Bofinger — Restaurant in Paris

The name doesn't sound anything like it's spelled, at least to the ear of this monolingual American tourist. It's actually pronounced 'Boh-Fahn-Zhay' - not 'Bowfinger' like the underrated Eddie Murphy-Steve Martin comedy from back in the '90's. Founded in 1864 by an Alsatian named Frederic Bofinger, it's known as an iconic brasserie in Paris and the first one my husband and I decided to try since it was just a twenty-minute walk from our hotel in Le Marais close to Place des Vosges.

It was hectic and apparently quite popular, and fortunately I squeezed in a reservation earlier that day to secure a fashionably late 9PM slot. Speaking of squeezed, it was one of those Parisian places where tables for two were pushed together to maximize the space. Luckily the diners on either side of us weren't insufferable. The decor was very French with dark woods, polished brass and red banquettes, highlighted by a scene-stealing Art Nouveau glass dome over the central dining area.

They offered a 35,90€ three-course dinner special, but the server didn't bother pointing out the selections were severely limited until I was ready to order. Even the bread basket disappointed me because it didn't include any of the complimentary pretzels I saw praised on YouTube. I was told they were out of them, but then much later in the dinner, two of them arrived on a small plate. It was a thoughtful gesture, and my husband particularly enjoyed the flavor and texture. I found them cold and dry.

We shared a classic appetizer, the 9,50€ Eggs Mayonnaise, which was superbly creamy blended with a remoulade dressing and horseradish. It sat on a bed of light sauerkraut and olive oil. We found our respective entrees disappointing. My husband ordered the 28,50€ Roasted French Duck Breast with pepper sauce, green beans, and new potatoes. Unfortunately the duck was overcooked, and the green beans were absent in favor of capers. Only the pepper sauce exceeded expectations.

I ordered the 32,50€ Grilled Rib Steak with Bernaise sauce and French fries. Yes, steak and frites, and I requested medium rare (a point), but I was surprised how chewy the meat was and almost impossible to cut with a knife. The sauce again was good and gratefully served separately. The fries were slightly burnt and a tad greasy, though unexpectedly we received mashed potatoes we didn't order. Their buttery creaminess turned out to be the highlight of this dish.

In hindsight, I wondered if I should've tried one of their signature Alsatian dishes, though the portions looked overwhelming to me. We decided to share the dessert, the 8,50€ Floating Island topped with pecans and salted butter caramel. This was perfection with the meringue impossibly light and not too sweet and the creme anglais the right flavor and consistency. Such a mix of high and lows, and along with the clipped service, it made me want to mispronounce the restaurant name. Yes, Bowfinger.

FOOD - 3 stars...perfect appetizer and dessert but the entrees were severely lacking AMBIANCE - 4 stars...historic richness but crowded tables SERVICE - 3 stars...rushed and sporadically attentive, seemed like they were on automatic pilot under the thumb of the head waiter TOTAL - 3 stars...didn't live up to its legendary status, at least...

I hate to write bad reviews, but this dinner was so appalling that I just can’t let it slide.

For a restaurant with this level of reputation, the food was a disappointment. The French onion soup looked ugly and was far too salty. The seafood platter’s presentation was pretty haphazard - the oysters unevenly placed and the whelks scattered on like an afterthought. The seafood itself was obviously not fresh and couldn’t be saved with just the lemon. The platter was served with cold, dry rye bread, which nobody wanted to eat..

The sauerkraut platter was also sad. It was clear everything was cooked separately and the meat/potatoes placed on top of the sauerkraut, and neither had the flavor of the other as it normally should. The boiled items were just that - boiled, and the sausages poor and bland. I’ve had better boiled sausage at IKEA. The veal liver was a tad raw, but sauce was fine.

The real shocker was the service - or I should say, the total lack thereof. We saw our waiter twice, at the beginning when he took our order, and at the end when he gave us the bill. There was only a third time that I had to really wave him down, during the entire dinner, which was to ask for water. Overall, we probably saw him for less than 45 seconds the entire dinner. None of the food was explained to us, server didn’t introduce himself or give a name. The server also didn’t give time for the entire table to order drinks - as soon as one of us ordered wine, he left before I could order anything else.

Food was placed forcibly when we visibly had no room left on the table due to our dirty plates not being taken away for almost 10 minutes after our seafood course concluded. Multiple times other waiters asked US to stack our own plates on top of one another to make room for the food, which was placed at lightning speed before the waiters disappeared.

We were also never given new utensils to cut and eat our second course with, and had to resort to cutting the veal liver with a butter knife on hand.

Nobody ever came by to top off our wine either, we had to pour the wine ourselves the entire time.

We also witnessed other tables experience similar service, with the table next to us getting their desserts literally tossed onto the table so quickly like a frisbee it spun! At first I suspected if the service was bad due to us being Asian American, but the table next to us got the same treatment and they were French, so it seems the service is straight up bad.

At the end, the waiter had the audacity to even ask us if we were going to include the tip in our payment (his actual words). Tip?! For what?! For literally nothing??

Side note: Their women’s restroom is disgusting. Wadded up towels on the floor, dirty tiles, wet puddles…

As our last big dinner in Paris, this experience really left a sour taste. I have never experienced anything like this in my life for a restaurant of this supposed caliber. For such a beautiful restaurant with amazing history, it’s...

The food here is absolutely wonderful. However, we have to give it only three stars because the service ruined our night. The host stand was lovely and welcoming and they accommodated our request in our reservation to sit under the dome - a lovely room with a dome of stained glass. We were thrilled and got ready for our special night out for our nine year-old's birthday celebration in Paris. The waiter started out fine, asking if we preferred the menu in English, and coming back soon after to take our order. I had read some of the reviews saying that their appetizers and main courses came at the same time and quickly, so we first ordered an aperitif and appetizers, and told him we would order our entrees in a bit. Well, he was gone for quite some time and when he finally returned, said they didn't have the apperitif we had ordered and said we could have an "Americano" which is similar. I wanted to make a decision for myself, but then he disappeared. So, since so much time had gone by we decided to just move on to a bottle of wine. We decided on a half bottle, thinking we might have a digestif after with our dessert. He finally returned again and we ordered the wine and our entrees. He left again, but then came back randomly with various silverware and other accoutrements for our upcoming food. Our daughter's kid's menu selection came out, but minus her fries. We waited. An hour had gone by and we still had no appetizers. At one point, he came by and delivered drinks that were not ours, said oh, my mistake, and whisked them to another table. My husband asked him about the wine. He finally reappeared with a different wine and explained that they didn't have what we requested and that is why it took so long, this is a more expensive bottle, but similar and they will give it to us at the same price. Ok, so he opened it and we started drinking our wine an hour after we arrived. Then a different waiter shows up with just one of our main courses. Mind you - we still haven't received our appetizers. So, we explain this to the man and he whisks it away. Finally, we get our appetizers and our daughter has nearly finished her main course by now. We did enjoy the escargot and the terrine immensely. Kudos to the kitchen - really lovely food. But then it was another long wait for the main courses and finally my husband went at more than 90 minutes in the restaurant to speak to the manager. The manager then showed up with our food and we were finally able to eat. After my husband explained that the service was disappointing and made a point of telling them we did not want a discount, but just wanted to let the management know so they can fix it, the manager did comp our bottle of wine and then brought us each a glass of champagne at the end of the meal after dessert. My husband did tell the manager that another thing that was disappointing was that the waiter did not once apologize nor explain. We...