01/26/09

I'd rather be at the dentist.....

by acktrader1

My wife and I have recently decided to fly to New York for some weekends for dining and museums. In regards to the museums, they are world class. So far, our culinary experiences have been sub par. This place was the "crown jewel" of average food with poor service. I can quickly list 50 restaurants in Chicago that are far superior to Chanterelle for 50% of the price. The restaurants at the same price point are head and shoulders above and you will have a memorable meal. After paying the $500 for this meal, I would pay someone $500 more to make me forget I ever went here.

• Pros: wine list
• Cons: everything else

11/24/08

Look forward to being forgotten.Check the dates on anything greater than 2 stars

by bpbrody

Food was decent. If there are more than 5 tables occupied get ready to be forgotten. My wife had a coffee cup put in front of her and we stared at it for 25 mins. Couldn?t get the attention of the staff and I?m not hunting one of them down when you?re paying $500 for a table of 2. Finally the Maitre?d was seating another table where I loudly had to get his attention. Asked for the check and told him why. It is unacceptable to not have anyone come by to check in on a table for nearly half an hour. I think you will have the same experience unless you have a table with a party of 5 or more. Even though the check for 2 is high, clearly a table of 5 will likely be higher so prepare to get ignored on a 2 top. The place isn?t much bigger than a living room, so this type of experience should never happen. Should have heeded the most recent reviews regarding the svs and not the ones of yore.

• Pros: Ok food
• Cons: Service considering price point

11/02/08

Disappointing..

by galvantinggourmet

We are frequent diners at the many great restaurants of NYC and really enjoy a wonderful and innovative food. It had been years since we had gone to Chanterelle, so went their for my birthday tonight. The restaurant was half full and very somber, but the decor and flower arrangements were still beautiful as we remembered. We ordered a glass of champagne and then ordered a bottle of wine. The wine list had a few bottles at $40 and them jumped up significantly from there (which we know is common in many restaurants). We told our waitress we wanted a medium-body red around $60. We got a French pinot that was below average. The food came out. I had ordered the scallops and foie gras with chive oil--to my disappointment I was given what I could only call a scallop shumai with a foie gras mousse and chive oil squirted around the plate. For my main I had a poached chicken breast that was good, but not incredible. The dessert was actually quite good--a prune armagnac souffle. My boyfriend's meal was average: squash ravioli with ox ragout as the starter and lamb for the main. It was ok. The service was fine but when the bill came we were shocked to see that the 2 glasses of champagne were $50 and the bottle of pinot (2004, Louis Jadot) was $75. I feel as though there should have been some discussion about the prices of the wine. I know that at a $75 price point you can have an excellent bottle of wine at a top restaurant. SKIP this and go to Le Bernadin, Per Se or Bouley for a better dining experience at this price range.