As I’ve said many times before, I have a love-hate relationship with the Meatpacking District restaurants. I generally find them to be overpriced, Eurotrash pre-game hangouts or crowded mid-week sausage fests, and I tend to take my culinary business elsewhere. But last week my friend Scott and I went to Cafe Gitane at the Jane Hotel on a recommendation from a neighborhood client and renewed our love for eating on the far west side.
Some may already be familiar with the Cafe Gitane in Nolita–delicious, affordable French-Moroccan cuisine, steps away from SoHo shopping and usually packed to the gills with weary travelers. The west side location boasts a similar (if not identical) menu and Parisian-chic vibe, but as you enter the somewhat creepy Jane Hotel and walk into the gorgeous cafe space to the left of the lobby, you feel as if you’ve discovered something incredibly special that nobody but the neighbors know about.
Food ranges from breakfast to salads/sandwiches to the house specialty cous cous (vegetarian and meaty, both) with prices pretty much under $15. The wine is completely affordable with most glasses under $10 and they are not chintzy with the pours. Specialty cocktails are also available as well as a wide range of teas, so nobody feels left out.
Reservations are not required…yet. But I have a feeling that once the word gets out that could change.
Front area of Cafe Gitane. Yes, that IS a Foosball table.
Cafe Gitane @ The Jane Hotel
113 Jane Street
New York, NY 10014
212-255-4113
what's the pH? 