Bar Boulud

09/28/09

Dog food tastes better!

by xany212 at Citysearch

We went to Bar Boulud b/c I love charcuterie. We shared a plate of "Compote De Joue De Boeuf" described as "shredded slow-braised beef cheek onion confit and pistachio" which we were excited to order. We love beef-cheek ravioli and onion confit and pistachios, so what could be better? First of all, it took FOREVER to come, and no, we weren't there during rush hour before the theater. When it did come, it literally looked, smelled (and, we suspect, tasted) like a can of "Fancy Feast" cat or dog food.

Service was terrible, too. Very slow and unresponsive. My dinner date's main course (tagliatelle) came out before my main course (skate). The pasta was tasty, but my skate was so salty I thought it must have been cooked in seawater.

They never refilled out water - not once. We couldn't flag someone down for ages and finally did, but the check arrived before he returned with the pitcher. Our server, who was female, took our order and dropped off the check. Everything else was delivered by someone else. She never checked back to see if things were ok with us.

We LOVE wine, but as I was on a weeklong course of antibiotics, we didn't want to drink. The waitress was very pushy about the wine, to the point where I actually felt compelled to say, "I can't drink; I'm on medication" which is none of her business.

In short, almost any other restaurant near Lincoln Center will give you a better dining experience.

It breaks my heart to write this, b/c Daniel, the chef's flagship restaurant is one of our favorites, but we are so disgusted by "Bar Boulud" that it will be a while before we go to any of Daniel Boulud's restaurants again, and never back to that one.

• Pros: ???
• Cons: badly prepared food, overpriced, bad service

06/15/09

inexcusably BAD service

by nycom at Citysearch

I have been to this place several times over the past year. Every time I am amazed at the attitude exhibited by the majority of the staff - from the often clueless and vapid hostess to the surly manager to the inattentive waiter. I guess I am a glutton for punishment. Last week I returned here for the first time in several months - we went in for a light bite during their limited menu shift (in between the lunch and dinner hours). If a restaurant says they are open they should provide the same service one would expect at peak hours. (if anything, it should be better.) There were no more than 15 customers in the place. Long story short - the service was HORRENDOUS. The waiter was rude and forgetful and not even apologetic for forgetting my simple request for salt and pepper (for the flavorless plate of lettuce/ salad). Every single thing had to be asked for - water, menus, coffee, salt, etc etc. Cleaned plates sat in front of us for more than 10 minutes - I had to passive aggressively place them at the edge of the table to signal to someone to please remove them. Furthermore, we waited 20 minutes between the soup and the salad. Out of the 6 or more staff members that were floating around - there was only one busser who had a lovely disposition and was appropriately attentive. Wake up! There's a major recession out there - this is not the time to assume that your customers will arrive and return based on brand alone. Shame! I am one more experience away from completely blacklisting this place for good and making sure to tell every friend and corporate executive in the neighborhood to do so as well. You have been open for more than a year - the reviews on service have been consistently bad. Fix it!!

• Pros: space, food, location
• Cons: service, service, service

02/17/09

Good but its all in name.

by CSMobileUser at Citysearch

I was in the area shopping for gyms around 63rd street. After I was done, I hailed a cab with no destination in mind and saw Bar Boulud. I went inside and actually did not think I was going to be seated. I figured it was by reservation only and was happy when I was seated at the bar. The staff

was cordial and very attentive. I started it out with the chicken pate. which wasn't all chicken. it was mixed with pork which had to be served cold. I absolutely did not like it. The place was very crowded and at times people were standing over you at the bar while waiting to be seated. That was the only negatives. For the drink I ordered a port wine which they ran out of but the manager was nice enough to substitute a delicious port. I had 3 glasses. for the main course, I had a flatiron steak that was so tender and soft that if you had no teeth it would go down smoothly. it was like butter. I was totally impressed. I would go there again. I like the ambiance and everyone was very cool and relaxed. The patrons were extremely nice.