New Yorkers are awfully fond of Eric Ripert and his French restaurant Le Bernardin, which they named the best restaurant for food in Zagat’s annual NYC dining guide -- for the sixth consecutive year.
After tallying the votes of about 30,600 diners who rated 2,140 restaurants across the Big Apple, Ripert’s seafood restaurant took the top spot in the food category, with a near perfect score of 29 out of 30 for what reviewers described as a “magical experience” and “dining perfection.”
Dishes include layers of thin tuna, foie gras with toasted baguette with chives and olive oil and striped bass with Bhutanese red rice, green papaya salad and ginger-red wine sauce.
Le Bernardin shares the distinction of a near perfect score with another French restaurant, Bouley, which also received the same score for its “first-class” French menu and “meticulously” crafted cuisine.”
Dishes may include organic Colorado lamb with sheep’s milk gnocchi and fresh Canadian chanterelles.
Meanwhile, Thomas Keller’s restaurant Per Se took a notable tumble in this year’s ranking, dropping 10 spots on the list to climbers like Peter Luger Steak House which rose seven spots in the food category, and Gotham Bar and Grill which shot up 10 spots.
Other top-ranked restaurants in the same category include Jean-Georges and Eleven Madison Park.
Brooklyn also pulled off a strong showing this year, expanding their addresses to 340 restaurants -- a 28 per cent increase over last year and the biggest jump in 20 years.
Meanwhile, the latest Zagat survey also found that New Yorkers eat out nearly five times a week for their lunch and dinner meals and tip about 20 percent.
They also spend an average of nearly $50 for dinner per person (more specifically $48.15) -- well above the national average of $39.40.
When it comes to pet peeves, diners rated noise and service their top grievances, followed by prices and crowds.
For the full list, visit Zagat New York City.
Check out the top 20 here:
