upscale dining | Almost Faymous

There’s nothing quite so much fun as date night with a bestie. One of my fave NYC ladies and I have a long standing “date night with my boo”, once a month where we get together, let our hair down, and treat ourselves. We try to make each and every date totally unique and individual, and we don’t just limit it to eating and drinking. She’s who I went to Diner en Blanc with (and will be again this year!) and who I went to Queen of the Night with. It’s a fabulous time and an experience we’ve both decided we deserve to indulge for all of our hard work and late nights. So recently we decided to treat ourselves to the tasting menu at The General.

The General is an EMM owned restaurant, helmed by Top Chef Season 3 winner Chef Hung Huynh. It’s home to elaborate and creative asian inspired cocktails and food, with specialty sushi and a secret downstairs jazz room. If you’re looking for an upscale and intoxicating NYC vibe in the Lower East Side this is the place to go.

The Drinks: We both started with the incredibly delicious G.I. which had Avion Silver Tequila, Grapefruit, Orgeat, Sriracha and Sage. Incredibly refreshing and the sriracha added a kick but not too much that it was undrinkable. One of the best spicy themed drinks I’ve had to date, like a medley of sass in your mouth.

The Food: SO much food. The first course featured wasabi salt edamame, and the Mercy Roll. The Mercy Roll was one of the most inventive sushi rolls I’ve ever had, served with spicy tuna, jalapeno salt, and salsa verde instead of soy sauce. The salsa verde dressed the sushi perfectly in my opinion. Next up were Chinese chicken tacos, topped with avocado, bell pepper and sweet chili. The fried shells they were in simply melted in your mouth. The second course, was heavier and even more indulgent. Crispy shrimp with spicy mayo, and house specialty Spicy Schezuan chicken. Already I can feel how full I’m getting just remembering this. The third and final course featured a HUGE serving of fried rice with pancetta and a glorious fried egg on top, and robata skewers with blistered shishito peppers, kobucha squash, shiitake mushrooms and sweet potatoes. Talk about YUM.

How Faymous Was It: $$$$, it’s pretty pricey but it’s totally worth it. You get a lot of food, and it’s all beyond delicious. It also goes well outside the realm of typical asian fusion food which is really fun to taste.

It’s totally worth going if you’re looking for a swanky and delicious way to share a meal. Go with an empty stomach and be sure to try the sriracha coctails!