Third Time was the Charm

Or Shalosh P'am Glida, as they say in Israel. I first attempted to go to Abigael's back in 1999 when I
drove my daughter from Milwaukee to Stern College. The restaurant had been highly recommended by our Shabbat hosts.

We were supposed to connect with my brother and my niece and go out together, but my brother never turned up. And I couldn't afford the dinner for three. So we ended up at Mendy's, a forgettable experience.

Two years ago I tried again with my son. He had invited me to come into New York to see The Apple Tree. But we had tickets for a matinee, and Abigael's wasn't open that early on a Sunday.

This trip, I had crossed Abigael's off my list because of uneven reviews on Shamash. But on our second day in New York, my husband and I toured the Metropolitan Museum of Art and then again walked back to our hotel on 33rd St. But that evening, we had tickets to Wicked, which limited our options. I had planned to go to Mike's Bistro, which had been highly recommended on Shamash.


But we couldn't get to Mike's, eat, get back to the hotel and change, and still make an 8 o'clock curtain. So as we passed Abigael's on our way down Broadway, we popped in for dinner. It was early for dinner in New York, so we had no problem getting a table. Contrary to the reports on Shamash, our waiter was polite and attentive. He asked if we had plans for the evening, and when we explained that we had tickets for a show, he said he would make sure that we were served promptly. Which we were. Yet we were not rushed either. The only flaw in the service was we were not offered a wine list, although there was a bar and must have been wine. It didn't matter in the end, since we had had enough sangria at Le Marsais to last two nights, and we wanted to be clear headed for the show.

I ordered the house salad. This was a large mixture of greens and veggies with a tasty salad dressing on the side. Our steak cravings had been satisfed the night before, so I ordered the duck and Stew selected the Vietnamese Chicken from the Asian Fusion Menu. The duck was crisp, not at all greasy. The glaze was not too sweet. I skipped the rice, but the bok choy was nicely done. Stew's chicken was tender, and the vegetables were crisp. He loves bok choy and goes bonkers whenever he can get it in a restaurant. We could have gone for dessert after all that walking, but we needed to change before the show. I had coffee, which was just okay. I don't understand why some of the best restaurants serve mediocre coffee when there are such good roasts available today. But that's another story.


In any case, all of our worries about poor service and underdone food were to no avail. The service was fine. If anything, we should have allowed more time for a leisurely dinner at this fine restaurant. Next time we may even have dessert.