It’s still NYC Restaurant week, and even though I didn’t plan to go to Beauty & Essex, I’m easy to convince. The restaurant/bar/lounge has long been one of my favorite cocktail places in Lower East Side. I’ve also had dinner there before, and the food is nice, so Tuesday night, I went for my second NYC Restaurant Week dinner.
I started with Tuna Poke Wonton Tacos, because you never go wrong with raw tuna, as long as it’s fresh. Besides, I liked that the small tacos were topped with wasabi Kewpie.
My main course was a giant portion of spaghetti with zucchini, parmigiano, and sunny-side up egg. It didn’t take long before I ran out of egg, and without that, the dish lost some of its sex appeal. Alex had Heritage Baby Back Ribs and they smelled so good, I had to try them. Nonetheless, the serving was so big that I could easily get away with stealing a bite. Did he want to try my spaghetti? Hmm..not so much. The ribs were incredibly tender and the marinade was of the kind that makes you want to eat with your hands and lick your fingers. If I could turn back time, I would have ordered the ribs instead of the spaghetti.
My dessert was a crème brûlée the size of Central Park, but when it comes to dessert, you can never have too much. I just saw in the photo that there were also two biscotti. Don’t remember seeing them at the dinner, so either they’re ghost biscotti, or someone else ate them. Did I mention the portions were large? Thank god for doggie-bags. I think I have enough zucchini spaghetti for the next week or two.
Beauty & Essex has a bar inside the ladies’ room, where ladies can enjoy a glass of free sparkling wine. I only thought the bar was open on weekends, but turned out they were handing out bubbly on a Tuesday night too. As the rumor spread around the table, most of the ladies went down to get a glass, while Alex started wondering whether it would be too cheap to take a date to Beauty & Essex and ask her to go to the restroom to get a drink..
Read my guide to NYC restaurants with a party vibe >>
Beauty & Essex, 146 Essex Street, Lower East Side, New York
