Palm Room at the Plaza (6th Ave and 59th St) 01/2017

The Plaza was once owned by Donald Trump. It's a classy old hotel in a fantastic position across the road from Central Park.
In their basement they have a restaurant and food halls serving everything from the most expensive caviar to hot dogs. 
On the ground floor, designated as 1 in America, is the Palm Room which gets its name from the substantial palm trees in the room.

It's an elegant hotel and this is an elegant breakfast room with an impressive entrance.

It is attractively furnished 

and lit by a huge skylight.

There is a choice of a $48 buffet with all the usual things, very nicely presented, 

or an a la carte menu

Eggs Benedick 

always popular (the salmon cost an extra A$10)
Shakshuka, pretty traditional 

and very spicy with plenty of tomato and two eggs hidden in the centre.
Pancakes are popular with the kids.

Child friendly too.

Comments: Breakfast for the well heeled.

Score: 14/20

Jams (Midtown, Manhattan) 01/2017

On the corner of 6th Ave and 58th St. this vine covered building houses an unembellished  ground floor eatery serving breakfast, lunch and dinner plus a weekend buffet brunch, for a deceptive set price of $45. Children under 12 are half price. 
Beverages cost extra and 15% is added to the bill
They discourage BYO wine with a $30 corkage fee. 
The place is light and spacious.

Tables are large 

and there is enough space so it is possible to talk without having to shout.
There's plenty to eat and plenty of variety with a chef making omlettes or scrambled eggs to order. Eggs any other way are not available. 

This was their menu

Jams Signature Brunch Buffet

House made pastries vernont butter seasonal jams

assorted vine and tree ripened fruit cups

maple roasted granola, tuscan yoghurt dried fruits

french toast skewers, chocolate buttermilk pancakes

avocado toast, peanut butter banana toast

kale salad, quinoa salad, little gem salad 

kossar bagels, smoked salmon and the works

devilled eggs, scrambled eggs, eggs any style

smoked local ham bacon and sausage

jams chicken and grilled local steak

JW potatoes and local market vegetables

A build your own omelet station

and a daily selection of assorted desserts

There was a lot of food but the presentation was very ordinary.

It's a very decent buffet without being outstanding in any way.

Score: 13.5/20

Estiatorio Milos (125 W55 St Manhattan) 01/2017

* Clik on pic's to enlarge them.

This has been well known for years as a fine fish restaurant and we were dying for a sea food meal. It is not very well signed with only one relatively small indication of its presence high overhead.

The entrance is cluttered, rather than decorated, with some reek urns and archeological remnants.

It's in a large room with a small bar near the entrance,

an open kitchen at one end,

 and a stand full of boxes in ice holding fish, some of which been swimming in Greek waters only hours ago, with clearly marked prices.

Many dear enough to make your hair curl!

although some seemed a bit more reasonable,

but not all.

Decor is simple. 

White double clothed small tables are set with cloth serviettes. Nothing fancy.

The herbs on the left of this pic are snipped off and dropped into the olive oil for the bread.

We had eaten here before and had a rather strange experience. We sat at a small table which was set with cutlery and salt and pepper. Sandra moved the salt and pepper aside and a few minutes later the waiter came and replaced them. After he replaced a little flower pot Sandra had moved from the centre of the table we said we have everything we want we don't need you now. Sandra moved the water tumbler aside and a minute later he replaced it. A bit irritated Sandra said  please move away. He did but a minute later a different waiter began to hover around us. They just had to be ready to serve no matter what.
Sea food for sure, perhaps lobster. 
It's NYC Food Week $29 three course lunch at dozens of restaurants and $49 dinners for meals with lots of choices but we decided we really wanted lobster so we went for the a la carte menu.
We started with a Beluga lentil soup - who could resist that. 

Turns out that these black lentils are called beluga because of their resemblance to caviar!! Never mind it was a rich and filling soup full of vegetables - perfect for a winter lunch.
Now for the lobster.
Steamed then grilled, served with melted butter and potato chips, we requested barely cooked and that's what we got.

There are no words for this dish. It was wonderful. Sweet, delicate, moist it was the equal of any lobster dish we both have ever eaten. Reminiscent of a Maine lobster we had 15 years ago and a Tasmanian one perhaps 20 years ago, it was a dish to savour not only while eating it but to think of with pleasure at any time.
We finished the meal with a dessert. Greek yogurt with Greek honey.

A no frills simply excellent. The honey was so remarkably tasty we asked for more.
I'm not a fan of Greek wine generally but this one was more than acceptable.

This was an exceptional meal and I have no hesitation in recommending Milos to any fan of seafood.

Score: 17.25/20

Nougatine at Jean Georges (Manhattan NY) 01/2017

This is taken from his website and shows that he certainly does not sell himself short. Though Jean-Georges Vongerichten is one of the world’s most famous chefs, his skills extend far beyond the kitchen. A savvy businessman and restaurateur, Jean-Georges is responsible for the operation and success of a constellation of three and four star restaurants worldwide.After all the most stars that foodie bible the Guide Michelin gives any restaurant is three. Others, evidently, think JGV is worth more.
I am becoming very wary about 'stars' A personal recommendation is more reliable. The restaurant business is enormously competitive and a lot depends on reputation so stars are important though it is hard to what they mean when a chef/restaurantuer has 15 or more restaurants in several countries under his wing, and he clearly has to spend a lot of time on the business aspect of his restaurants what sort of a genius must he be to collect so many 'stars' for so many of his restaurants?
Nougatine is a chocolate coated nougat - a very sweet thing indeed.
In this case the restaurant resides on the ground floor of the Trump International building at 1 Central Park W, adjacent to Columbus circle and the Time Warner Building, home of several leading restaurants, including Per Se.
It's an attractive room 

 

with a great view over Central Park.

For those not wanting too much to eat they have a Prix Fixe three course lunch which, at $38 is about as cheap a meal as you can get for a quality restaurant in New York
The menu includes half a dozen appetizers, nine entrees and a couple of desserts. From the a la carte menu the same meal would cost at least $70.
Fried calamari, Basil salt Citrus chili dip was a very small very tasty dish with an enormous bowl of dip for a very small serve of calamari.

Tuna tartare, avocado, spicy radish, ginger marinade.

a nicely presented dish, about as good as one might expect for a simple dish.
Sesame crusted salmon

not a very photogenic dish. This was a pleasant dish but certainly not a Michelin star creation.
Desserts were also pleasant but far from outstanding. 
Jean-Georges warm chocolate cake, vanilla bean ice cream.

Citrus pavlova, blood orange sorbet, candied kumquats.

One would expect this standard of food at any reasonable restaurant
Score:14 /20