The Palm Tribeca Visited 3/21/2011 3 Forks

The Palm Tribeca 206 West St., New York, NY 10013

I've actually been to The Palm many times before and I'm only now getting around to writing a review about it because I just remembered to.  The only reason I've even been to The Palm at all is because it's within walking distance to my office so I've been here a few times for business lunches and once for a holiday dinner.

The inside is actually really fun because the walls are covered with paintings of celebrities, politicians, and of course since this is downtown, bankers and other high level executives.  The first time I had lunch here I sat next to Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen.  I almost died.  I wanted to pull up a chair and start talking about the Real Housewives of Atlanta with them.  Unfortunately, each time I've been back I haven't seen any famous people.  I remember the food the first time I went to be pretty good. I got the kobe beef burger and it was juicy and delicious.  The 2nd time I went was for my group's holiday dinner.  Knowing the budget constraints we were under, I was surprised that The Palm would actually be able to accommodate us for dinner, but after tasting the food, I realized they just compensated by serving us lesser quality food.  The steaks were terrible and I think someone actually had said the dessert tasted like gasoline. Ouch.  So why, you ask, have I gone back since then? Because I work by the World Financial Center, where there are only 2 restaurants in the building: PJ Clarke's and Southwest, neither of which are amazing and both of which are expensive.

I will say most of the lunches I've had here have been pretty decent and for the same money as PJ Clarke's and Southwest, it's much less chaotic and dare I say better food (but not by too much but at least it's something different).  They have this business lunch special which is actually a great deal.  For $24, you can get their a soup or salad (lobster bisque is extra), a main entree (they have a steak, salmon, pasta or fish of the day), a side of half/half (which is basically a plate of fried onion rings and some other fried thing that I can't remember now) or veggie of the day, and either key lime pie or chocolate cake.  Each time I've gotten the business lunch, I get the same thing: salad, salmon, veggie of the day and key lime pie.  Or for the same amount of money, you can get a burger and fries and a soda a PJ Clarke's.  Unfortunately, the last time I had the lunch at The Palm my salmon was a bit overcooked (the waiter never asked me how I wanted it) and it was covered in this tomato sauce that clearly had tons of butter in it.  So it kind of ruined the "healthy" aspect of having fish.  The veggies of the day are usually just some kind of greens sauteed in olive oil and doesn't taste like anything I couldn't make at home.  The key lime pie was actually pretty tasty but so unnecessary because by that point you're so full that you just want to take a nap under your desk.

All in all, it's not an awesome place but it's definitely a better alternative to the two kind of boring places in the Tower.  It'll be interesting to see how business will do once Shake Shack and Blue Smoke open up by work.