Round Table Room at The Algonquin Hotel, NYC, NY USA

Ordered at the The Round Table Room in the lobby of New York City's Algonquin Hotel, now part of Marriott's Autograph Collection.

It’s hard to be excited about a trip to New York City when it’s only for a few hours… leave on the train at 9am from Boston, back home by 11:15pm. My mantra for these types of trips is always “just make sure it’s worth it.”

No pressure, of course….

On top of presenting to about 20 hotels at once, we had a lunch meeting at The Algonquin Hotel’s Round Table Room. While I had never been here before, their recent addition to Marriott’s Autograph Collection had put them on my radar… I’m a big fan of this new “brand,” if you can call it that.

The Round Table Room, with its dark wooden everything and classic ambiance, reminded me of an establishment my grandfather enjoyed frequenting. Maybe best described as “old and cool,” there was nothing young about it. Although I wasn’t complaining – I liked the vibe of the hotel lobby and restaurant. You could feel the history of this place seeping through its walls. Call me old, but I thought it was cool.

Before opening the menu, I spotted the table adjacent to ours dining on what looked to be a club sandwich. I knew what I was going to have without even glancing at their offerings, which made pre-ordering conversation more fun and exciting than it should be.

I was happy to see that such a classic restaurant in such a classic hotel served such a classic club sandwich. The only description on the menu was simply “Turkey Club, algonqui potato chips.” Misspelling? Who cares, I love a restaurant whose dishes need no description, assuming its patrons already know what to expect and trust the chef to deliver.

Classic it was.  With a slice of bread in the center, The Round Table’s Turkey Club Sandwich was perfectly layered… truly traditional.  The chef had clearly given strong attention to the ratio of the ingredients, ensuring each played their role without trying to upstage the other.

It’s tough to rate each ingredient separately – they were all so great, at the same time, nothing stood out. I’ve learned from previous experiences, that sometimes it’s OK for ingredients to try and upstage each other… it’s fun when the battle it out, trying to prove to be the most memorable, while still realizing they are on the same team and team is what makes an incredible club sandwich. One thing was for sure though: such a classy looking club deserved better than potato chips dumped all of over it.

I really liked The Round Table’s Turkey Club Sandwich. It was satisfying comfort food, a true homage to the classic club sandwich… but it did lack the pizazz that normally makes me crave more. Will I be back? I’m known to use Marriott points during non-business trips to New York City, so possibly…

Location