The Best New Restaurants in New York City

"Velvet banquets. Marble floors. Mirrored walls. Sipping a Sambal margarita while savoring green curry escargot one might forget that this glitzy restaurant is… inside of a mall? Twin Tails recently opened on the third floor of The Shops at Columbus Circle from the team behind Zou Zou’s and Bad Roman (the latter also located at The Shops.) However, unlike Bad Roman, this restaurant’s menu doesn’t feel like TikTok bait. Instead, you’ll find a large variety of delicious Southeast Asian-inspired dishes. The menu truly has something for everyone, with an array of options per protein preference for larger dishes (fish, shellfish, steak, pork/fowl) and such a wide selection of small plates—raw items, salads, spring and summer rolls, satay—that you’ll actually have a hard time choosing. To help you tackle the menu, I suggest these standouts: decadent little King crab and uni buns served on a tiny silver cake platter ($29), cured Atlantic fluke with limey grapefruit and thai chili ($19) and, apparently, the crispy garlic shrimp ($39) which had already run out by the time I arrived. The restaurant is pricey (we opted out of the $175 beef shank khao soi, but will absolutely be revisiting to split the whole royal dorade sashimi for $55) and, unlike others you’ll find on this list, isn’t what I would necessarily describe as “cool”—but it does feel fabulous. Consider it the perfect place to wow your out-of-town friends after a day strolling Central Park. Plan to grab a drink in The Speakeasy bar before or after your meal: an intimate circular space with wall-to-wall mirrors and red lighting, just sexy enough to distract you from the fact that you will pass a Lululemon on your way out. —Mercedes Bleth, global associate director of social" - CNT Editors