Restaurant week started yesterday in NYC. Some of the hottest restaurants in the city are offering Prix-Fixe meals at affordable prices. Lunch for $25 and Dinner for $35. You can get wine pairings for an additional $20 to $30 a person.

The best place to book reservations is through OpenTable.com. They list all the restaurants participating, and which meals. For instance, Morimoto offers only lunch. This a great way to get motivated to try something new. You will feel less anxious, and you'll be surrounded by other newbies. They give 2-3 options for appetizers, entrees and desserts, and if you're a vegetarian, do not worry (there's usually an option for non-meat-eaters). Of course you can cover more ground if you bring more friends (share samples).

So far, I've been to Thalassa (a Greek restaurant), Morimoto (Japanese Iron Chef), and Delmonico's (Steak place), and I haven't been disappointed yet. Luckily, my Greek friend forewarned me that Thalassa's specialty is pairing wines with the meals (so we don't skimp on wine there). Our server at Morimoto told us that the fish is flown from Japan four times a week, the rice they use is special, and you can tell they don't use the green powder to make the wasabi. Delmonico's is classic, and they have a dress code of "business casual," so if you want to dress up and impress your date, Delmonico's is a great excuse.

Below are some pix from Morimoto's and Thalassa. I totally forgot to take photos at Delmonico's :( And of course the cellphone doesn't do the meals justice:

Morimoto:

tuna, striped bass, salmon, yellowtail, mackerel, shrimp, red clam, eel and spicy tuna rolls (Chef Morimoto's sushi selection)

--

Thalassa:

Vine ripened tomato salad with feta cheese

Grape leaves Avgolemono stuffed rice and ground veal

Colorado lamb chops with string beans

Fire roasted Lavraki with spinach risotto

Raspberry yogurt cake with Valrhona chocolate sauce

Traditional walnut cake with fresh orange flavored honey syrup

--

At Delmonico's, I tried the tuna carpaccio, filet mignon, and vanilla custard. All were good... sorry no photos.