Bar Boulud (1900 Broadway at 64th St., New York, NY) seemed to be the perfect place to catch up with a friend over cocktails and amazing food on the first warm day of the spring. We arrived right after work and had no problem getting a table outdoors, which was surprising considering that reservations are taken up to one month in advance. Since I arrived first, I gave the hostess my name and told her my friend was going to arrive in 15 minutes, and that I wanted to have an outdoor table if possible. Remarkably the hostess offered for me to sit down immediately and wait for my friend, which is very rare in NYC, since most restaurants, especially fancy ones make you wait for your whole party to arrive before being taken to a table and being sat. I was astounded and took full advantage of this!
The setting was perfect with beautiful flowers lining the edge of the outdoor seating area separating the tables from the passerby's. The vibe is the perfect mix of casual, relaxing, and romantic, with the added perk of great people watching since you are right in Lincoln Center.
After my friend finally arrived, the waiter waited to come over for several minutes before taking our drink order. He started the night by apologizing for ignoring us, which was a little weird, but I guess also nice?
Since we were so busy catching up instead of looking at the menu, we had no idea what we wanted to order when the waiter came back for our order. After asking his recommendation on items, we still weren't sure because so many dishes sounded amazing. He gave us more time, and then returned to ask for our orders, and when we still weren't 100% sure, he kind of made fun of us.
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| Aiolo de Homard - Half Lobster, sweet garlic dip, seasonal vegetables, quail egg grissini |
To start, we shared the Aiolo de Homard salad, which was half of a lobster accompanied with a huge assortment of vegetables that were all so fresh and colorful. The visual appeal of this salad was amazing because there was every color of the rainbow present on the plate. I have never seen purple cauliflower before, and it was quite exciting to see! The salad was extremely easy to share because of how it was served in an almost vegetable platter type of arrangement, where each vegetable was grouped together in its own area with sweet garlic dip in the center. The variety of vegetables ranged from radishes, potatoes, carrots, to even scallions. The eggs were also a nice addition to the salad because it added some more protein and flavor besides the lobster. I would highly recommend this salad because of the quality of vegetables and freshness that it has.
My one complaint would be that we were enjoying the salad so much and taking our time with dipping each vegetable into the sauce that when our entrees were ready, we were still enjoying the salad and weren't finished. Instead of them leaving our dishes in the kitchen and checking on our status, our dishes were brought out near our table with the waiter rushing over to us to tell that our dishes were ready and that we needed to finish our salad. He literally stood over us as we both grabbed the last few vegetables from the plate before it was taken away. I have never experienced something like this at a restaurant before. Normally dishes are held in the kitchen and kept warm until the table is done with their starter.
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| Fleischschnecke de Lapin - Braised Rabbit-rolled Alsacian Pasta Daikon Sauerkraut, Sage Jus |
For my entree, I took the suggestion of the waiter and I am glad I did! I ordered the Fleischschnecke de Lapin, which was braised rabbit, rolled inside of a pasta shell. Inside the shell there were many layers of pasta with rabbit in-between each layer. It was almost like a lasagna type of consistency, but French style and way better! It was extremely rich and flavorful with the sauce being very savory and creamy. Each bite was like eating a slice of heaven. The sauerkraut that was on the plate was a nice palate cleanser and a fresh addition to the dish to make each bite new and delicious! I am still thinking about this dish days later!
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| Saint-Jacques "Espagnole" - Chorizo crusted daybook sea scallops, saffron bombe rice paella, peas, soffrito, clams |
My friend ordered the Saint-Jacques "Espagnole", which was also very delicious. The scallops were crusted with chorizo and gave the scallops a very hearty pork flavor. I only tasted the scallops, so I can't speak for the rest of the dish, but my friend enjoyed every bite. I am not sure I would order this at a French restaurant since it is very Spanish influenced, but they definitely did a great job in flavor and visual interest!
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| Pudding au Chocolat - Chocolate Bread Pudding, Poached Pear, Salted Caramel Ice Cream |
For dessert, we ordered one that we loved, and another one that was only ok. Based on the suggestion of our waiter, we selected the Pudding au Chocolat, which was probably one of the best chocolate desserts that I have had in a while. It was warm and served in a pool of melted ice cream, while also being topped with the ice cream. The bread pudding had a hint of cinnamon in a Christmas kind of spicy way. It was delicious! The Salted Caramel Ice cream that was on top of the chocolate pudding was fresh and full of the caramel flavor. The poached pears were sweet and helped offset the richness of the dessert by bringing a fruit element to the mix. When raving to waiter about this dessert, and asking him if he has had it often, we learned an interesting fact about it, which I may need to use for future baking experiments. The restaurant bakes these cakes in a square shape because square shaped cake bakes with more moisture. They then cut the square into a circle for visual interest and the wait staff gets to eat the cut off corners :) Thank you for the fact, waiter with the Australian (I think) accent!
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| Ile Flottante - Steamed vanilla meringue, coconut tapioca, green tea anglaise |
Our second dessert was only ok, and was made with a vanilla meringue cake sitting in the center of a green tea anglaise. It was more on the bland side, and not very rich and exciting. This dessert would be for someone looking more for a cold, refreshing, fruity dessert. This dessert wasn't bad, but compared to the Chocolat Pudding, nothing can compare and nothing can ever be close!
Bar Boulud was amazing besides some minor service issues, but nothing that I can't look past. My friend and I really liked our second waiter who had the Australian accent because he was super attentive and checked on us for wine and dessert a few times. I definitely hope to return soon when the weather is even nicer out, since the outdoor seating is great there!
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