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The Absolute All-time Restaurants on the Upper West Side

Leonti's dining room. Photo: Jemma Hinkly/New York Magazine

Like a Montrachet or a Sagrantino, a truly bully Upper Due west Side restaurant must take deep roots in its terroir. It is non an offshoot or a clone, so no thing how wonderful the Mermaid Inn or the Ribbon, for instance, might be, for these purposes, they are hors concours. Hither, the very best restaurants on the Upper W Side.

ane. Leonti
103 W. 77th St., nr. Columbus Ave; 212-362-3800

Leonti'southward chicken in pastella. Photo: Melissa Hom

In a well-appointed footing-floor dining room that used to exist John Fraser'south Dovetail, longtime Marc Vetri protégé Adam Leonti delivers his Northern Italian cuisine in what looks similar an Art Deco/Pop Art/Salon del Mobile installation (the blueprint was heavily influenced by Ettore Sottsass'southward famous 1980s Memphis Group). The neighborhood synergy makes sense. Bergamo, where the young Leonti once lived, is the Upper West Side of Italy: plush, lush, and opulent. As is the food. Beef-bone broth arrives in a delicate Ginori porcelain cup. Béchamel replaces red sauce in a Roman artichoke lasagna, basically an artichoke in a pasta costume. A tortellini pie — veal meatballs, bolognese, mortadella-stuffed tortellini — is equal parts Medieval Times and GBBO. Though there'due south no red sauce here, the sourdough-battered chicken in pastella may just be the best fried chicken in the urban center. It's impossible to leave un-full or unsatisfied.

2. Oxbow Tavern
240 Columbus Ave., nr. 71st St.; 646-490-4075

When Tom Valenti closed Ouest in 2016, pilus shirts were donned and laments rose to the heavens. The neighborhood bistro was no more. Cue the renaissance tune. Valenti is back with a bistro he calls the Oxbow Tavern. But he's not fooling anyone. This is more Paul Cézanne than Thomas Cole. During happy hour, he does brisk business organisation in gaufrettes and gougères at the bar, incidentally the longest zinc bar in Manhattan, And the menu is AP Bistro. A coq au vin is offered equally dark as night, the chicken-liver mousse as lite equally air. Valenti gussies up a normcore frisée salad with plump moules. He dusts porcini on cod, and is generous with the lobster that studs his gnocchi. And if in that location's whatever adventure that duck gizzards and braised tripe can make it on the Upper West Side, this is their best shot.

three. Shun Lee Due west
43 West. 65th St., nr. Columbus Ave.; 212-595-8895

It'due south been close to twoscore years since Michael Tong opened this Lincoln Center offshoot of his upscale East Side Chinese restaurant, Shun Lee Palace (and that'due south long enough for us to make an exception to this list's no-spinoffs policy). The sense of fourth dimension is both seductive and deceiving. There can be fiddling doubt that the restaurant — with its bow-tied and vested waitstaff, glowing dragons, and elaborately folded napkins — speaks to some other era, when knowledge of Chinese regional cuisine was limited by the fact that most Americans weren't enlightened China had regions. At the same time, even in 1981, Tong was channeling the ancient flavors of Yangzhou, Sichuan, and Shanghai, and those delicate balances institute in the push-pull of hot-and-sour soup, for instance, or the mellow sweetness of reddish-cooked short ribs, Hangzhou–style.

4. Awadh
2588 Broadway, nr. 98th St.; 646-861-3604

Lucknow, the capital letter of Awadh, the land in Uttar Pradesh from whence Gaurav Anand draws culinary inspiration, is renowned for its transcendent taste. In the 18th century, Lucknow was the seat of the Nawabs, an aristocratic bunch whose love of luxury was so neat they lost all of their teeth, which — good news for the states — resulted in the development of the galouti kebab, a patty of leg of lamb, minced six times and so tenderized with papaya and mixed with masala. At Awadh, Anand's bi-level restaurant on Broadway, the lamb is as tender as the night, manna for the toothless. Among the other revelations at Awadh is dum pukht, a genre of cooking wherein the protein is sealed under a layer of naan, immersed in clarified butter, and cooked slowly. What goes on nether there is alchemy, as dishes like Sufiana murgh biryani, a mixture of flossy chicken and aromatic basmati rice, handily bear witness.

5. Café Luxembourg
200 W. 70th St., nr. Amsterdam Ave.; 212-873-7411

Balletomanes and boldface names (and Bob and Barbara and everyone else y'all know) meet at Lynn Wagenknecht's fantabulous bistro. Café Lux, to regulars, belongs to the proud lineage of West Side French spots like La Caravelle and Le Poulailler (and Le Quercy and too many too long gone to name). The xc-seat eating house, on 70th, buzzes with a 1980s New York energy extruded through 1920s Paris. The card reads similar a Sondheim revue of bistro classics, only the greatest hits hither are truly neat: a perfectly executed steak-frites with an exoskeleton of char, a silky au poivre sauce, and salty fries; garlicky moules marinières; and a crock of French onion soup that, like the aproned waiters, has a warm heart under a crusty outside.

vi. Boulud Sud
xx W. 64th St., nr. Broadway; 212-595-1313

The Lyonnaise chef Daniel Boulud is a shape-shifter: stuffy on the Upper Due east, transactional in midtown, and hither, in the Upper West Side, pure comfort. The space at Boulud Sud — gently curved ceiling, colorful banquettes in harlequin stripes, white tablecloths — radiates monied calm. The menu, which spans from Standard arabic flatbread to Ibérico ham, is like a Funfair Cruise calling on all Mediterranean ports. And the kitchen is every bit at ease with the muscular flavors of octopus a la plancha every bit it is with balancing the subtle flavors of a spring-pea risotto with Maine lobster and lemon verbena.

