There’s something about enjoying a prix fixe meal that feels utterly luxurious. Call it the parade of courses that guests are presented with, the diversity of flavors showcased on the various plates or the length of the experience which unfolds slowly compared with a typical lunch or dinner at a restaurant.
Prix fixes can be special and elevated, yes, and while many are expensive, some trend the opposite by being relative bargains—especially since high-end restaurants tend to throw in extra bites such as delicious dips with house-baked bread, an amuse-bouche to start or a surprise course somewhere in-between. We like to think of these meals as affordable luxuries.
Below, our top four picks for prix fixes in New York that are easy on the wallet and generous with the food follow. Three are offered for lunch while the fourth is only for dinner.
The glamorous Greek seafood-centric eatery Avra makes for an expensive night out. Lunch, on the other hand, may be the best deal in town. Available at four of Avra’s five locations—three in Manhattan and the other in Beverly Hills—the menu is comprised of three courses and priced at $36.50 a person.
All of the most popular dishes are included. That means the feta-laden Greek salad and grilled calamari among the starters and the grilled salmon or branzino as part of the main course lineup. End the meal with baklava, orange cake, fruit or chocolate cheesecake, and leave satisfied but not stuffed.
Get a taste—literally—of chef Thomas Allan’s elegant dishes that zhuzh up familiar favorites over The Modern’s three-course $150 per person lunch. He changes the menu at the Two MICHELIN Starred eatery inside the MoMA seasonally. The spread this winter includes a hand-cut tagliolini with parmesan, heritage chicken with sorrel and gnocchi and a three-week aged duck with quince. To finish, our eyes go to the rum baba enhanced by winter citruses.
Upgrade the meal by going for the $250 per person tasting menu that features six courses.
Danny Meyer’s longstanding jewel of a seasonal American spot is a must-visit for people from all over the world. The four-course, $95 per person lunch is a smart way to soak in the best of the restaurant’s philosophy and taste the freshest produce of the moment along with premium ingredients. This winter that means beets with pistachios and sorrel, black bass with cauliflower, shitakes and bok choy, a roasted duck breast with carrots and ginger and a not-too-sweet hazelnut tart.
A prawn tartare with persimmon pepper paste, duck with barley risotto, eggplant with fermented chile and turnips and a frozen yogurt with Korean dehydrated dates are some of the dishes featured on Shim's latest menu.
A nine-course tasting menu for just $145 per person is practically unheard of, but at Kochi, that's exactly what customers can expect. Translated from Korean to English as "skewer," chef Sungchul Shim’s menu- no surprise-, emphasizes skewered food prepared Korean style. His fun dishes that toy between modernity and tradition add to the restaurant’s “come here to have a good time” vibe.
Hero image: Melissa Hom/Kochi
