Saturday, May 15th, 2010—Bar 125

Day 125—Friday, May 14th, 2010
Ilili
Okay, there are some nights I’m really looking forward to leaving work and hitting the old bar crawl and meeting people and having a few drinks. There are other nights where I’m a little tired and it feels like a bit of a chore, but usually when I get to the bar that feeling goes away and I have a good time. Then there are the few nights I really don’t feel like doing this at all. Tonight is one of those rare nights. It was a crazy night at work, I have a headache and I have to work Saturday and Sunday and I didn’t even have time to take a dinner break or plan a bar to go to tonight. And yes, I know, I haven’t even entered a bar yet and already I’m filled with whine. Wah, wah, waaaah! And so I’m going to take the walk down Fifth Avenue towards home and stop at the first bar I see. Time to crawl.

Okay, here we are, the corner of 5th and 29th, time to find a bar and get this over with.

Been there, done that.

Ilili restaurant, maybe there's a bar in here, let's check it out.

Leah the lovely hostess assures me that there is and waves me in. (Little known fact that isn't obvious from the photo, Leah is over seven feet tall!)

Whoops, looks like I've wandered into the restaurant area. Looks nice, but I'm walking into bars, not dining areas.

Okay, here we go, this bar looks great. Low-lit and low-key, perfect after a crazy work day like I had.

And bartender Adam has the key to making the crawl something I'm grateful for...

A bottle of Brooklyn Brown. I'm feeling better already and I'm back into bar crawl mode!

There's a lounge area adjacent to the bar. Let's see who these people are.

It's Julie, C.B., Paige and Fred who were relaxing with drinks and enjoying some appetizers on this Friday evening.

Back at the bar a couple has arrived, time to meet them.

It's Katy and Brian. Both are we designers. Katy works for the NY Daily News, which gave the 365 bar crawl decent publicity a bit ago, thanks again to Simone Weichselbaum for writing that feature. Brian works for Huge Ink, check them out here: Huge Ink.

Some of the top shelf liquors at Ilili bar.

Fire! (It never gets old for me!)

I asked Adam what the most popular drink in the bar was and he told me it was the Phoenician Lemonade, which he expertly mixes here.

And it's delicious! I had a good time on the crawl after all! Thanks to Adam and everyone at Ilili for turning my mood around. Okay, I gotta work tomorrow, so time to drink up and go home. Goodnight everybody!

Review
Ilili is an upscale Lebanese restaurant with a Mediterranean menu that is eclectic and sounds like a treat to the taste buds. The restaurant is spacious and modern, but I’m walking into bars, not restaurants, so I spent my time in the bar area, where the full menu is available. the bar is sleek and modern with low lighting creating a romantic and casual mood. The bartenders are friendly and the crowd moves from business people stopping in for happy hour specials to locals enjoying the specialty cocktails and imported beers.

There are seven bottled beers available at the bar imported from Spain, Lebanon and Holland among other continents. If you want to drink local you can sip on a Brooklyn Brown. Some of the specialty cocktails include The Lebanese American made with Massaya Arak, Bourbon, Ginger and Fresh Mint, Sharab Al Toot, a mixture made with Inocente Tequila, Mulberry Syrup and Lime Juice and the delicious Phoenican Lemonade which consists of Citrus Vodka, Orange Liqueur, Mint, Lemon and Orange Blossom Water. Happy Hour runs from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm Monday through Friday with five dollar beers and seven buck cocktails and a small bite menu featuring Hommus, Kabis, Marinated Sardines and Lamb Ribs. The extensive Mediterranean menu features hot, cold and sharing items including: Baba Ghannouj, Falafel, Beef Fried Kibbeh, Veal Sweetbreads and a Lebanese Burger.

In addition to the restaurant and bar, there’s a lounge area and a DJ spins tunes on weekends. A unique bar and dining experience in the Murray Hill area. It turned my bad mood good, so check it out!

Ilili
236 Fifth Ave. (Near 27th St.)
212-683-2929