Bar Americain
152 West 52nd Street (between 6th & 7th)

As some of my readers could ascertain, I usually avoid restaurants 1) in Midtown West; 2) with absent celebrity chefs; and 3) essentially tourist traps. Well, I was invited to brunch by a friend and he suggested Bar Americain and I agreed.

It started off poorly, as we were shoveled into a busy corner when half the restaurant was empty. Just having to hear the nonsense that came out of the mouths of tourists was annoying enough, but in addition, a very badly-mixed bloody mary and absent coffee made the start of this experience negative.

Honestly, nothing on the menu excited me. Maybe the shellfish, but I know about weekends and the quality of raw foods...so I avoided it. Perhaps a good sign. I ended up with the burger americain with goat cheese...and what I got was a meatball sandwich. Ugh...it was a ball of grilled ground beef the size -- and shape -- of a jumbo egg. With a set of grilled burger buns, it was impossible to eat except with a fork and knife. I do not want to dislocate my jaw this Sunday. Plus, it wasn't good enough to risk mandible damage...it was a pretty lame burger. Overcooked, unflavourful, bland. Frankly any burger would be better than this...

My dining companion told me his food was rather disappointing too. To me it seemed like a directionless and boring set of dishes that most diners can put together -- probably better. This was really the essence of the New York City, Times Square area tourist trap. The food could have been better at the Applebee's down the road.

The decor and environment was a negative too. It looked like a large, hotel or Vegas-styled restaurant. It was bland and boring -- like the food. The service was poor and slow too. I find this restaurant really the epitome of the rubbish around Times Square. A waste of money and time... Mr Flay, this is a joke, you can do MUCH better than this if you just spend a little less time parading on TV!

Food: D
Atmosphere: D+
For Lone Diners: C