The halibut taco on the bar menu at North End Grill is the best fish taco I’ve had since moving away from San Diego. It’s nearly a perfect fish taco, and now that summer weather is here, the bar area has been opened up to the outside. With the water nearby and a nice breeze, you can almost pretend you’re in San Diego. Almost. Regardless, I’m going to be there all the time.

Lunch at Floyd Cardoz’s new North End Grill. Steve was in town and we hit North End Grill for lunch. Never mind the fact that it was a quick lunch on a Thursday, or that it wasn’t even on the menu… Steve went ahead and ordered a whole grilled Nova Scotia Lobster. Good thing he did, because Floyd’s lobster was the one of the most perfectly grilled lobsters I’ve ever seen. The two bites I was allotted were unbelievably good. My salmon burger you can see in the background was solid, but it’s kind of hard to compare a salmon burger to lobster. The spiced thrice-cooked fries are always good.

I’ve been to North End Grill a number of times now for lunch, dinner, and drinks. It had promise at first, but there were clearly some kinks to work out. Today it’s still a few kinks shy of perfect, but there is a lot to like… including a full page Scotch list and really well thought-out wine list.

I checked out the soft opening of the new downtown (Battery Park City) Blue Smoke last night. KC ribs (pictured), Memphis ribs, jalapeño cornbread, grilled oysters, and crispy rock shrimp are all winners on the preview menu. There’s a decent beer list along with a good selection of Bourbon, Scotch, etc. The place opens for real next week, as does another Danny Meyer place right around the corner—North End Grill with chef Floyd Cardoz.