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Number 4 of 20 in New York

Le Bernardin

Le Bernardin cooks fish and almost nothing else, and has done so with the same severity since the day it opened. The fish is the star of the plate, as the house puts it.

What it is
Grand restaurant
Opened
1986
Area
Midtown, near Rockefeller Center
Nearest museum
The Museum of Modern Art, 350 m

New York this week

    What Le Bernardin is known for

    1. Fish

      The menu is arranged not by course but by how far the fish is cooked: almost raw, barely touched, lightly cooked.

    2. The room

      A large, quiet dining room in the base of an office tower, with a painting of a breaking wave the length of one wall.

    3. Near the museums

      MoMA is five minutes' walk and Rockefeller Center three. The theatres of Broadway are just to the south-west.

    What to know

    • Founded in Paris in 1972, in New York since 1986
    • Named after a song the founders' father sang, about monks who loved good living
    • Book weeks ahead

    Where Le Bernardin is

    Address

    155 West 51st Street
    New York, NY 10019, United States

    Nearest station

    47-50th Streets-Rockefeller Center (B, D, F, M) or 50th Street (1)

    Museums and sights nearby

    Distances are in a straight line from the restaurant.

    From Paris to 51st Street

    Gilbert Le Coze, who cooked, and his sister Maguy, who ran the room, opened the first Le Bernardin in Paris in 1972. They moved it to New York in 1986, and within months The New York Times had given it its highest rating. Gilbert Le Coze died in 1994. His sister is still one of its owners.

    Le Bernardin: common questions

    Where is Le Bernardin?
    At 155 West 51st Street, in Midtown Manhattan, New York. The nearest station is 47-50th Streets-Rockefeller Center (B, D, F, M) or 50th Street (1).
    Which museums and sights are near Le Bernardin?
    The Museum of Modern Art is 350 m away, Empire State Building is 1.5 km away, Central Park is 1.7 km away. Distances are in a straight line from the restaurant.
    What is Le Bernardin known for?
    Fish, The room, Near the museums. The French fish restaurant that a brother and sister moved from Paris to New York in 1986, two blocks from MoMA. Many think it the best table in the city.
    When did Le Bernardin open?
    In 1986. Founded in Paris in 1972, in New York since 1986.

    What visitors say about Le Bernardin

    Rating from Google

    4.6

    4,664 ratings on Google

    Google's figures as read on 7 October 2026.

    Read every review on Google

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