Leyla could satisfy your pre-LC and taste for Turkish requirements. Walkable or one subway stop.
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Already linked and mentioned
An update – we have tickets to show at Studio 54 Saturday night, so I guess dinner moves toward Hells Kitchen, so I welcome suggests there.
No progress on the daytime major art museum itinerary.
Danji
Pure Thai Cookhouse
Tori Shin (Totto if you can’t get a rez there)
Saar
Toloache
Turkuaz – used to be excellent when it was uptown, I haven’t tried the new location yet
Real Kung Fu (xlb)
Churrascaria Platforma
Ippudo
Lots of Thai not far – Three Roosters, Der Krung, Wondee, Chai, Lum Lum, ThongLor (tiny), Pure, and more
Columbus circle recs hold, 6 blocks up
Danji is closed
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Pre-theater for us is one of the very good Szechuan restaurants in the area. They are not touristy although last time we did sit next to a couple from Iowa who ordered beef with Brocoli and complained the whole time the food in their home town was better. 
If you’re interested in Szechuan check menus at places like Szechuan gourmet, blue willow, oohu. An easy low carb meal and a piece of old nyc is keens steakhouse,
Writing this response to you I’m having that feeling of Deja vu all over again so I did a quick search, are your parameters for pre-theater different this time?
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We havent gotten there yet but @Ziggy reported favorably on Sicily Osteria
https://www.sicilynyc.com/ and it seems to have reasonable prices as well as real sicilian dishes on the menu.
Thanks! We’re in AZ right now, but when get back I’m going to sit down nd chart all of this
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We’re back, and. had a wonderful time despite the rain. Many thanks on all the tips – Leila’s was excellent, and the Pastrami Queen was a treat. Also, drop everything and go see the Met’s revival of Zefirrellis’ Turandot
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I mentioned that we enjoyed our pre-opera dinner at Leyla. Big hits included the
Meze Trio of dips
and Nancy’s grilled branzino
and their response to Nancy’s request for a simple garden salad – curiously not on the menu – with a lovely arugula salad.
I wound up getting an ok lamb burger, as we were a little pressed for time (I spend a lot of time on a lamb shank). A welcome surprise was that we arrived in their very popular Happy Hour, so a couple of items were half price. If you want to read more about our trip, the opera, and my hundreds of interesting pre-theatre dinners, I have a post at https://johntannersbbqblog.wordpress.com/2024/03/15/leyla-manhattan-new-york-city-new-york/
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We decided on a NY diner for breakfast on our first morning, and the New York Luncheonette was right around the corner. the setting and service were pleasant, but the food was just ok – a dry omelet for Nancy
and slightly overcooked eggs and corned beef hash with no crust for me (under the eggs.). The potatoes were pretty good.
I also got a bagel with cream cheese, which got me thinking about the NY bagel and prompted me to make a couple of more bagel stops before we left.
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That looks like a proper Greek diner/ Greek greasy spoon / Coffee Shop omelette. I seek those out. I like the Viand Coffee Shop on Madison for that type of omelette. I usually order feta and tomato. When I stay at the Algonquin, I get my Greek diner omelette at the Red Flame.
Different animal than a fluffy French omelette 
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After my breakfast bagel, I tried one a Gourmet Bagel on our way up to the MMA as a further study of NYC bagels,
It enjoyed it more than the one I had at breakfast.
Next up was a post-museum lunch at Pastrami Queen. Here’s a photo in lieu of 1,000 words.
I also discuss why I chose pastrami Queen rather than, say, Katz. https://johntannersbbqblog.wordpress.com/2024/03/25/pastrami-queen-manhattan-new-york-city-new-york/
For dinner, our plan changed because of , and we ended up making a last-minute shift to the closest place, to the theater (Studio 54), Guantanamera. It was incredibly loud, but were were more or less stranded. They do have a good lechon asado, though, with plenty of mojo, on which I dote. We left as soon as possible and got a glass of wine.
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That looks amazing, Is pastrami queen still giving out cardiologist cards with every pastrami sandwich?
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As Oscar Wilde said, “Everything in moderation, including moderation.”
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I believe he also said "Nothing succeeds like excess”. Have you smoked a pastrami? I’ve done it a couple of times, an awful lot of work but I’ve had good results.
Nope. I only cook pork barbecue – over direct heat. I used to have a barrel smoker that was great for turkey, but then you have more smoked turkey than you want.
That pastrami almost leaps off the screen.
MMA is mixed martial arts. MOMA is Museum of Modern Art. Hopefully you weren’t on your way to a fight.
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yup, once the kids moved out, our smoker fell into disuse except for the occasional holiday and bbq contest. Just too much food to eat at one time. we now have a small kamado joe at our bungalow and I hate it, too susceptible to wind and temp variations.
anyhow, your post is a reminder that we should try all the pastrami options on the UES and I still haven’t had a chopped cheese despite living within walking distance of the blue sky deli
best,
