![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.eatcooklive.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/grand-central-oyster-bar-mad-men-new-york.jpg\" "\\"grand")
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The only thing better than the\u00c2\u00a0proverbial free lunch is a free dinner. \u00c2\u00a0When a co-worker selected the Grand Central Oyster Bar for a dinner on a vendor’s dime (Lexis Nexus, here is the plug for Counsel Link) I was thrilled. \u00c2\u00a0Eluded to in Mad Men <\/em>(and actually directly\u00c2\u00a0referenced\u00c2\u00a0in tonight’s episode), the name conjured up images of gibson fueled decadence.<\/p>\n The first hint of trouble was on the bodies of our fellow dinners at tables near by. \u00c2\u00a0Tennis shoes here, a hoodie clad bunch there, I think I may have even seen a fanny pack. \u00c2\u00a0 I just don’t understand the drive to fly to New York\u00c2\u00a0dressed ready to crawl into a warm blanketed couch for a post-break-up How I Met Your Mother marathon. \u00c2\u00a0I mean I get comfort, but if you’re going out for what should be a nice meal, at least swing by the hotel for a quick change. \u00c2\u00a0[Tourist rant over.]<\/p>\n The menu looked great. \u00c2\u00a0The oysters were great. \u00c2\u00a0But as our entrees reached the table, my heart sank at the sight of the sorry looking steamed veggies lining the sides of our plates. \u00c2\u00a0The fish was lack luster. \u00c2\u00a0Generally\u00c2\u00a0flavorless. \u00c2\u00a0Possibly defrosted. \u00c2\u00a0Not worth the price. Instead of Mad Men <\/em>dreams I found a tourist trap.<\/p>\n The Bar sprawls under Grand Central. \u00c2\u00a0 On a trip to the restroom, I wandered through the dining room, past rows of counters, and found myself in a section called the Saloon. \u00c2\u00a0This was more what I had in mind: New Yorkers grabbing after work drinks over oysters and small tempting looking plates. \u00c2\u00a0The Saloon might be worth a return trip.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The only thing better than the\u00c2\u00a0proverbial free lunch is a free dinner. \u00c2\u00a0When a co-worker selected the Grand Central Oyster Bar for a dinner on a vendor’s dime (Lexis Nexus, here is the plug for Counsel Link) I was thrilled. \u00c2\u00a0Eluded to in Mad Men (and actually directly\u00c2\u00a0referenced\u00c2\u00a0in tonight’s episode), the name conjured up images […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[139,43],"class_list":["post-620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dining-out","tag-oysters","tag-seafood"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eatcooklive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eatcooklive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eatcooklive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eatcooklive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eatcooklive.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=620"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.eatcooklive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eatcooklive.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eatcooklive.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eatcooklive.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}