Bar Boulud

09/28/09

Dog food tastes better!

by xany212

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

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

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.

01/29/09

Pick somewhere else. No joke.

by peachis

I have never commented on any restaurant in the 10 years I have lived and eaten in this great city full of great food. I have to now because I just want to warn people who are planning a nice night out - like I was. This place is terrible. Seriously. Just do yourself a big favor and don't go. I was so excited to finally try the food of such a well-respected chef in the restaurant industry but ...yuck. Poor quality ingredients, boring menu options, and just lazy, tasteless cooking. My boyfriends broccoli looked and tasted like it came from a can. My salmon entree was similar to an airplane meal. Bland, overcooked, and soggy. I believe in paying good money for good food, but it made me angry to give them my cash after that meal. I truly felt like I threw the money away and wasted space in my stomach. There are so many good restaurants in NYC. I have eaten at most of them and seriously wish I had eaten at one of them tonight. Go to those places, not this one. I promise you will have a better meal anywhere else.

• Pros: none really.
• Cons: the food. that is the worst con a restaurant can get.

01/06/09

the best charcuterie plate in nyc

by foodie3462

I have to say hands down, after being to Peasant, Il Buco, Casa Mono and Bar Jamon (and Otto), I think this was the best charcuterie experience I have had in nyc, remarkably compares to that of France. You need to try, and don't be shy.

01/02/09

Great Food and Reasonable

by sgourmandp

Bar Boulud has not disappointed me in my two visits in the past 2 months. On both occasions, the front of the house was not warm or friendly and treated customers with little tolerance (the hosts all appeared to be rushed and preferring to move you along and out of their sight). However, the wait staff was very accommodating, polite and informative when it came to the menu. The food is very good starting with the pork belly, escargot and the salads - all were delightful. The main courses were also exceptional, including the artic char, bass, steak frites and chicken. The cheese plate had some wonderful selections and desserts were delicious. I really enjoyed the atmosphere and it wasnt to hard on the wallet. I would definitely go back!

11/29/08

Great food, good service in a relaxed atmosphere

by pippa82

I went a week ago. We sat at the bar rather than a table. Someone took my coat as I entered. The service seemed really good and the waitress was attentive. She came to ask how we were doing and our wine and water was refilled continuously. I started out with oysters and had the sea bass entree. Both were great. The desserts however were a miss. We ordered two of the chocolate desserts, one of them had dried fruit in between and the other was just chocolate, both left me wanted more. The atmosphere seemed relaxed, almost business casual.

• Pros: great food, relaxed atmosphere with attentive service
• Cons: desserts

08/05/08

Fantastic experience

by christita

I went to Bar Boulud on Sunday for Brunch. We came at a very busy time and we were treated very well. We were sat at a lovely booth and the servers really took care of us. The food was great. I highly recommend the pate on the brunch menu. Amazing! A bit pricey for brunch but still worth it!

07/24/08

Service is the absolute pits. RUDE RUDE RUDE

by theorem10

Very excited about our reservation, we arrive early. They sit us at the bar while they prep the tables in this empty restaurant. We order drinks. People start coming in and getting seated at their tables. We ask, politely, can we be seated. The waitress acts as if we've asked her to clean out the Augean stables and says "you have to ask the Maitre D." The bartender takes pity on us and asks for us. After another 15 minutes, we are shuttled to a horrendous table in the sun on the hottest day of the year. We ask, politely, to be moved to one of the many empty booths. Instead, after 10 minutes of harumphing by the waiter, we're shuttled to the back of the restaurant to sit crammed up against another couple even though tehre are tons of other tables. We again ask for a booth and are told, essentially, to take our business elsewhere. Left, walked a few bvlacks and had a lovely meal at Porter Hourse. The drinks were warm and tasteless as well and cost $30. What a terrible, uninviting pit.

• Pros: none
• Cons: rude, uninviting, creepy pit

06/27/08

Terrible, Terrible Service

by nycguy22

Let me preface this review by saying that I have dined at a good number of other "fine restaurants" in NYC over the years. Generally, one of the (many) draws of a quality restaurant is great service...and this is where Bar Boulud falls painfully short.

The food at Bar Boulud is pretty good for the price (the charcuterie in particular is fantastic). However, the "front of the house" staff members at Bar Boulud were disappointing at best and atrocious at worst. In particular, the evening hostess at the front of the house was arrogant and very rude. Judging by the rest of the comments on this site, this doesn't appear to be an aberration from the norm. Is there any particular reason for the hostess of a "nice" restaurant in NYC, to be pompous and arrogant to guests? Many other qualtiy NYC restaurants (some of which are more "prestigious" and / or "exclusive") have hostesses that do not project such facades of superiority or self-importance. In fact, many of them do what they are supposed to do: provide a gracious and warm start to a pleasant dining experience.

Once Bar Boulud revamps its front of the house staff, I will return to enjoy Bar Boulud's impressive menu.

• Pros: Charcuterie menu
• Cons: Rude hostess, front of the house staff