Max Downtown
City Place
185 Asylum St. (Trumbull St.) 
Send to Phone
Hartford, CT 06103
860-522-2530 | Make Restaurant Reservations
Cuisine
Open
Lunch Mon.-Fri., Dinner nightlyFeatures
- Private room(s)
- Full bar
- Reservations suggested
- Entertainment Thurs.-Sat.
- Open late Fri.-Sat.
- Business casual
Wine
Great Wine List* Click here for rating key
 Richard Rosenthal and Steve Abrams have a winner in Max Downtown. They know it, and so do their clientele: Max caters to big shots looking to flash a bit---okay, a lot---of cash. The kitchen, however, more than lives up to the hype it generates, taking you on a world tour with a sophisticated menu that befits the cosmopolitan vibe. For starters, there's crispy Rhode Island-style calamari with cherry peppers and garlic butter and Maryland lump crab cakes with chipotle-orange tartar sauce and crispy potatoes. Move on to oven-roasted Nantucket striped bass with a saffron corn sauce and lemon-basil ricotta gnocchi or soy-and-maple-brined Kurobuta pork chop, enriched by a red wine-miso sauce and paired with pork fried rice and shiitake wontons. Of course, where fat cats gather, chops proliferate; here the choice cuts come with an array of neo-classic sauces like foie-gras butter, thyme-scented jus and Cognac-peppercorn cream. If you've somehow got room for dessert, Max's daily-made cheesecake should fix that. What's arguably the city's definitive restaurant also serves what is inarguably its definitive crème brûlée.
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