7. Absolute Bagels
2788 Broadway, nr. 108th St.; 212-932-2052

And so there's Absolute Bagels, the only bagel store worth the line. Allow the fancies have Black Seed and Sadelle's. Absolute Bagels is a filthy trivial store with sublime bagels. Owned by Sam Thongkrieng, who emigrated from Bangkok in the 1980s, Absolute channels the recipes of yesteryear (Thongkrieng learned his craft at Ess-a-Bagel) to form bagels of both ineffable softness and satisfying crunch. Their outsides are substantial but ultimately yielding. Their interiors are soft and voluptuous. As for the coffee — the Abbott to a bagel place's Costello — it is widely understood as a waste material of fourth dimension. Go with a Thai iced tea and a fresh egg bagel.

8. Fine & Schapiro
138 W. 72nd St., nr. Columbus Ave.; 212-877-2874

Delicatessen, the art of making tough meat tender, is live and well at this sliver of a kosher eatery on W 72nd Street. Though frequently unjustly overlooked in the mourner'southward kaddish frequently recited over Great New York Delicatessens, this 90-year-old institution quietly doles out towering pastrami sandwiches, tender kreplach, and the elusive tongue polonaise (tongue with a sweet-and-sour raisin sauce) in a no-nonsense dining room where walkers more often than not crowd the linoleum floor.

9. The Milling Room
446 Columbus Ave., nr. 82nd St.; 212-595-0380

Like shooting fish in a barrel to miss until you walk through the narrow hallway and the world opens up to you, the Milling Room is a behemothic, overlooked jewel of the Upper W. The restaurant, which opened in 2014, occupies the one-time Palm Room of the Endicott Hotel, a soaring, skylit space that's easier to fill up with low-cal than with people. But I'm not sure how many patrons know about the nigh ridiculous pedigree of chef Phillip Kirschen-Clark (Ducasse, Dufresne, Liebrandt). His studied hand, however, makes itself felt in quietly bold choices that enliven the mod American carte du jour: wild mushroom risotto dusted with cotija and drizzled with balsamic vinegar; a cameo of pickled ramps atop a silken celery-root soup; spicy vongole bucatini with Thai chile and miso.

10. 108 Food Dried Hot Pot
2794 Broadway, nr. 108th St.; 917-675-6878

Like at a Just Salad for the epic, diners approach the counter at this Sichuan-by-fashion-of-Flushing fast-casual joint to contemplate an assortment of options. Volition it be grunter'southward ear, sliced into ribbons like meat fettuccine? Or thin slices of fatty beef? Perhaps shrimp balls or squid balls or duck feet? The spread is astonishing. Choose a number from 1–100 (20 is mild; forty is spicy; 60 is hot; 100 is insane). Weighed in a bowl, these ingredients are and so whisked into a kitchen in the back and emerge, mere minutes later, equally a succulent dried hot pot. The eating place — no relation to René Redzepi's 108 — is the first ane devoted specifically to the Chongqing municipality in the urban center. It wisely opened most Columbia, where the highest percentage of international students are from China. On a recent afternoon, the bric-a-brac space was full of students staring at their phones, slurping glassine noodles, and thinking of dwelling.

xi. Mama'south Too!
2750 Broadway, nr. 108th St.; 212-510-7256

Much hay has rightly been made of the square pepperoni slice at Mama'southward Too!, the offshoot of Mama's, a mainstay of slice civilization a few blocks due south. And rightfully so: That slice — chaff hard; inside tender, airy and open — is like a Clint Eastwood character. The joy is in the physics of heat and meat. The thick-cutting slices of pepperoni turn into lilliputian cups that agree drops of precious grease, glistening like pork nectar. "Little amaryllis of meat," said a friend, who works at a nearby flower store. Only in that location'southward more slices at Mama's Likewise!, and if you tin't wait in the pepperoni-slice-only line, you lot'll desire to avail yourself of these. Among them are the house piece, grated mail service-oven with two-year-old parmesan and sprinkled with a greenhouse's worth of basil, and the Aroused Nonna, made spicy with Calabrian republic of chile oil and soppressata, and sweet with dear.

