Top 10 Dining Choices Near the UN, Plus a Rendezvous for Espresso

Irwin Arieff
• March 11, 2015

*Paname, on Second Avenue near 56th Street. The mood is thoroughly Parisian. IRWIN ARIEFF*

Looking for a place to eat while you’re in New York for the the Commission on the Status of Women? PassBlue’s UN Eats relieves the trial and error of finding a good place to eat around the United Nations. Below is the top 10 list of UN Eats reviews, chosen by PassBlue’s critic Irwin Arieff, of restaurants and cafes near the UN.

Must have coffee? (Pennylane); lunch and dinner in Midtown East in New York City? French to Italian to Chinese to Spanish to lobster:

Paname — A Warm Slice of Paris, Worth the Walk
1068 Second Avenue between 56th and 57th Sts, 12 p.m. – 11 p.m. M-Sat, 12:00 to 10:00 p.m Sunday

Cafe China — Dropping in on Shanghai’s Golden Age
13 E. 37th St. between Madison and Fifth Ave,11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday

Soba Totto — Slurping Up Flavors With a Side of Noodles
211 E 43rd St, 11:45 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. M-F, 6 pm to 11 p.m. Sat and 5:30 p.m. -10:30 p.m. Sunday

Luke’s Lobster – Seafood Alfresco 207 E 43rd St, 11 a.m. – 9 p.m. Saturday through Sunday

*Luke’s Lobster on E. 43rd Street: Crab roll with a side of spicy crab soup.*

Socarrat – Where the Reigning Star Is Paella
953 Second Avenue between 50th and 51st Sts, Call for times (212) 759-0101

Alidoro – – Eat Like an Italian
18 E 39th St, 7 a.m. – 4 p.m., M-F

Blue Olive Market — Rack of Lamb to Go
210 E 41st St, 6:30 a.m. – 10 p.m. M-F, 8 a.m. – 9 p.m. Sat, 8 a.m. -8 p.m. Sunday

Sachi Asian Bistro — Asian Fusion That Shines With Star Power 717 2nd Ave, between 38 and 39 Streets, 12 p.m. – 11:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 12:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m., Sunday

Pennylane – Where the Blue-Badged Go to Get Caffeinated 305 E 45th St, 7 a.m. -6 p.m., Monday through Friday; 8 a.m. – 3 p.m., Saturday and Sunday

Dag’s Patio Cafe — A New Spot, Worthy of Dag’s Plaza
324 E 47th St, 7 a.m. -10 p.m. Saturday through Sunday

We welcome your comments on this article. What are your thoughts?

Irwin Arieff

Irwin Arieff is a veteran writer and editor with extensive experience writing about international diplomacy and food, cooking and restaurants. Before leaving daily journalism in 2007, he was a Reuters correspondent for 23 years, serving in senior posts in Washington, Paris and New York as well as at the United Nations (where he covered five of the 10 years that Sergey Lavrov spent in New York as Russia’s senior UN ambassador). Arieff also wrote restaurant reviews for The Washington Post and Washington City Paper in the 1980s and 1990s with his wife, Deborah Baldwin.