Bar Boulud

Not worth a visit. Steak Frites was served seriously undercooked and fries were cold. We've prepared meals 10x better at home. We'll never go back and recommend you pick somewhere else!

When first opened, food was divine, service was good, ambience always a question. Now it is commercial, too many Lincoln Center and walk in people. new cafe outside, very crowded and staff can't handle it all. We waited a long time for the food which was average; the cosmopolitan was bad - no cranberry juice, mostly lemon, so it took me 3 times and 3 diffferent waiters to send it back and get a Mojito. At those prices. never again.

Arrived a bit before my reservation when the place was largely empty. The host seated my wife and I at the worst table in the place. We asked for a different table. He then offered us the second worst table. I'm not a picky or demanding guy, but give me a break, dude, the place is empty. Third time was a charm and we sat in the back. Truthfully, there's no great tables in the place. The seats are hard and the interior is not great: everything is beige. The heavy wood chairs scrape along the floor and make an irritating noise. The menu's nice and there's bound to be something for everyone. But I can't say anything my wife and I had really stood out. Sure, it was fine, but there was no "Oh my God, this is fantastic!" moment (although my wife really liked her rhubarb dessert.) Service was good - friendly and competent. Pretty much what a place where that charges $100 per person should provide. But, like the food, it didn't exceed expectations. I believe that if a restaurant is good (or great), when you walk out the door, you're already thinking about the next time you'll go there. When I walked out of Bar Boulud, I thought "Eeh, I won't go here again."

We arrived on-time for our 5:30pm reservation pre-theater. The host seated us in a booth in the rear of the restaurant. Then all our troubles began. We sat for 20 minutes and no one approached the table to take a drink order. So I called over the host and pointed out the fact we had not seen our waitress. She said she would take our drink order. After 15 minutes no drinks yet and still have not been greeted by whomever our waitress would be. The Manager approaches our table and says with a smile is "everything going well?" I tell him the situation. He then takes our dinner order. We still have not seen our waitress. We have been at the table 35 minutes. Our drinks arrive. About 10-12 minutes later our appetizers arrive but incorrectly. We send one of them back. Still have not met waitress. Meals and missing appetizer arrive. While eating the entree the waitress finally makes an appearance and says "how is everything?" I say, "Ahhhh there's our missing waitress." She says, "I haven't been missing and it's all been under control." Attitude to us? Really. It was a miserable experience as we were eating with a guest we were hosting from out of town before a show at Lincoln Ctr. We were offered N as a courtesy for our troubles, not drinks or a complementary desert. When you pay for food at this level, from a Daniel Boulud restaurant, I would expect they would want us to leave happy. Unfortunately, we did not and we still left a 17.5% tip.

truly wanted to adore bar boulud since we live relatively close. sadly, & with regret, instead of casual, but sophisticated, it is not only pretentious, but also lacks that "je ne sais quoi". after several visits & dealing with the supercilious hosts, who somehow feel superior to their customers, atlantic grill, or even papaya king are better alternatives. so 'caveat emptor' to those who like to be overcharged, treated as if it is a privilege to enter this faux bistro. it seems like location is everything - will the public continue to subsidize this below average "boulud", or will the public discover common sense???? i can only assume boulud believes "you can never underestimate the stupidity of the general public".

Food was amazing - so well prepared & full of subtle flavors. Service was excellent. Pricey but well worth every penny. Elegant but casual.

Had lunch there last Saturday, pre-theatre. The service was slow and perfunctury. The eggs Florentine were just warm, not hot, the crab meat was cold! I had to ask 3 times for hot water for my tea. It was packed and clearly the staff are not up to the task. However the molten chocolate cake was DIVINE!