Rue Cler — Restaurant in Durham

Thoroughly unimpressed with the brunch menu. They had all of your basic brunch items - eggs, ham, French toast. Very lackluster. I ordered what looked like something a little more interesting - a chicken dish with brie cheese. What I got was the smallest chicken breast ever served, with a chunk of melted brie on top, thrown in a huge bowl of nothing but romaine lettuce tossed in a (slightly too acidic) Dijon vinaigrette. It felt like a salad that would have come from a corner pizza joint, complete with warm wilted lettuce. I'll be trying it again for dinner because I like giving places a second chance, but I would not recommend this place for brunch - especially if you are trying to impress someone. Impressive this brunch s NOT.

Edit March 25th, 2017:

Well, I returned to Rue Cler for dinner as I promised myself I would. I regret to say that my original two-star rating will remain in place. Now, the service I received was excellent - the waitstaff was on point, attentive and friendly. The flavor of the food was pretty good - nothing to write home about, but certainly not bad. So why the negative two-star review? It boils down to pretentiousness and laughable portion sizes. I paid over $100 for a prix fixe meal for two. My first course was a half a handful of french fries topped with endive lettuce tossed in a vinaigrette with three tiny pieces of bacon. Ok, it's just the salad...maybe the next course will wow me. This is where my meal took a turn that my date and I laughed about for the remainder of the night. My second course was a scallop. Singular. ONE small scallop. One small seared scallop set on a huge white plate next to three pieces of leek. I can understand keeping portions at a fine dining establishment somewhat conservative, but when I'm paying nearly $40 for three courses and the second one is a SINGLE scallop, I can't help but feel absolutely, unashamedly cheated. The final course was a beef shoulder (not exactly the most sought after cut of meat) that could not have been more than 3.5 ounces. I left after a three-course meal HUNGRY. I have done purchasing for restaurants for many years and I know that the ingredients in BOTH of our meals cost less than $10 combined. Yet I paid upwards of $100 for 3.5oz of beef, a few french fries and, lest we forget, our friend the lonely, single, scallop. I will be avoiding Rue Cler like the plague from this point forward. Two strikes, you are most...

I think I was in on an off night, I'll try Rue again sometime in the future to see if it was an anomaly based on the other reviews here.

A few observations, it was a prime weekend night and the place was almost full. There seemed to be a shortage of qualified waitstaff (there were bussers who could refill waters and clear plates, the hostess was also setting tables and the owner - I suspect - was running food). We weren't in any rush or hurry, so the slow pace of service (taking orders, delivering plates, checking on diners, etc...) wasn't really an issue.

I ordered from the prix fixe menu and started with the cucumber soup with crab, The broth was good, it had a little twang to it which I am still trying to figure out - the crab was more of a dusting than a component.

The next course was the mushroom duck tart with a salad, this was the highlight of the dinner by far. The duck meat was plentiful and tender. The salad was plainly dressed, and a contrast to the tart. If I could have gotten a plate sized serving of just the tart, I would consider adding another star.

My main course was the duck and unfortunately it was waaaay over cooked. I worked in kitchens for many years and know how duck must be pampered. Once it has been drained of its juices, it moves to the leathery stage pretty quick. That is what happened here. Some of the meat was so dry it had developed sharpened ends. I suspect that just as the restaurant was short staffed in the front of the house, the same was true in the kitchen.

I lived in New Orleans for awhile and figured I'd have to give the beignets a shot. They came out hot and soft. The dough was a little chewy and you could tell the fryer oil was getting close to the end of its life. It didn't necessarily impart a burnt taste, but you absolutely got the charcoally after taste.

The server was very nice when she had a spare moment to check on us, the owner seemed polite and the hostess smiled when we arrived. I feel bad giving them less than four stars, but I also have to be honest that this visit was less...

I am not rushing back here any time soon. The moment we walked in and were met by the. arrogant host/food runner/beverage director (Maybe named Ian) I sensed a pretentious attitude of the staff. (Exception is Tony the bartender) Tony was quick to realize the level of service we were receiving needed a serious jolt of adrenaline and attention.

Back to “beverage boy”, his only concern seemed to be checking vaccine status (which I have no issue with) rejecting diners with his snide questions/replies regarding reservations and walking around like he owns the place. Straight up rude and self important.

Food was average at best. Wife had the duck, it came out rare. Friends wife had the salmon, super dry and covered in sauce. We gents had steak frites, that was swimming in some sort of attempt at Perigeaux sauce.

For the grand finale we received our check and realized these jokers had added 18% gratuity for our party of 4. Somewhat sneaky as it is not mentioned anywhere, for any size group or party. This part is more just insulting than anything else as we usually tip in excess of 20%

Please do better. It will not change my opinion, but perhaps you can improve your offerings to others that want to spend their money at your restaurant.

Thank you Tony. I hope the owner can find you some colleagues that share your passion...