Earn 5X AMEX points per dollar for NYC Restaurant Week, Winter 2018. This is instead of a statement credit, which has typically been the AMEX offer for past NYC Restaurant Weeks. For Winter 2018, a 3-course lunch is again $29, while dinner is $42, and Restaurant Week is actually 3 weeks, from January 22 to February 9, 2018.
Here are the AMEX offer details, followed by my analysis and recommended NYC Restaurant Week restaurants.
- Go to the AMEX NYC Restaurant Week page to enroll your AMEX card(s)
- The AMEX cards you enroll must be U.S. issued AMEX cards linked to Membership Rewards to qualify to earn 5X points. Corporate and prepaid cards are not eligible.
- You must use the same AMEX card you enrolled to pay at participating NYC Restaurant Week restaurants between 1/22/18-2/9/18
- Electronic wallet purchases or those made through a third party are not eligible
- Limit of 1000 bonus Membership Rewards points per card with this offer
- When AMEX calculates the additional points benefit for Amex EveryDay Card products, points awarded under this offer will not be included.
Analysis
For recent previous NYC Restaurant Weeks, AMEX issued $5 statement credit per $35 or more bill, up to $20. That made it possible, when sharing the bill with another enrolled AMEX cardholder, to save $10 off lunch for two.
The current offer awards 5X points, but consider that the Chase Sapphire Reserve already earns you 3X for all dining. That means you're only earning an incremental 2X points per dollar if you have the Sapphire Reserve. On a sample NYC Restaurant Week lunch of $75, with the 5X bonus, that would mean earning 375 Membership Rewards points, and assuming a 2 cents per point valuation, $7.50. But given that the incremental value over the Sapphire Reserve is just 2X, that would equate to 150 points, or only $3. Not much of a benefit, especially compared to prior years.
So while we'll most likely only dine at one restaurant this time or sit this one out entirely and save our money for special meals on our international trips (or another celebratory meal at Daniel, which we loved), here are my picks of the available options for NYC Restaurant Week:
1. Riverpark ($29 Restaurant Week lunch weekdays, $42 Restaurant Week dinner except Saturday)
Riverpark bests most other NYC restaurants that participate in Restaurant Week in terms of available choices. If you want to get a real sense for the restaurant's offerings, not just lower cost dishes trotted out for Restaurant Week, Riverpark is a good choice. I just wish their dessert offerings including something served hot, such as a fruit crumble or warm chocolate cake, given the current frigid temperatures. The following are my recommendations for lunch, although there are a few more options offered for dinner.
Appetizer: East & West Coast Oysters on the Half Shell or Curried Carrot Soup or Arctic Char Tartare
Main Course: Short Rib Ravioli or Roasted Branzino with Red Quinoa or Roasted Salmon with Celery Root , Beets and Couscous
Dessert: Pumpkin Mousse Cake with Gingerbread Sponge and Spiced Maple Pepitas, or PB&J Sundae with Peanut Butter Ice Cream, Grape Sorbet, Brownie and Caramelized Hazelnuts
2. Craft ($29 Restaurant Week lunch weekdays)
It stands to reason that one of the other restaurants that offers a good number of choices is Tom Colicchio's Craft (Colicchio also owns Riverpark). I love that only a couple things on the menu require a modest supplement, the Foie Gras Torchon and the Sirloin Steak:
Appetizer: Roasted Beets with Blue Cheese or Fluke Crudo with Mustu Apple or Foie Gras Torchon ($5 supplement) or Beef Tartare with Smoked Egg
Main Course: Gemelli Pasta with Short Rib Ragu or Crispy Pork Belly with Braised Red Cabbage or Grilled Sirloin Steak with Crispy Fingerlings and Chimichurri or Craft Burger
Dessert: Apple Tarte Tatin with Lemon Creme Fraiche Ice Cream or Carrot Cake with Whipped Mascarpone
3. Cafe Boulud ($29 Restaurant Week lunch weekdays)
Cafe Boulud, on the UES, is also an excellent choice, with high quality dishes although more limited choices.
Appetizer: Arugula Salad or Pate de Campagne or Parsnip Veloute
Main Course: Swiss Chard Ravioli or Scottish Salmon with Fennel and Sunchoke Hash or Beef Bourguignon
Dessert: Fromage Blanc Cheesecake or Gingerbread Gateau with Pear Ice Cream or Chocolate Tart with Blood Orange Sorbet
4. Danji ($29 Restaurant Week lunch weekdays, Sunday brunch)
While you won't necessarily save more than $10 or so off the regular menu, Danji gets good reviews from my clients craving updated Korean food near the theater district, so I'm keen to try it one of these days. It's just a shame that their Bulgogi Sliders aren't part of the Restaurant Week menu, but you could always order them separately.
Appetizer: Spicy “k.f.c” korean fire chicken wings or garlic honey wings with sesame seeds or handmade vegetable dumplings with spicy soy sauce
Main course: Chul-sot bibim-bap (vegetable, beef bulgogi, spicy pork or kimchi pork) or Korean poke bibim-bap with spicy yellowtail and salmon or bibim-bap set
Dessert: Ice cream
Do you plan to dine out during NYC Restaurant Week, earning 5X on your AMEX card?
Recommended Posts
The Modern NYC Restaurant Review
Restaurant Week Review: Nobu New York
If you enjoyed this, join 200,000+ readers: follow TravelSort on Twitter or like us on Facebook to be alerted to new posts.
Subscribe to TravelSort on YouTube and TravelSort on Instagram for travel inspiration.
Become a TravelSort Client and Book 5-Star Hotels with Virtuoso or Four Seasons Preferred Partner Benefits