When you wear a yarmulke, your culinary options are pretty limited. While New York is one of the few cities in the US that actually has a handful of kosher options, at their price points, they are competing with the most expensive restaurants in the city. That’s pretty rough given that the rules of the kosher diet limit how meat can be prepared (no butter, no milk). While you know you’ll be guaranteed a quality piece of meat when you go kosher, the execution can at times fall short, making it difficult to justify the high price tag.
Since I have a number of kosher friends in my life, I’ve dined at places like Tevere (easily my favorite), Solo (where Top Chef winner Hung had a stint as head chef) and Prime Grill (most overpriced, average steak in Manhattan), all of which generally left me feeling unfulfilled and, well, broke. For the price of a lot of these places we could be eating at Eleven Madison Park and properly indulging. Always keeping an open mind however, when a Kosher friend and devoted Infatuation reader wanted to take us to her favorite Kosher spot to see how it measured up to our standards, we were down to give it a go and head to Mike’s Bistro on the Upper West Side.
Mike’s Bistro is a big deal in the world of kosher restaurants. Although its appearance might suggest differently, this is a popular special occasion spot, especially with the younger generation. It’s plain and rather boring decor give Mike’s the feel of a glorified basement. Excessive wood (not in a cool rustic way, but in an ordinary kitchen cabinet way) and bright lights are a bit of a turn off. Good thing the food isn’t. A clear Italian influence makes this menu more ambitious than most kosher spots and I’d happily return.
