Dan M.
Yelp
Silver Lyan is in the basement of the Hotel Riggs - when you enter, turn right towards the reception desk and go down the stairs, past the giant gum ball machine and bank vault door. Reservation highly recommended.
The space is dark and sexy, with lots of wood and deep red tones. They definitely set a mood for an occasion or date. However, we felt they focus more on being instagrammable than on crafting satisfying drinks. The four we tried ranged from "just ok" to "hard to stomach." The drinks are around $19-$23 apiece. My favorite of the bunch was the king pausa, which has vodka, green coffee, malt, and sherry; it is served chilled to perfection and went down smooth despite being a boozier drink. Very unique. However, the smith island snap was hard to swallow. The ice cube was cool - it had sea shells embedded in it - but the drink was way too salty and had an unpleasant flavor. I ended with a project manhattan. Rather than deliver a well mixed take on the classic, they felt the need to tinker with it - it is fine but slightly medicinal, like drinking alcoholic cough syrup.
The food, thankfully, hit the spot. I can't recommend the tater tots enough. They are round, salty, perfectly crispy, and served with a nice ranch sauce. Can't skip it. The hot dog was tasty as well. Theirs has wagyu beef topped with kimchi. It was good, though the much cheaper hot dogs at Ivy and Coney are better. The chicken and biscuit is really good, though, and very interesting. You get four small pieces for easy sharing.