My wife and I dined at Ilili on Valentine's day and were blown away by the entire experience. We didn't order the pre-fixe, opting to order a-la-carte instead. All the food is served mezzo-tapas style, which I guess means portions sized somewhere between traditional tapas and that of a standard main course. The service was extremely knowledgeable - my wife asked which of two dishes the waitress would recommend, and got a remarkably thorough description right down to the subtle flavors each had. The food was full of a wide variety of rich flavors: the brussels sprouts were grilled to perfection, complemented by jammy apricots; the duck shwarma wraps were juicy, topped with sweet pomegranate seeds; even the baba ganouj seemed to be in another league.\r
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The dining room was visually stunning; the service was quick, knowledgeable, and attentive.
Pros: Service, food, ambience
Cons: Parking (always a problem in Manhattan)
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