12. Sushi Kaito
244 Westward. 72nd St., nr. West End Ave.; 212-799-1278

During the three nightly seatings at this tiny, crazily affordable sushi-ya owned by Yoko Hasegawa, there are but 12 people and then the residuum of the globe. The menu, a option betwixt a 12- and a 16-form omakase, leans heavily on nigiri, a sushi high-wire act. Fish. Rice. Basta così. With piffling room to maneuver, Hasegawa et al. rely on virtuosically prepared product, from silvery iwashi (Japanese sardines) and tuna otoro, to ikura (roe) cured in-house and a tangle of uni tongues from Hokkaido. These small bites are often accompanied by only a touch of homemade soy sauce or exotic common salt. And, after a long dry spell, sake is now available.

xiii. Barney Greengrass
541 Amsterdam Ave., nr. 87th St.; 212-724-4707

Munificent and nebbishy, a portrait of Barney Greengrass, the original Sturgeon King, keeps watch as a brisk merchandise is washed in Jewish appetizing: silken sheets of nova, sturgeon, chubs, whitefish, sable. Thus has it been for the terminal century at this Upper West Side establishment. No less august a man of letters than Philip Roth extolled the virtues of the lox, eggs, and onion, which the author called "more than American than apple pie." That holy trinity — fish, allium, zygote — has, for years, been an icon of the old Upper Due west Side, a beacon to which the madding crowd draws every weekend forenoon for the click-clatter of an quondam New York brunch.

14. Murray's Sturgeon
2429 Broadway, nr. 89th St.; 212-724-2650

Remus had Aventine; Romulus had Palatine; Barney has Amsterdam; and Murray has Broadway. And so the great sturgeon wars of the Upper West Side have panned out. Smaller than Greengrass, Murray's Sturgeon is strictly a takeaway operation, but no less a marvel of mid-century Jewry. In this narrow shop, the walls are ancient tile and the clock works, but, yet, seems stuck in the 1960s. The sturgeon, still, is golden, the schmaltz herring properly cured, and the salmon every bit silken as a lullaby. Now on its third owner, a guy named Ira, Murray's continues to shine, smaller but no less brilliant.

fifteen. 74th Street Cafe & Steakhouse
2121 Broadway, nr. 74th St.; 212-595-1888

Culinarians in the know may be familiar with Daniel Boulud's Skybox, a four-top tucked above the kitchen at his flagship, Daniel. More autonomous but no less a wonder is the 74th Street Cafe & Steakhouse, an anomalous haven of calm and extremely satisfying craven-salad sandwiches on the 2d floor of Fairway. Since it opened in the early aughts, the buffet has drawn from the shelves during the mean solar day (silver dollar pancakes, tuna melts) and the meat counter at night (skirt steak Toscana, beef Wellington with foie gras, a panoply of burgers). Like a swan, it glides above the furious activeness (and jostling one-time ladies) of the supermarket below.

16. Gray'due south Papaya
2090 Broadway, nr. 72nd St.; 212-799-0243

Photo: Oliver Morris/Getty Images

With its garish colors and hard surfaces, the corner that houses Grayness'due south Papaya may seem similar strange shelter from the tempest. Simply for 40 years, for 24 hours a 24-hour interval, among the snappy hot dogs and frothy papaya drinks, Gray's Papaya has given New Yorkers (and temporary New Yorkers) a place to stand up and sentinel life go by. Though time to come scholars may debate the truthful victor of the hot dog wars — an argument can exist made that Papaya King reigns supreme — Gray's famous Recession Special (now two hot dogs and a drink for $6.45), first introduced in the 1980s, is as succulent as it is — sadly — eternally timely.

17. Celeste
502 Amsterdam Ave., nr. 84th St.; 212-874-4559

Geodes form in minor spaces. They oft appear as ordinary rocks, yet, broken open up, reveal truthful dazzler. The neighborhood Italian restaurants that dot the Upper Due west Side — Bettolona, Pizzeria Sirenetta, Bella Luna, to proper name a few — are geodic in this regard, maybe none more and then than Celeste. For over x years, the unfussy Neapolitan spot has been presided over by owner Carmine Mitroni, a human every bit incandescent every bit a chandelier. Annihilation that comes out of the fryer is golden: carciofi, fritto misto, ricotta assurance. In a pizza-mad city, these pies rival annihilation eaten in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius. And the tables, though hard to come by, turn often.

xviii. Ayurveda Buffet
706 Amsterdam Ave., nr. 94th St.; 212-932-2400

Before there were juice confined and millennial cleanse joints — like, waaay before — there was Ayurveda, an ancient Hindu medicinal system. At the Ayurveda Cafe, endemic by legit Indian moving-picture show star Tirlok Malik, fully vegetarian set meals chosen thali, in which each element is calibrated to interact according to Ayurvedic principles, are served to local vegetarians, Buddhists, Jubus, hippies, and the hungry. A typical meal might include banana pakoras, mung daal, alu gobi, fresh pappadam, and broken wheat kheer. The space is akin to a more than aware Shopsin's: handmade, idiosyncratic, with lots of handwritten notes, only perhaps a few more sculptures of Ganesh.

*This post has been updated.

The Absolute All-time Restaurants on the Upper West Side