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Breeze Restaurant - Thailand Meets France Near Times Square


At Breeze, a sophisticated Thai/French fusion restaurant in the Theatre District near Times Square, the food delights the eye as much as it does the tongue.

The modern surroundings captivate as well. Breeze is a sparkling storefront with a long, back-lit bar and a bouquet of calla lilies at its end. Shimmering candles sit on each of the room’s otherwise bare tables. Salmon-colored walls, an open kitchen, and menus pressed into 45rpm records complete Breeze’s au currant good looks.



Exotic drinks arrive in graceful glasses with curved stems and stylish triangular, oblong, and square dishes, some curved upward at their points, hold artfully presented food. A crab-and-mango summer roll, an agreeable fusion of fruit and fish, turns out to be six multicolored, upright sushi-like cylinders on a snappy squiggle of lemon emulsion.

Most dishes feature Thai food and French cooking techniques, but are more Thai than French. A few, like a warm salad of duck confit and lightly wilted frisée, tilt more toward France. Its shredded-duck confit is an appropriate counterpoint to the frisée, croutons, and onions dressed in spicy anise vinaigrette. Highly spiced, crisp Thai noodle sausages passed muster, and best of all were four fried mushroom dumplings—crisp outside with a savory minced interior.



Among the imaginatively presented entrées sampled were four seared citrus-crusted diver scallops perched on an interesting bed of curried coconut, creamed spinach, and jasmine juice. A French hybrid of fat-fringed duck breast, pan-seared with ginger, tamarind, garlic, and Chinese broccoli is fanned out on a plate and accompanied by butternut squash dumplings. Beef basil fried rice looks like a rice pillbox but is layered with beef, egg, peppers, basil, and vegetables. Hot ocean is a straightforward seafood and vegetable casserole, thick with sautéed shrimp, squid, and scallops in a lemongrass-driven sauce.

Desserts are far prettier than the same sweets seen elsewhere. Think red bean ice cream, fried banana, fried ice cream, and chocolate molten cake.

661 Ninth Ave. btw. 45th & 46th Sts., 212-262-7777; www.breezenyc.com

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