New York City is undoubtedly the cultural epicenter of the country. Its cosmopolitan makeup serves as the foundation of the food scene within the city, which features over 15,000 restaurants from over 100 different cuisines. Out of these 15,000 restaurants, there are three in particular that stand above the rest. TATIANA, 4 Charles Prime Rib, and Semma are the three most prominent restaurants in New York at the moment, but how good are they really? I set out on a treacherous quest to answer this imperative question.
TATIANA by Kwame Onwuachi opened in November of 2022 within Lincoln Center and it soon became the king of New York restaurants. The New York Times graciously awarded TATIANA three restaurant keys as well as the #1 spot on their list of “The 100 Best Restaurants In New York City” for two consecutive years (2023 & 2024). TATIANA is also the highest rated restaurant by The Infatuation, coming in at an impressive score of 9.8. These commendations represent only a fraction of the praise that TATIANA has racked up over the past three years.
These unbelievable commendations also unfortunately lead to millions of people who want to visit the restaurant. And that means it’s nearly impossible to land a reservation. Trust me, I tried. Three weeks before my requested date, I reluctantly sat in my bed on a Sunday morning with my laptop on my lap and my phone in my left hand as I watched the exact time on my phone so that I could refresh at exactly 9:59:99 on the dot, in the hopes to secure just one time slot. As soon as the page refreshed, the reservations were already gone. In a millisecond.
So then, how did I get in? TATIANA opens at 5:00 p.m. every night, and people start lining up at 4 p.m. for bar seats (there are only six of them). Over the summer, I saw lines of far over two dozen people, wrapping around the entire restaurant. But somehow, when I went to TATIANA this October, there were only 4 parties in front of me (and I arrived at 4:45). The doors opened promptly as they let in the first few parties. Right before my family was about to enter, the hostess stopped us and said “I’ll be back in a few minutes.” My heart sank. “Wait, are you a party of three? We actually had a cancellation, we have a table open if you want to come in.” As we entered the dining room, all I could think was I can’t believe it. I was about to eat at the restaurant that I had read about and tried to get into for years… and we didn’t even have to sit at the bar!
Now, we get to the good stuff: the food. I started out with the hamachi escovich and egusi dumplings.
Hamachi and Egusi Dumplings
The hamachi was incredibly buttery and delicate with a very subdued flavor. The vibrant citrus sauce anchored the flavor of the plate along with the creamy avocado, pickled peppers, and the sporadic tempura flake, which all made one of the most surprisingly delicious sashimi dishes that I’ve ever tasted.
The egusi dumplings were cooked perfectly, with a crisp outer layer and a juicy interior. The flavor wasn’t balanced enough and it was a little salty for my taste, but I still found the texture to be enjoyable.
Curried Goat Patties and Braised Oxtails
Next, we got the curried goat patties and the braised oxtails – the fryer was down for the first ten minutes of the night, so they had to bring the patties out with the oxtails.
The curried goat patties were by far my absolute favorite dish of the night. The exterior was incredibly flaky and delicate while the interior was stuffed with piping hot curried goat. The patties were also served with a mango chutney and a green aioli. Adding on both of the sauces truly made for an incredibly rich, juicy, spicy, and balanced bite that I still crave right now. In fact, my mouth is watering just thinking about the mix of the hot Jamaican spices with the creamy, herby aioli.
The braised oxtails were also incredible, cooked to absolute perfection. I could’ve cut the meat from the bone with a spoon. They came drenched in a sweet, beef-heavy stock which gave the dish most of its flavor. Paired with the side of msg-heavy fried rice, this was one of those dishes that made me involuntarily sit back in my seat and say “wow”.
Short Rib Pastrami Suya
We ended our main meal with TATIANA’s most famous dish: the short rib pastrami suya.
The short rib pastrami suya is the bulk of the reason why TATIANA is so renowned. If you know what TATIANA is, you know what this dish is. The ginormous short rib is served with a warm, fluffy, buttery coco bread and a side of “melted cabbage”. The meat is brined in traditional Jewish deli spices before being seasoned with Nigerian yaji spices. I had the highest expectations for this particular dish due to its eminence, but unfortunately, it fell a little flat for me. Does that have to do with the fact that I was already overstuffed by the time the dish got to the table? Probably. I found the depth of flavor in the dish to be like nothing that I had ever tasted before: the peppery, smoky Nigerian yaji combined with the traditional pastrami flavor made for a really interesting flavor that made me go back for a few bites (even if I was close to throwing up from my previous overindulgence). I found the meat itself to be tougher than I had hoped; the texture wasn’t exactly melt-in-your-mouth – rather, it was more like a piece of a skirt steak.
Although I was already close to throwing up (I sat in the bathroom for five minutes after the pastrami suya arrived contemplating how I would continue to shovel food down my throat), we figured that we might as well order dessert.
Bodega Special
This is the bodega special, a take on classic childhood snacks that you would find in a bodega or convenience store.
I found this dessert to be one of the most interesting dishes on the menu, especially for a fine dining atmosphere. I grew up with the occasional Little Debbie’s Cosmic Brownie and Hostess Powdered Donut, so I was particularly interested in trying this dish. The warm, gooey brownie paired with the sweet powdered donut ice cream was certainly an indulgent treat that I really enjoyed – even if I could only eat a couple of bites before sitting back in my chair and clenching my stomach.
More than anything else, TATIANA is a love letter to New York City. It’s apparent that the ingenuity of the restaurant has greatly contributed to its renown, from the short rib pastrami suya (a play on the traditional deli sandwich) to the bodega special (the dessert of my 10 year old dreams), the restaurant certainly hits home for many New Yorkers.
