12/08/07

Lousy Service

by alexiakatz

We came to Manhatten for a day of shopping and this place was recommended to us by friends of ours who had dined there last year and gave it great reviews. Fine and good. Well, the four of us stood at the entrance of the busy, but not over-crowded bistro for ONE HOUR while the host kept moseying back us about every 15 minutes telling us, "Just a few minutes." When it became painfully obvious that we were being played, we walked out. I guess New Yorkers will put up with nonsense like this, but we had no intention of doing so. He should have been honest with us and told us that there was no seating for a party of our size instead of messing us about. Angry isn't the word for how we felt. Utterly ridiculous. FWIW, we ended up at Chat Noir, which was fine.

• Pros: None
• Cons: Host refused to tell us how long the wait REALLY was, so we wasted an hour for nothing

12/30/06

Wonderful Surprise, great food and service

by meganross1

We went to Bistro 60 because of the location, not knowing what to really expect besides the fact that it had standard French fare. We made reservations, and were promptly seated in an excellent location by the charming and attentive hostess/owner. I had an excellent Cotes Du Rhone to begin, and were attended to by several people who made sure we had plenty of bread and water until our excellent escargot arrived. It was superb, in the shell. After lopping up the rest of the juice with our bread, our entrees arrived. We had the seared scallops with mashed potatoes and vegetable, and I can say we were very impressed. The scallops were huge and the flavor delectable. I had the traditional steak a pauvier con frites, and it was so big I couldn't even eat half of it. It was done perfectly medium rare, and the sauce and peppercorns were delicious. We had tickets to a show nearby, so we had to leave before we would have liked and didn't get a chance to order desert, as we would have liked. But they were very efficient and got us out of the door in no time, when we asked for the check. We will definitely return. The atmosphere was cozy and clean, and the service was terrific. I highly reccomend this bistro, if you are finishing up shopping in the area, or after a day on museum mile.

• Pros: flavor, service, ambience, portions
• Cons: none

07/20/06

Consistently solid neighborhood French Restaurant

by blondbluey

I had walked by here 1,000 times without giving it much notice until a friend brought me here. This type of restaurant is increasingly difficult to find on the Upper East Side. It is the nicest looking of any of the

comparable ones (Sel & Poivre, for example) in this part of town. It attracts an interesting mix of locals, upscale tourists and business people from this silk-stocking hood. It is unique in that it also attracts young, middle and old.

The menu has the greatest hits of French bistro food and always some good specials. The wait staff are mainly Eastern Europeans who are professional but not necessarily very personal. The best asset here is the hands-on owner, Manny, who makes all feel extremely welcome.

• Pros: Consistent food and Stellar Owner/Host
• Cons: Waitstaff professional but remote