NYC: Lunch in style at The Modern

Lunch at The Modern was without a doubt the trip’s undisputed best meal. The Modern Dining Room is MoMA’s 1-Michelin star in-house restaurant, so you really expect something extraordinary, not only when it comes to taste, but also in terms of the food’s aesthetics. In a previous blog post, I promised you a more in-depth description of all the goodies. Here it is. Read it and drool..

From the menu you could choose between 2 courses + dessert or 3 courses + dessert and after glancing through all the tasty dessert choices, we were very close to just ordering 3 desserts + dessert, but finally decided on the following dishes:

DIVER SCALLOP, YELLOWFIN TUNA AND SCOTTISH SALMON

BEEF TENDERLOIN À LA FICELLE

MANJARI CHOCOLATE PALET

As a prelude to the actual menu, we were first served an amuse-bouche consisting of small bites of raw salmon and tuna, beautifully and conveniently arranged on bent spoons. It was really delicious and just enough to awaken our senses.

There is fish and then there is Fish and at The Modern, it’s definitely Fish. The salmon literally melted in our mouths, the tuna delighted our palate and the scallop made our hearts skip a beat.

Tina has some serious aversions against most raw food and in spite of my exuberant praising, she still couldn’t manage to make herself eat that white lump staring back at her from the plate. Sad for her, but lucky for me and my omnivorous jaws.

Between the starter and the main course, another little extra something was brought to our table. This time it was a cold pea soup sprinkled with apple bits. Simple, delicious and a perfect intro to the beef tenderloin, which was our second course.

Beef tenderloin is always a safe bet, since it really takes a lot to screw up the tenderloin’s tenderness. At The Modern, the tenderloin was so tender that it made the knife redundant, -we could have cut it with a spoon. The meat was served with a beautiful arrangement of thin layered slices of vegetables in different colors and with a radish on top along with something, I didn’t manage to identify, but which I sincerely hope was bone marrow, since the other alternatives are kind of gross.

No dessert without chocolate, and our Manjari Chocolate Palet was everything we could possibly wish for.  The thick and rich chocolate crémeux came with a spoonful of cold, creamy caramel ice cream, which created a variation in taste and texture that perfectly ensured that none of it became neither too much nor too heavy. After the wonderful dessert, we were both fed and happy, but when the waiter offered us a selection of delicious chocolates for our coffee, of course we didn’t say no.

• The menu is prix-fixe: 2017: Lunch: 3 courses: 118 USD, 6 courses: 158 USD, Dinner: 4 courses 158 USD, 8 courses: 208 USD

• The Modern is a non-tipping restaurant. Service is included in the price.

• Bonus info for SATC fans: It is at The Modern that Carrie tells the girls about her engagement with Big in the first SATC movie.

> Read my blog post about my first lunch at The Modern 

The Modern at MoMA, 9 W 53rd St, Midtown, New York