Hurley's

Occasion: Lunch with the GC and his underling
Location: Hurley's on 48th between B'way and 8th
Edibles: French onion soup and a chicken, prosciutto and brie sandwich

Musings: GC very kindly offered to take me out for a welcome lunch. I casually suggested the Blue Fin prix fixe as an option but acceded when the guys wanted to go to their hangout, Hurley's, instead. Once there, GC and Underling made a big to-do over the fact that their favorite waitress had returned.

GC started out with his "usual" - a double Johnnie Black on the rocks. Underling ordered a beer. I stuck to iced tea, and felt a little bit like I was in an episode of Mad Men. (I was amazed when Underling ordered a second beer and GC joined him. How do these guys stay awake in the afternoon? Especially GC, whose lunch consisted of French onion soup and chili? I would have been reduced to a hibernating bear after all that.)

No offense to my colleagues, but Hurley's is the kind of place I would never choose to go to, even once. It's not really a restaurant - it's more of a bar that half-heartedly serves some food. The pre-packaged / frozen / reheated / deep-fried kind. About the level of an Applebee's.

My soup was okay. The chicken in the sandwich was dry as a bone and the "prosciutto" was strongly reminiscent of salty shoe leather. The fries had a weird aftertaste, like they hadn't changed the oil in the fryer in a week. How hard is it to make good fries?! Ugh.

I thought longingly of the crab BLT and spectacular sweet potato fries I could have been having at Blue Fin. At virtually the same price. With all the wonderful restaurants in the city, it's criminal to spend your time, appetite and money at a place like Hurley's.