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Pounding rock music that they refused to turn down should have been the first warning. The sluggish service is frustrating. The food CAN be good, but is it worth losing your voice just trying to yell over the crowd, which is yelling because they refuse to turn the bad music down? This is supposed to be an evocative, classy bistro, and its decor gives one that initial impression. Things plummet after that. Too expensive for such a ruined experience.

In the modern world, there's little to no reason you'd have suffer a bad or unsatisfying meal. With a quick check online, you'd have a hard time not finding exactly what you want in NY. Last night I was winging it and the one night I rely on my old world restaurant seeking skills- look, locale, bustling crowd, price, etc- I failed. Orsay has all the look, location, clientele and menu you can ask for in a semi traditional French brasserie like setting, however, it's wasted. It was fairly pricey heartless fare. The meal; in my case, a skirt steak, was a tasteless, supermarket grade cut waked in an arranged puddle of somewhat overpowering truffle oil laced au poivre. On the other hand, my wife's lamb terrine (an entree disguised as an appetizer) was delightfully good. She always gets the better plate. Bottom line, from the Land O Lakes butter on the table to the odd and (again) tasteless escargot to the greyish Cafe au lait finish, I wish I remembered Pascalou on Madison. Pass on this place, it's another soul-less money grabber.

It's easy to be suspect of a restaurant that it looks like it comes out of 'french bistro' central casting, but once you shake the jaded ny'er off yourself and allow yourself to enjoy, this place is a treat. Have only been for lunches but truly have had nothing but stellar food. Nothing terribly new and trendy - but classics that are terribly good. Today the lunch special included a Lyonaisse Sausage in brioche and t was amazing! Had the strawberry vacherin for dessert and it was just magical.

Bottom line for me: food is OK, atmosphere is a bit weak for me (it was way too bright for me taste), the real problem is the service. Service was painfully slow at every step. It took forever just to get menus. Even longer to order drinks. Longer still to get the drinks and bread. I won't go on about dinner, dessert, etc. I think you get the idea. I can tolerate busy waitstaff, but, this was way beyond acceptable.

My son had a doctor's appointment and was hungry afterward (what a surprise). We walked into Orsay without a reservation - place was surprisingly almost full. We were given a very nice table. Far from criticisms in other reviews, all servers were very pleasant and did their job well. My son started with onion soup and I had escargots. Both were excellent. There were 12 large escargots in a great parsley butter sauce for $12. Would have been considerably more in Paris. Bread very good and replaced promptly whenever L. "hooverized" the last piece. We both ordered roast chicken. I asked if the kitchen could make us only dark meat. The server came back and said while it was not usually served that way, they would do it - impressive. We shared a very good chocolate mousse. Great espresso. 2 bottles of fizzy water - $116 with tip and tax. Luncheon specials would have been less. We loved our lunch and would go back in a heartbeat. Amities Gourmandes, ally's dad

wonderful and attentive bartender. We are Thursday night regulars and he always takes wonderful care of our large group. The martinis are excellent as are the steak tartar, raw bar and french fries. Although the bar is often crowded, there is a high turnover and it's not difficult to get a seat.

I had heard such tremendous things about the brunch here that I had to give it a try. My party of five arrived about 5 minutes before our reservation time. A harried host urged us to go to the bar and wait, where we sat for 20 minutes. When I went over to check on the status he told me I looked mad, I responded that I was b/c I had been sitting here with a reservation for so long. We were finally sat and it took over 30 minutes for our waitress to even get to us. She took the orders and a swift 30 minutes later our food arrived. You want to talk about one of the most all time bland meals I have ever had? The food was tepid, characterless, apathetic and unsatisfying. If you're going to do the haute- couture-small-food-french-meal thing then at least give it a unique flavor so that I know that Im getting something special. My meal had no flavor to identify it as anything other than the individual components that comprised it. I would have been happier at my local diner. As for the cost, it is outrageously high for such a watery and dull meal. There is nothing about the quality of the food, let alone the poor service that justifies a check as high as we had. Considering the pretension of the host, the pathetic service and the extreme cost, I will avoid this place in the future and I suggest you do the same.