You won’t believe your eyes when you first reach the Royalton Rooftop in the Royalton Park Avenue Hotel on the SW corner of 29th Street and Park Avenue South. Guests get a truly unique city view that cannot be found anywhere else in the Nomad neighborhood. There is a terrace on each side of the lounge and you get to see the beautiful details on the nearby vintage office buildings. If you sit at the northern side of the lounge, you can see the Empire State Building which is about five blocks away.
You’ll love the creative drinks, classy bar bites and the no rush atmosphere. This lounge has the some of the most comfortable furniture in town including classic brown hunting lodge style leather chairs and couches. It feels more like a living room than a bar and you can see how comfortable the vibe is from the photo above. The Royalton Rooftop is a romantic spot for a date but you also see large groups of friends sharing laughs and martinis.
The Royalton Rooftop has a lot of pluses going for it beyond everything that I have already mentioned. You can get these world class extra large sliders made with grass fed ground beef, cheddar and super fresh thick bakery rolls for only $14! There are about 16 great food options available and you might just want to try several as they are highly creative and artisanal quality.
The Royalton Rooftop kitchen makes the most unique steak tacos in the city! They take fresh chunks of sirloin and top them with crunchy red cabbage and a couple of jicama sticks! The tortillas used are soft and freshly made. Like the sliders, you get three large items in an order. Other savory bar bite options include a classic version of Shrimp Cocktail, Blistering Shisitos (topped with crispy shallots, lime and sea salt), Shrimp Tacos (served with green cabbage slaw and watermelon radish) and Rigatoni (with a Bolognese sauce and shaved Parmesan).
Don’t underestimate the Royalton Rooftop lounge’s ability to make great desserts. The generously portioned cheesecake is made on the premises with farm fresh ricotta and tastes super fresh. The strawberry sauce made with mixed berries is the “icing on the cake” as they say. This is a world class cheesecake and I would go back just for this.
The chocolate mousse is equally amazing–it’s super rich without being super sweet and the white chocolate pieces and sliced strawberries on top are the perfect accent. This is possibly the largest portion of chocolate mousse in the city–as you can see, it fills up a cereal or soup bowl.
Another extra special feature of the Royalton Rooftop is that they have special events that the public can book on the lounge’s website. They recently had a big Kentucky Derby party that included a special drink menu and coming up the second week of June is Rose Week. There will be numerous types of rose available and I tried one of them–the light and fruity Whispering Angel from Provence. All of the Royalton Rooftop staff has extensive wine knowledge and they do not mind answering your questions.
No doubt you are wondering what the most popular cocktails are at the lounge–well, it’s the Day and Night Margaritas. (You can see the refreshing and delicious Day Margarita above.) The Day Margarita is made with Casamigos Silver Tequila, ginger, Cointreau and fresh lime juice while the Night Margarita is created from Ilegal Mezcal, Cointreau, agave, Jalapeño, lime juice and fennel salt (placed on the rim).
The Royalton Rooftop is open everyday and you can even eat breakfast up there if you wish. (They have killer avocado toast!) If you really enjoy open air dining and drinking at a high altitude, get one of the outside tables as pictured above. You can never get bored when you’ve got a view like this. The Royalton Rooftop does not require reservations and is quite large and roomy. Cocktails are about $18 to $20. For more information, go to www.royaltonrooftop.com.
