Balzac — Restaurant in Vilnius

What a disappointment. Not sure if the chefs are trying to satisfy some local trend or haven't been to France a day in their life, but this place is certainly an insult to french cuisine.

I called 3 days in advance to book a table for our anniversary, and when we showed up they had no idea of who we were or what we were talking about.

The service is shockingly bad for a place advertised as upscale. The best words to describe the attitude of the waiting staff are....unexpressive, uninterested and unhelpful.

The food is so bad, I can't really say more. We had a chewy beef steak that tasted mostly like liver, a fairly disgusting and off balance beef tartare, and a poorly warmed camembert.

Drinks are ok. Nothing to celebrate, barely passing for decent, but not surely not worthy of praise.

Finally the dessert: 2 creme brulé: all sugar, no other taste. No twist, no tradition, no originality, just blunt and bland burnt sugar. Honestly there's not much more to say.

Insulting Is the way to describe them and their attitude, and their food. Insulting towards customers and French cuisine.

Overall: this was supposed to be a special place for a special night. Saved and savoured for months, waiting for a good occasion. Turned out to be a disappointing experience all the way through, from the atmosphere to the food to the service.

Personally, I'll avoid this place...

Omg we can across this petite French restaurant off the beaten path of the main plaza old town. What a gem for me and 7 members of my immediate family. Quintessential little restaurant with outside seating and larger than expected inside seating. Olgastag accommodated us with the finesse of a ballet dancer. She was by herself and tended to our 8 member party and then at least 8-10 other guests. With aplomb. It was a near perfect experience we stumbled upon. Classic French restaurant with the atmosphere of being in Paris. And hosted by a young but consummate professional. Oh the food! Yes the food was as expected with the atmosphere. Wonderfully tasting appetizers, cheese and meat plates. Main courses were chefs specials of lamb and fish as well as salads. All were done very well and tasted excellent. My party had a couple of foodies who had no complaints but praise. The apple pie dessert was a great finisher.

I am surely misspelling her name but our hostess did an amazing job tonight. Genuine. Professional.

With a smile despite being under stress from the workload.

Well done!

Highly recommended. Menu is diverse...

I've been to Balzac in the past with family and/or friends, and have always had a great experience. Last weekend we celebrated my wife's 50th birthday there. The food was great, and the service was even better.

We were a party of 20 guests, so the challenge of preparing a large amount of appetizers and 20 main courses had to be difficult, but the Balzac chef and staff did a wonderful job! The food was terrific.

The tuna tartar and frog legs were tasty starters, followed by duck confit or Dorado as the main course. Top notch! The star of the evening was Balzac's creme brûlée. Simply addictive!

What surprised me the most though was the service level. These days that can be difficult to find, but we found it. The head waiter was in complete sync with the kitchen. Everything was timed perfectly, and every single one of our requests was addressed.

If you want to experience some great French food with great service and atmosphere, Balzac is a very good choice. By far the best French...