Prix Fixe With Park Views

Paired with an appetizer and a glass of wine, a meal at Porter House New York can push $100. Landing a table can be difficult—on a recent evening, the wait spanned 90 minutes.

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Byron Smith for The Wall Street Journal

The filet mignon available at Porter House New York.

So a $24 prix fixe lunch, with a sweeping view of Central Park, isn't a bad deal at the cherry wood, white tablecloth venue near the legendary Per Se and the sushi haven Masa.

"Lunch is important to us, as it gives people a chance to experience our quality of beef, our side dishes and how we do things as a steakhouse," said chef Michael Lomonaco. "And you can get in and out pretty quickly."

The prix fixe portion has attracted a steady crowd of tourists shopping in the Time Warner Center and Midtown denizens, Mr. Lomonaco said. Reservations are suggested, but the restaurant isn't usually packed during the daytime.

His offerings change seasonally, but a current slate includes a choice of soup or salad for the first course. The beef and barley soup, clam chowder and lobster bisque are all robust options you might encounter. Entrée choices are a 6-ounce cut of filet mignon with truffle mashed potatoes, grilled salmon with quinoa and broccoli or pan-roasted chicken with french fries. Dessert is New York cheesecake, raspberry and passion-fruit sorbet or flourless chocolate cake.

The filet, cooked medium rare and paired with soup and cheesecake for dessert, makes a terrific trio.

If nothing on the prix fixe menu suits your taste, the remainder of the lunch menu includes an $18 burger, a $22 tuna nicoise salad or a $49 ribeye, among other options. But with the prix fixe menu, looking at anything else seems almost pointless.

Porter House New York, 10 Columbus Circle, fourth floor; lunch served daily between 11:30 a.m. and 2:45 p.m.; 212-823-9500.

A version of this article appeared January 22, 2013, on page A22 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Prix Fixe With a View.