Le Cirque

151 E 58th St
New York, NY 10022
(212) 644-0202

I came here to try one thing: The potato crusted sea bass. They had to replicate it on Top Chef and Jim Lampley raved about it on After Hours with Daniel. It was getting ample attention and I had to find out why...

$47 Potato Crusted Sea Bass (6)
Not bad, but not very good, either. The preparation of the potato and fish was decent, however, the sauce was uninteresting. That's the whole dish so I don't see what's so amazing about it. I've had cereal that should have received more media coverage than this dish.

What a fucking disappointment. Two drinks, one entree, $100 out the door. Upon leaving, the coat check immigrant practically accused me of trying to steal coats since I couldn't find my ticket. Also, the place is boring. So, unless you roll in a wheelchair, there are better places in the area.

Gray's Papaya

402 6th Avenue
New York, NY 10011

(212) 260-3532

www.grayspapaya.com

Who cares how good the hot dog is, The real question is, "Is it better than Pink's?"

I had a co-worker from New York claim Gray's was superior to Pinks. I've been outside a club at 2AM ordering a bacon wrapped hot dog overhearing a Yankee talk about how much he misses Grays. New Yorkers are better everything. They have better restaurants, education, and a subway system. We can't even figure out something as simple as pizza. Can we at least get hot dogs. It's not even real food. It's almost there, but it's still a closer relative to dog food in its appearance.

$2 Papaya Juice (6)
Refreshing, but nothing special. It's what you would expect from fast food.

$.50 Hot Dog (8)
50 cents? I thought I visited during an anniversary sale, but this was the regular price. Is it better than Pink's? No. The meat at Gray's is better, but that's about it. The dog is smaller, the bread is not as soft, the menu is inferior, and don't get me started with the marinated onion vomit they put on top. But this is the bigger issue I have with Gray's, when you go to LA, there is one Pink's (yes, they are expanding, but ignore that for now). Go to La Brea and Melrose and look for the line. In NYC, there are at last count 42,896 Gray's and variations thereof. There is Papaya King, Papaya Queen, Honeydew Jack, Red's Papaya, Green's Papaya, and Chelsea's home to Rainbow Papaya.