They say New York City can be pricey, especially if you eat out all the time and at expensive restaurants. If you’re in love with Broadway shows, that just adds to the cost of living in this vibrant city. So yes, if you love eating out and watching Broadway shows, it is expensive to live in New York City. Today’s the last day of NYC Winter Outing Week 2019 which I participated in it, now I want to share my experience and choices of this winter’s Restaurant Week and Broadway Week with you!
Restaurant Week in New York City
It wasn’t very exciting for me. I didn’t really have plans to try many restaurants…
Alright, you got me, how can anyone not want to try the participating restaurants when you’re getting a good deal? It’s $26 for brunch/lunch (appetizer and main) and $42 for dinner (appetizer, main, dessert).
However, going to a $$$$ restaurant in Manhattan that has 5 stars and 1k reviews does not mean that you’ll get the best food. I can’t say much because I don’t often go (it can get really pricey to try all the restaurants). After all, you’re getting a prix fixe menu.
Also, I usually go to Manhattan on weekends, usually on Saturdays.
FYI: No Restaurant Week on Saturdays. Bummer.
Back to Restaurant Week. Since it was the first day of Chinese New Year on February 5th, Tuesday why not go out and have a nice meal, it is, after all, the biggest day in the Chinese culture. So we ended up going for:
Butter Midtown
After stepping into the restaurant, we were shown to our table, descending into a spacious, rather dark dining room with beautiful bars at the entrance and side. Service was pretty good, I must say. Water was brought to the table quickly, our server greeted us with a smile and our order went smoothly.
I see people on Yelp praising the delicious bread and butter and I must say, it really is as good as I expected. Here is the dinner menu for Restaurant Week

Prior to arriving at the restaurant, I completely forgot what was on the menu so I was really excited to try the gnocchi mac and cheese or the pork chop or the steak.. or.. whatever that I saw on the menu.
So when I saw this menu… Fine. I’ll take it.

Appetizer

Seeing that there’s calamari, rock shrimp, and conch, I figured that this dish will be worth my money! You know what, I really need to learn to control my expectations because it’s not what I thought it is. I guess red wine vinegar isn’t my thing. I can’t figure out what taste it is, I just know there’s something about the dish that I dislike. Didn’t really sit and completely analyze it, I know I just wanted to eat it up and move on to the next dish.
Main Dish

Cod cakes… Nah… Ravioli.. don’t have meat though. Alright then, I shall settle with the prime roast beef. I must say, the onion potato cake does taste pretty nice. The beef, on the other hand, really looks and feels like ham in a sandwich that I can get at Key Food. It doesn’t taste too bad but I really did expect better. Before I knew it, I finished it and was looking forward to dessert.
Dessert

Yup, chocolate milk panna cotta. I really love the chocolate beads on top, the texture wasn’t too bad. Honestly, it’s not a dessert that I fell head over heels in love with. It’s a great end to the 3-course meal we had.
Up next,
Broadway Week in New York City
I love Broadway and this is what I’m most excited about. I’m a real Broadway addict.
Btw, did you know Kinky Boots in closing this April, I’m so heartbroken! Definitely need to watch it again. I digress.
As mentioned in my NYC Outing Week post, I chose to watch two shows:
The Band’s Visit

The Book of Mormon
This show is amazing! I love it so much! The theatre was brightly lit and filled with laughter as well as nice, attractive songs. I’m guilty of not writing about this show on my blog but I will. Soon.
- Other Broadway show: Waitress, the Musical: Sara Bareilles, Katharine McPhee, Jordin Sparks
Sharing my experience
I’m so happy I got to share what I did for this winter’s Restaurant Week and Broadway Week in New York City. I always look forward to this program as it’s the best opportunity to dine at pricier restaurants and tick off Broadway shows that are on my list.
Would you participate in Restaurant Week and Broadway Week in New York City? What are the restaurants you’d like to try and the shows you’d like to watch?
Tags: broadway, food, new york city
Ooh the food looks so good in the photos. The dessert especially, but I am a dessert gal. 🙂
I have always wanted to see a show, but so far I haven’t had the opportunity. It’s on the bucket list!
Fran x
Food looked delicious! I’ll have the dessert
It’s so cool that there’s a foodie week for restaurants in NYC! We have DineLA here :). OH man, sounds like you got a good deal for the whole shabang. Glad the service at Butter Midtown was good. Though, it’s a bummer when the dish comes out below your expectations.
Glad Broadway week went well. I can’t imagine how much I’d spend if I visit NYC! Hope the summer version will be better! Thanks for sharing your thoughts :).
Nancy ♥ exquisitely.me
I swear NY is such a festive city! I had no idea about the foodie week thing they do for restaurants 😮 I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for that lol I LOVE food! Everything in this posts looks super yummy and they’re dressed so delicately, looks like it was more than worth the buck. Broadway week also sounds like fun, I can’t wait to return and watch another!
xx Lena | https://lenadeexo.com
Yes, come back to NYC! There’s much to explore, food especially. You need to see Kellogs!