suggestions for a special meal?

i%26#39;m going round in circles reading old posts, FAQs and reviews so i%26#39;m after some personalised advice. my bf and i are going to new york for the first time over easter weekend, to celebrate both of our 21st birthdays. my mother and aunt are travelling with us. we%26#39;re looking to go out for one special meal to mark the occasion - nothing too fancy, our luggage allowance won%26#39;t allow for packing really fancy clothes. we%26#39;ll probably take one pair of non-jean trousers and one pair of ';real shoes'; each. also, my boyfriend is quite picky and sticks mainly to meat, pizzas and pastas - i.e. no potatoes or vegetables, which makes things tricky. and as we%26#39;ll be of drinkng age, where can we get some nice cocktails?! we%26#39;re staying at the best western hospitality house, so somewhere close by would be a bonus (not necessarily walking distance, but we don%26#39;t want to be paying an arm and a leg for a taxi). thanks!

suggestions for a special meal?

What is your budget/person for this meal, excluding drinks?

suggestions for a special meal?

What is your budget for this nice meal? That will help us give you some options.

NY steakhouses offer vegetables as sides, so your boyfriend could ignore those and just tackle the slab of meat on his plate, while you ladies could enjoy the veg and steak, or fish. But steakhouses usually cost $100 each.

Definitely check out the Campbell Apartment for a cocktail - it%26#39;s a lovely room.

www.hospitalityholdings.com

guide price around $70 or $80 per person, although i suppose we%26#39;d have to be prepared to step it up if all that would get us is a mcdonalds!! how does that sound? we%26#39;re not familiar with big city prices, as we%26#39;ve only ever been to orlando in the U.S where everything is cheap and cheerful.

That budget won%26#39;t get you far in any of the top-top places, but there are lots of very good restaurants where you%26#39;ll be fine.

Given what you said about your boyfriend, Craft might be a good idea:

www.craftrestaurant.com/craft_style.html

thanks, will have a look through the menu. any other suggestions?

If you do decide to go with Craft, you%26#39;ll be right around the corner from the Flatiron Lounge, which is a great place for cocktails:

http://www.flatironlounge.com/

And close to Flute, if you decide you want some post-dinner champagne:

www.flutebar.com/en/index.php鈥?/a>

it seems to be a contradiction, but is there anywhere ';nice'; that serves fries?!

Sort of. There are lots of places that are stylish and attractive but not necessarily formal that serve fries. You might, for instance, take a look at Balthazar, which is a very popular and slick brasserie:

http://www.balthazarny.com/

Balthazar isn%26#39;t as high-end as Craft, but the food is quite good and the atmosphere is great. It%26#39;s a few blocks from a popular cocktail bar called Pegu Club:

http://www.peguclub.com/flash/

Any of the top steakhouses serve fries as a side dish. I think Balthazar is a good idea in Soho.

Another idea since kateoz mentioned the Campbell Apartments in Grand Central is Metrazur which serves Italian and steak and Michael Jordan%26#39;s steakhouse is also inside Grand Central and that would be walking distance from your hotel.

Artisanal is another idea - French bistro, very good food, but a lower price point than a steak house - but you can get steak frites or something else simple.

www.artisanalbistro.com