Bar Bre Ton

Recommends

thefoodczar

Joined 8 years ago

Wine Pairing Taste Explosions!. I can still taste the sparkling wine tweaking the delicate lobster salad flavors... I highly recommend the 6 course tasting with wine pairings, they did such a great job match making. The food quality was amazing and the presentation was very creative. They generously poured full glasses of wine with each course and the service was top notch. I think our waitress was named Anne Margaret, and she quickly ascended to the top of our "best waiters ever" list. She was actually the only waitress there, about 10 or so tables. But this is part of the charm, almost like a small town everyone knows you service, you get a lot of personal attention. When the pretentious obnoxious queen of rudeville who sat next to us knocked over my first full glass of wine into my lap, the entire staff reacted like secret service agents and had everything cleaned up and a new glass of wine poured within seconds! Some may say this is on the expensive side, but it's a lot cheaper than places like Daniel and One If By Land and you get the same quality. Prepare to spend about $200 per person, but it's worth every penny! I also like the fact that unlike these other places with a month waiting list, you can almost walk in off the street (I made a reservation 2 days out). Enjoy!

Recommends

olpurchases

Joined 7 years ago

Inventive, Delicious, Perfect Portions. Fleur de Sel is warm, personable and well presented. The food is a perfect balance between creative and familiar, between nouveau and classic. A variety of tasting menus and a la carte offerings make the meal as formal or fun as you'd like.

Doesn't Recommend

janesscar

Joined 6 years ago

Awful. This restaurant is truly terrible and so ridiculously expensive that it is mildly amusing. My husband and I dined there with another couple on a recent Wednesday evening and will never return. Fleur de Sel resorts back to the mid 80's image of French food with minuscule portions and very little flavor. The wine list is equally appalling and when I asked to speak to the sommelier a woman approached the table who knew so little about wine I find it hard to believe that even this establishment would have hired her to manage the outrageously priced list. The service itself was acceptable, but I couldn't help feeling sorry for the staff who all seemed rather unhappy. Walk one block down the street to Gramercy Tavern for a far superior experience.

Recommends

robnc2001

Joined 6 years ago

Why eat here?. I made a reservation for my partner and I for his birthday based on a personal recommendation and the reviews I had seen on this site. Unfortunately, $260 later for the two of us, I was left with only the bad taste of the meal in my mouth.

The atmosphere can best be described as "frumpy." It may have been cool 15 years ago but its seriously beat now. We didn't go here for the atmosphere, however, we went for what we hoped would be an elegant french meal. I can only say that we were disappointed on all counts.

We started with the seared Foi Gras, which tasted like burnt, unflavored jello. My partner had the veal, which had a weird "pulled pork" like barbecue consistency and and appeared covered in a thick tomato-like cream sauce. I'm still not sure what it was -- It just tasted strange. I had the lamb. Two, extremely tiny (we're talking smaller than half of a golf ball size), fatty pieces with overcooked rubbery vegetables as the side. I like lamb. I often order this dish. This was the worst lamb I've ever had -- anywhere!

I will say that the desserts were pretty good. We both had the chocolate mousse tart which was great. Crunchy pastry on the outside and velvety chocolate mousse on the inside. The wine list was also good, with a number of unusual and reasonably priced selections. Service was decent and reasonably attentive without being intrusive and we were greated in a friendly and unpretentious manner at the door. Still, given the frumpy, worn atmosphere, the poor quality of the food, and the steep prices, why go here? There are just too many other good choices in the neighborhood. Save yourself $150 and go to Steak Frites! At least there you will get a decent french meal and you won't leave hungry.

With so many great restaurants in the area, I can't imagine why anyone would choose to eat here.

Recommends

annienovak

Joined 10 years ago

Elegant evening. Fantastci dinner. We had an 8:15 reservation and was seated promptly. The service was friendly and knowlegable about the food and the wine. I had the lobster salad which was less of a salad with greens and more just lobster which was rich and good. As an entree we had the sea bass and the scallops - both were excellent. Dessert was fantastic. I had the apple crepes which is a MUST and my husband had the chocolate tart. We both prefered the crepe. The overal experience was very lovely (a tad pricey two prix fix menus, plus 2 glasses of wine were $245 which included tax/tip) - the dining room was pretty, elegant, and cozy and the food was fantastic. We will be back!

Recommends

lottapud1

Joined 7 years ago

Great Prixe Fix menu/wine dinner. This restaurant was fantastic. Being from San Francisco, I have fallen in love with prixe fix menus with wine for each course. On visiting New York, I found this place and was blown away by the excellent food, service and atmosphere. The food was creative and delicious. The restaurant did an excellent job of pairing each dish with the wine they served with it. Our waiter was friendly and did a superb job of establishing what each dish was and how it paired with the wine. This is a must do in New York. You won't be disappointed!

Recommends

bettyo70

Joined 11 years ago

A gem!. I went here for lunch with 5 people. Everyone was happy with their dish. The food was high-quality, beautifully prepared and presented.

Also our waiter was very professional, as was the rest of the staff.

The restaurant is a small but sunny place. You can tell everything is done with care here.

Recommends

trish2871

Joined 7 years ago

Be Treated like Royalty & Enjoy the Best French Cuisine. A wonderful experience for our party of five. The ambiance is serenely beautiful & the subdued lighting makes everyone look & feel great. All of the staff are warm, friendly, and so very accomodating. The appetizers, entrees, and desserts were magnificently and artistically presented. The Chef has perfected the taste of everything and you'll have see an exercise in excellence to the smallest of details. We are all raving to friends and family about this shining star among Manhattan's French restaurants. You'll feel like family and will want to return again and again. Fleur de Sel is at the top of our list for NYC.

Doesn't Recommend

jbtava

Joined 7 years ago

Mediocre. Nice atmosphere and space, but everything else about this place was decidedly mediocre. The staff was not very friendly and the service was decent but certainly not exceptional in any way. The food was generally overcooked and uninspired. The mark up on the wine was outrageously high, even by New York standards. Would not recommend this restaurant.

Recommends

nycritic00

Joined 10 years ago

should be top 10 BOC. I come here 2-3x's per year, always a wonderful affair, food/presentation superb, excellent friendly accommodating svc. love the foie gras, the lamb was tasty. desserts a sin. pricey but should expect excellent french to be so. take a train/cab it, parking is not good. The SUM IT: a must try. better than a lot of french spots, nice evening to be had. foie gras! I'm in heaven!