The next restaurant on our list is 4 Charles Prime Rib. Opened in 2016, this West Village hotspot has become notorious for its impossible reservations. So again, how did I get one? I emailed them two months in advance, practically begging for a table for my birthday. The things I do for food.
Although I was elated to visit TATIANA, 4 Charles has been my most coveted restaurant for years due to its incredible cheeseburger with thick cut bacon and a runny egg, which I’m sure has crossed your TikTok for you page at some point. 4 Charles is also the highest rated restaurant on Beli (a trendy food app used to rank restaurants) with an average rating of 9.6 from over 26,000 reviews.
We started off with the little gem salad (we needed to have something a little light, you’ll understand in a minute).
This salad was truly one of the most incredible salads that I’ve ever had. I actually enjoyed eating it (and that’s something that I don’t think I’ve ever said about a salad). Mounds of fresh, crunchy little gem lettuce layered with creamy avocado and a lemon vinaigrette, topped off with micro slices of green onion. The creamy salad dressing on the side was also a welcome addition, balancing out the acidic vinaigrette and amplifying the creaminess of the avocado.
Next up: the 10 ounce double wagyu cheeseburger with thick-cut bacon and a runny egg.
The moment I had waited years for was about to arrive: the waiter walked over and performed an almost sensual egg cutting ceremony before coalescing the burger and splitting it in half. I blinked and my half was gone. The fat from the wagyu and overly thick bacon dripped down half of my hand as I devoured each bite. I’ve never had a cheeseburger so rich, indulgent, and intense. Unfortunately, this was the best burger that I’ve ever had, although it’s not something that I could eat every day (I mean I could, but I would most likely die after my fifth bite of my fourth burger).
We also ordered the bone-in ribeye steak, which was seared to perfection. Unfortunately, the meat was just a little rare for a medium rare steak (it probably needed another 30 seconds), and the béarnaise sauce was also lukewarm. The crust and juiciness of the steak made up for some of its shortcomings, but it was a little disappointing to not even have warm sauce.
If you ever have to privilege to visit 4 Charles Prime Rib, don’t skip the sides. The truffle mac and cheese is possibly the best mac and cheese that I’ve ever tasted: the pasta is cooked to a perfect al dente, the sauce is impossibly creamy, the truffle flavor is elegantly subdued, and the top is unbelievably crispy. The street corn elote was another great addition: piping hot corn served in a spicy, creamy sauce, garnished with cotija cheese and cilantro. I ended up dipping my steak into this sauce more than the bearnaise sauce, and I can’t say that I didn’t enjoy it.
Of course we had to get dessert here too. We ordered the chocolate cream pie: a generous slice of rich chocolate pie with an Oreo crust and a hefty scoop of whipped cream on top.
Obviously, this was incredible. How bad can a rich, creamy, thick chocolate filling over a buttery oreo crust finished off with enough whipped cream to fill an entire bottle be?
I may have had the most decadent meal of my life at 4 Charles Prime Rib; the burger was undoubtedly the best I’ve ever had, the mac and cheese was nothing short of incredible, and the chocolate pie only exacerbated my indulgence. Maybe next time, I’ll actually order the prime rib.
The last restaurant on the list is Semma. Opened in October 2021, this South Indian restaurant in the West Village soon became the most popular in the entire city. Most recently, Semma was given the #1 spot on the New York Times’ list of “The 100 Best Restaurants in New York City in 2025”, taking the spot from its predecessor TATIANA. Moreover, Semma is also the only spot on this list that boasts a Michelin star. Semma was also, somehow, the only restaurant on this list that I actually managed to snag a reservation on Resy with (15 days out at 9 a.m. on the dot, of course).
We began our meal with the gunpowder dosa and the mattu iraichi sukka (beef short rib).
I think that if I were to sniff my finger really hard right now, I would still be able to get a whiff of gunpowder dosa. On the first bite, the flavor reminded me of an Indian Cheez-it. Peeling off piece by piece, more deliciousness is unveiled. A steamy potato masala is hidden in the center of the dosa, leading to a spicy, comforting, dreamy bite when dunked into the sambar.
The short rib was delightfully braised to a point of tenderness, but the individual slices still held together. It had a rich taste of cardamom and pepper, which paired perfectly with the dosa to make little wraps. The portion was small, but it sufficed – mostly because we ordered an abundance of other dishes.
For the main course, we ordered the valiya chemmeen moilee (lobster tail in a yellow sauce) and the ghee roast lamb chops, as well as two orders of parotta and ponni rice.
The lobster tail may have been the best dish of the night. While the presentation was exquisitely detailed, the taste was even better. The large, tender lobster tail was doused in the creamy, smooth yellow curry sauce. The incredibly buttery flavor was enriched by the turmeric and coconut milk. Sopping up the delicate sauce with the flaky parotta almost made me tear up.
The ghee roast lamb chops had barely any gamey flavor, but I wish that the meat itself had more flavor. The sauce that was served on the side added some much needed heat to the dish, but its subtly buttery flavor sufficed. The chops were also served with a side of vegetable pulao, which somehow managed to taste like Coca-Cola in rice form.
I’ve never experienced a meal like I did at Semma. Each bite made my taste buds explode with bold, hearty, and ambitious flavors. I tasted flavors that I’ve never tasted before, and I eat a lot of food, so that’s a potent statement. I never understood what people meant when they said that a meal “altered their brain chemistry” until I ate at Semma. (To be frank, I still think that’s an idiotic phrase.)
Now for the answer that you have all been waiting for: I do concur that all three restaurants are fantastic. I would implore you to try all of them because they are all extraordinary in their own way. If you are looking for a restaurant that embodies the culture of the city, visit TATIANA. If you want to eat the best cheeseburger of your life, visit 4 Charles. And if you are looking to experience bold, ferocious, unapologetic flavors, go to Semma.
