A View of Holiday Dining at Rockefeller Center

Rockefeller Center, with its skaters on the ice and giant 20,000-light Christmas tree, is the heart of this city’s holiday merrymaking. But if you’re planning to catch a bite here after shopping or before a performance at Radio City Music Hall, watch out. Many of the Center’s 35-plus restaurants are overpriced, under-tasty and crowded. After several visits, we’ve developed a survivor’s guide to dining at “The Rock.”

Prime spectator seats for the open-air rink beneath the golden statue of Prometheus are in the American Festival Cafe. In the main restaurant and in the small Bar Carvery next door, floor-to-ceiling windows look directly out on the rink. While some dishes on the menu devoted to traditional American foods are fine, the food is very expensive. From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., the restaurant has a $15 minimum per person.

Your best bet for combining a meal with the magic of the silver blades is to head for Savories, a few doors down from Bar Carvery. This informal restaurant has the same view as the more expensive restaurants on the rink’s periphery, but the food is better and half the price. A tuna melt came with a generous portion of tuna salad on a crisp English muffin, topped by rich Cheddar cheese and served with a salad of fresh greens in a light tarragon dressing. At $7.50, it was good value. Breast of chicken, nicely broiled and served on tasty seven-grain bread with lettuce, tomato and avocado, cost $7.95.

Desserts at the American Festival Cafe, the Bar Carvery and Savories (all under the same management) are good. The two specialties are a rich Mississippi mud pie and traditional Key lime pie, slightly tart, with a Graham cracker crust and a real whipped cream topping. At Savories, however, these desserts cost $3.50 or $3.75, instead of the $6 or $7 charged at the other restaurants.

If you’re really looking for a bargain, though, go to the Huxley Cafe, a plain but comfortable coffee shop on the ground floor of 30 Rockefeller Plaza, near the starting point of the NBC tour. The $1.79 breakfast special includes two eggs, home fries, toast and coffee. Yes, $1.79 for a full breakfast in mid-town Manhattan. For $2.99, you can get a cheese omelet, home fries, pancakes or toast and coffee.

We splurged and spent $3.95 for an omelet filled with Cheddar cheese and tart Granny Smith apples. Grilled onions and bell pepper were a good addition to the fried potatoes.

We weren’t looking for a bargain when we walked into Hurley’s Steak and Seafood, but we found one of the best values in the area. Hurley’s is a legend at Rockefeller Center. Established in 1892, it was the only building John D. Rockefeller couldn’t buy when he wanted to erect the 70-story RCA Building (now the GE Building) in the 1930s. The Sixth Avenue (Avenue of the Americas) entrance to the building had to be redesigned around the four-story bar on the corner of 49th Street. The bar and grill became a hangout for newspaper and later television journalists, and today you’re still likely to see people from the nearby NBC studios.

With all the talk about the place’s history and the convivial bar, we’d never heard a word about the food, and we put off trying it. Our doubts were eased somewhat when our waiter, Francisco Chala, turned out to be one of the best we’ve seen anywhere. When the food arrived, the rest of our reservations vanished. Sirloin steak--ordered charred rare--came exactly that way: crusty on the outside, rosy on the inside. Roast duck was tender, with a crisp skin and no sign of grease. Accompaniments included a real, old-fashioned baked potato, a grilled tomato topped with Gruyere and nicely cooked broccoli. Salads of fresh greens were tossed with sweet red onion and fresh mushrooms. Dessert was a rich and intense New York-style cheesecake. The duck cost $15.75, the steak $29.75, both including vegetables, salad and warm rolls.

The ultimate dining experience at Rockefeller Center must be The Rainbow Room nightclub or at the neighboring cabaret, Rainbow & Stars. Both are on the 65th floor of 30 Rockefeller Plaza and have vistas of the New York City sky scape. Completely restored and renovated four years ago, the rooms today reflect the Art Deco style and sophistication that made The Rainbow Room a popular night spot in the 1930s and ‘40s.

When we walked into Rainbow & Stars, we half expected to see William Powell sitting at the next table, cigarette holder in one hand, martini glass in the other. The sleek, black and white decor was a perfect backdrop for the lights of the city beyond the window. It was opening night for legendary cabaret performer Julie Wilson, who reminded us how one person can turn a simple song into a multilayered experience.

But first, there was supper. We began with wild mushrooms that had been sauteed, shaped into a small mold and served with an herb sauce. The mild taste of red snapper was accented by a basil-vegetable compote made of thinly sliced fresh red and yellow bell pepper, carrots and zucchini that had been lightly sauteed. We noticed a huge steak at a neighboring table disappearing under the determined efforts of famous big band singer Margaret Whiting.

At Rainbow & Stars, the cover charge is $35 for entertainment, and dinner will cost approximately $50 per person, without wine. At The Rainbow Room, the entertainment charge, which includes dancing to the sounds of a big band, is $15, and the dinner will cost $75 to $100 per person, without wine.

GUIDEBOOK

Rockefeller Center Restaurants

Recommended: Hurley’s Steak and Seafood, 1240 Avenue of the Americas, (212) 765-8981; Huxley Cafe, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, (212) 582-9025; The Rainbow Room and Rainbow & Stars, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, 65th Floor, (212) 632-5000; Savories, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, (212) 246-6457.