Elmo Restaurant and Lounge NYC
Elmo Restaurant & Lounge
156 7th Avenue (near W. 19th St)
New York, NY 10011
(212) 337-8000
I highly recommend you to make a reservation because it does get packed even on a weekday!
Elmo Restaurant & Lounge
I have probably walked past this restaurant countless and countless of the times and never knew that it was Elmo. All I knew that along 7th avenue, there is loud music pumping out of this restaurant as if it was some kind of a fancy eat-in club. I captured this photo at 7pm on a Wednesday and it was packed inside and out. Luckily with the advice of my brother, who is a regular there, I had already made reservations to celebrate my friend Sally’s birthday.
The thumping of the loudness of the music grew intensely as I went into the restaurant with my party. It bothered me as first, but when the boyishly handsome waiter took us to a booth towards the back of the restaurant, I could hardly feel the music. If anything, I think by being in the back, we were away from the speakers. As we all seated down, I looked around and can see a lot of young, hip and deliciously stylish people. Girls where wearing tight short dresses, and the guys (a lot whom were gay since the restaurant was in a gay neighborhood- Chelsea) were dressed very sharply with a nice shirt with rolled up sleeves, and hair wildly spiked. This was the kind of crowd that I like to look at when I’m eating.
Elmo Restaurant - Menu Cover
The first item of the night is the following:
My favorite is the calamari. Now you may say, “Calamari is calamari. The squid is fried and that’s that.” Wrong! This calamari is of course expectantly crispy, but it salted perfectly and also has a peppery taste. The tartar sauce is homemade which tasted great. I will highly recommend you to have this for your appetizer. In my opinion, I think it will not disappoint you. And as for the other two appetizers, it didn’t taste like anything special. It was just ok.
Ginger-Soy Glazed Grilled Salmon w/ baby bok choy and shitake mushrooms
The salmon was a little sweet for my liking. If additional salt and pepper were added, it would have been the perfect dish for me!
And the rest are dishes that my friends ordered:
Latin American Chicken Tacos - w/ grilled onions, guacamole, pico de gallo and sour cream
This looks like a burrito to me. Why this is a taco is beyond me. My friend liked this dish and completely cleaned it off his plate. So I’m guessing this is a hit instead of a miss. I’m not too sure what that purple decorative sauce is, but it does look interesting to eat.
Herb Baked Meatloaf - w/cheddar and sour cream mashed potatoes, sautéed green beans and tomato chive demi-glace
My friend loved this dish. What can I say? I didn’t personally try this, but it looks great.
Steak frites - Grilled shell steak w/ french fries, fresh field greens and your choice of peppercorn sauce or roasted garlic butter
According to my friend Amy, the steak was a little tough even for medium-rare, but slowly and surely she cleaned the plate off. I must say, visually it looks very delicious.
Homemade Chocolate Cake
And to top off the night, a slice of homemade chocolate cake for my friend Sally! The cake is soft, fluffy, and light. With my experience with chocolate cakes, it tends to be so sweet because there’s so much chocolate and sugar in it, but this one was perfect. It was not too sweet and it had just enough chocolate to satisfy any one’s sweet tooth.
Overall, the presentation of the dishes at Elmo is fabulous. The food is pretty good but not spectacular. You will not break your wallet coming here which is the best thing about coming to Elmo. The decor, atmosphere and presentation of the restaurant is chic, vibrant and energetic. I will definitely come back here again. And who knows, you may see a celebrity or too. According to my friend Amy, we sat next to a party from actors on the LOGO channel. Maybe you can tell me who the man below is!
Ok, until next time!
<3 FCG
Comments
2 Responses to “Elmo Restaurant and Lounge NYC”
Leave a Reply
Thanks for taking me here. I declare that meat loaf was so moist and delicious. You should try it next time.
You guys are the best!
Dear FineChinaGirl–
Thanks so much for the great review. We’re delighted you had a good time.
Happily for us, Elmo is as much fun for the owners and the staff as it is for our guests.
Vist us again soon.
Bob