. Try it and you'll see what we mean.

Overall: This sushi goes to 11! You must absolutely try this place - and bring your expense account.

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Ruby Foo's

Anne's Rating = * * 1/2, Neil's Rating = IT WAS GOOD

� B.R. Guest Restaurants

Sometimes, at glitzy Manhattan restaurants, form reigns over function.� At this sprawling upper West Side restaurant, however, the food can actually stand up to its surroundings. Ruby Foo's can be described as an upscale theme restaurant. (Notice the use of the passive voice.� Neil has commented that Anne uses the terms "we" and "our" a little too loosely, conveying her sentiments perhaps more than his.� Thusly, when possible - and even though grammatically less desirable - these reviews will attempt to present opinions in a neutral or passive voice.)� It's loud here; it's boisterous - less Zen and more Chinatown, sans the dirt and fish aromas.� The kind of place that makes Neil suspicious of the food.� The tables are different colors and are painted with a single large Chinese character.� The "downtown" location in Times Square (which Anne went to with her gal pal attorneys Ginny, Kellianne and Daphnee) is just as frenetic in decor and atmosphere, but not as multi-leveled as its uptown sister, although candles do put in a good effort in trying to calm the scene.� Reservations are a must.� So is the blonde waiter for your table. Sit upstairs and experience the grand red spiral staircase.

The sushi here is fun.� Anne had the eel and crab with mango and coconut - a wonderful meld of flavors - all wrapped in a very thinly sliced skin of cucumber - very creative and labor intensive.� This hot spot, however, is not the place to go for serious sushi.� Neil had the special of the day - striped bass in a tamarind sauce.� Despite his suspicions of the place, one bite and he was a happy camper.� The sauce was packed with flavor and quite unusual.� Anne had never tasted anything quite like it, except in a small Indonesian town at a road side shack that created some stomach issues for her.� The bass came with a heaping mound of flavored, aromatic white and brown rices, which were presented on a raised serving platter.� It's nice to go to a place where even the rice got the royal treatment.� Neil also ordered a side of spicy tofu, which could have come from any good Chinese restaurant in the city.�

And for the piece de resistance (spelling?) - the sushi bento box dessert!!!� Even though Anne cannot spell, she also cannot rave enough about this dessert.� She's been talking about it ever since she first had it at the Times Square Foo's months ago.� Imagine a Japanese bento box with several compartments, filled with various kinds of sushi - cucumber rolls, tuna rolls, shrimp nigiri.� Now imagine that each piece of sushi is made from something sweet, instead of savory.� The tuna roll is actually a macaroon-like roll of coconut with a piece of mango at its center, the mound of pale green wasabi is made from marzipan and a realistic looking piece of shrimp is made from a white-chocolate crunch.� OK - so the obligatory chocolate cake with the gooey filling inside did not look like sushi and neither did the vanilla ice cream, but overall, the presentation was quite fanciful - this one's also very labor intensive - and for only about $8!� Neil's favorites included the assorted coconut "sushi," and Anne's favorites included the banana wrapped in a sweetened, doughy "seaweed," which Anne dipped thoroughly in the rich chocolate fudge provided in the center of the bento box.

Overall:� Neil says, "Recommended as an upscale type of thing.� Good before a movie.� Sony Lincoln Center is nearby."� Anne says, "Go for your birthday and bring the gang.� You'll have a great time!"