NYC business lunch – Capital Grille
Especially down in the Financial District, the NYC business lunch is alive and well. Naturally, there are restaurants that specialise in these and Capital Grille is a little like stepping back in time.
This is a chain of restaurants across the US, but we only frequented the NYC outlet closest to Wall Street, with our dear friend Czarina Worldwide. Her go-to lunch restaurant, just behind her offices on Broadway, we actually went twice – an early evening dinner as part of Greedy Girl’s birthday celebration and our final lunch in NYC.
While Greedy Girl can’t vouch for the decor in the other two outlets (both in midtown), this one is “gentlemen’s club meets sports bar”. Downstairs is dominated by a large bar with several televisions turned to various sports events, with a smattering of bar tables as well as dining areas. We sat in a small alcove for our dinner and were entertained by our server, the delightful Jared – one of Czarina’s many friends on staff.
There’s a lot of dark timber, white linen and chandeliers abounding. As such, in the evening it’s a rather dark restaurant, which doesn’t do much for Greedy Girl’s ability to take pictures.
We certainly ate and drank well – some expertly-prepared cocktails, beer and a glass or two of wine and we were all very comfortable. During our first experience, we were shown into some of the private dining rooms in the basement that were once part of a huge bank vault – indeed, the giant door to the vault is a feature of the basement, which also houses the restaurant’s impressive wine collection.
We shared a number of dishes to begin – some excellent calamari and, arguably, the best crab we had of the trip – huge chunks were presented in a chilled silver bowl. Delish.
Amazingly good crab
Czarina is a bit of a creature of habit. She’d pre-ordered her favourite lobster burger, usually only available at lunch and happily tucked in. Gluttonous husband tried one of the restaurant’s signature steaks and pronounced the meat very good indeed. Greedy Girl took the scallop risotto.
Scallop risotto
Czarina commented it was hard to find a good risotto in the city and Greedy Girl agreed. While the scallops were nicely cooked (and the number generous), the rice was a bit underwhelming – lacking in flavour and not an enjoyable texture.
Still, we pressed on and the restaurant very kindly brought Greedy Girl a little dessert plate in honour of her special day. It was a lovely touch and we very much appreciated the excellent service.
A couple of weeks later, we fronted up to experience the NYC business lunch; around us, tables were full of men in suits and gluttonous husband felt decidedly underdressed.
This time we were seated in the expansive mezzanine floor. It’s a lovely spot for lunch – bright, spacious and again, the service was exceptionally good. The light meant Greedy Girl could capture photographs of the food.
Czarina once again had her lobster burger, opting for a side of healthy asparagus instead of fries.
Lobster burger
This is a fine looking burger, with lots of lobster chunks in the pattie. Czarina was well pleased.
Gluttonous husband opted for a cheeseburger. The meat was grilled to his liking; unlike steaks (which he orders still mooing), this was a nice rare meat patty with the cheese uniformly melted over the top. A revelation on this trip has been the way he’s got into mustard – either solo or as part of dressing. He was a content chappy.
Cheeseburger
Greedy Girl opted for the chef’s salad with porterhouse steak. She expected it to be all mixed together but it came as separate items (see the picture at the top of this post). Hanging out for a feed of salad, she devoured the plate, including the expertly cooked steak, which had a lovely grilled flavour.
Done. We said our sad farewells for this trip to Czarina and headed back uptown.
For a chain restaurant, this is pretty impressive. Obviously we can’t vouch for experiences at other venues in NYC (or, indeed, in the various other cities) but the quality of food and service ensures it keeps a regular clientele.
Just a note about where to find the outlet in the Financial District. Nominally the restaurant is at 120 Broadway, but is accessed at the back of the building, near the corner of Nassau and Pine Streets.
Capital Grille
120 Broadway, NYC (Wall Street)
capitalgrille.com/nyc
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