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Norma’s, the casual breakfast and lunch spot at Le Parker Meridien hotel, is probably best known as the home of the $1,000 omelette (eggs, lobster, and approximately $995 worth of caviar). Whoever Norma is, she certainly knows good PR. Even at lesser prices, the up-sell reigns here: Meals begin with a free shot glass of the day’s smoothie —strawberry-papaya-pineapple, say— and the exhortation to try one in a larger size. Fresh-squeezed orange juice is offered before (or in lieu of) water; refills on juice are free, and should be, considering the price of a glass. Still, with its high ceilings, wood paneling, and silver-edged tables, the dining room, tucked off the side of the lobby, feels airy, modern, and classic all at the same time. The menu is tricked out with cutesy marketing names (“Rabbit Food,” “Breakfast—if you party like a rock star”), but the dishes—pancakes larded with blueberries and clotted cream; a rustic eggs Benedict with artichoke and porcini-truffle sauce—are like diner food for, well, rock stars. (The lunchtime stuff is good, too, even if it doesn’t have the panache of Cocoa Con Churros Castillo—Valrhona hot chocolate with warm, deep-fried churros.) Forget the gimmicks and go for the breakfast, for which Norma’s is justifiably famous. — Melena Ryzik

Norma’s doesn’t offer a burger, but the informal Burger Joint, in another corner of Le Parker Meridien’s lobby, has one of the best in the city, for less than 1/100th the price of that omelette.

Blueberry pancakes, $21; egg-white frittata, $26; apple and red-pear crêpes, $19

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