Ok I’ll admit, my initial reason for visiting Park Avenue Tavern last week was NOT to eat. I mean, a girl’s gotta eat, but I had other thoughts on my mind…i.e. get tipsy. How do you do that? One might ask. Well, you would have to drink A LOT and NOT eat the foods below. In case you can’t tell – I drank a little and ate a lot of the foods below. And you know what? I would much prefer eating the foods below. Sometimes when you have plans, the best thing that can happen is straying from those plans; you might end up in a place you never thought possible, and loving every minute of it. For me and my friends, on this night, we strayed from our plans in Vodkaville and ended up in FLAVORTOWN.
Marinated goat cheese with peppers, onions, and toast. Did I mention I am eating carbs again? Oh happy day! I really loved the textures of this dish – soft, creamy goat cheese with the oily peppers and onions. Not oily in a bad way, oily in a “I want to rub this all over my body” kind of way. You heard me.
Margherita pizza. Ehhh ok this one was probably the most underwhelming of everything we had. It was a satisfactory pizza, but I don’t think I would order it again if I were to return. The pesto tasted like it came out of a tube and it just fell kind of flat. Looks better than it tasted.
Spinach and artichoke dip with warm pita bread. Umm…YES. The antithesis of the pizza. This one was GOOD – creamy, cheesy, and loaded with chunks of artichoke and spinach. The mixture of cheeses here are Parmesan and Monterey Jack – and did I mention there was an extra sprinkling of parm cheese on top? When in doubt, just add more cheese.
Calamari “soup” with tomatoes, garlic, olives, and herbs. Ok it’s not called Calamari Soup but I’m calling it that because I don’t remember the name and couldn’t find it on the menu online. Just ask for the calamari. They’ll know what you’re talking about. It is delicious – a really well thought out dish that has a great balance of flavors. It’s very Mediterranean, which I love, and I enjoyed that similar to mussels, they serve it in this flavorful broth that you can dunk the pieces of crusty bread into. Mmmm.
I highly recommend Park Avenue Tavern for happy hour and some nibbles with your friends – nice atmosphere, good crowd (think business casual), and most importantly, good food and drink.
Park Avenue Tavern
99 Park Ave
212-867-4484
