Zagat 2005 New York City Restaurants (Zagatsurvey: New York City Restaurants)

Rating:
Summary: As vital as oxygen for "foodies"
Review: Every year after watching the NYC Marathon, my wife and I stroll to one of our favorite upper east side restaurants - Le Refuge. To our great shock, this year it was not open for the late lunch we planned (as it has been for years). I was bummed out. Because food is so expensive in New York, I like to have a solid recommendation from a fellow foodie. My wife suggested that I stop in a book store and check for local eateries in Zagats. They had the new 2005 edition, so I bought it, flipped through the local selections, and found Cafe Edgar (upper west side) for a light, relatively inexpensive lunch with amazing deserts. Here's a rave, the book paid for itself the first time I used it. Bottom line, this is a must-have tool for any New Yorker who eats out on a regular basis. It is written by and for people like you. The reviews are a great jumping off point for additional research - I like comparing Time Out New York reviews against the Zagat short takes. The restaurants are listed in alphabetical order with other cuts by geography, cuisine and more - very useful. Again, with the prices of a NY meal so high, going in a new restaurant blind could result in an expensive, bad meal. And in a city with so many great restaurants, that really is a crime.

Rating:
Summary: Reliable reference
Review: For the most part ,Zagat does a great job of rating and the reviews are very accurate and reliable. With such a staggering number of choices this guide can be extremely helpful in narrowing down the places on your list before a visit to NY. Listings by type of cuisine and neighborhood make it relatively easy to select a place based on where you will be on any given night. I've eaten many meals in restaurants that I first read about in Zagats and really have found them to be pretty much on the money.