L’Express — Restaurant in New York

I'm biased. As a Frenchman and a long-time foodie, I was probably expecting way too much from this place. We had dinner at L'Express last week-end with a few good friends. Nothing went right. And mind you, I have worked as a chef myself, so I understand how it works. We arrived for dinner and the room was not even full. Yet, we had to wait a long time before our waiter showed up. It took him a while to get us menus for each one of us, and my friend had to get up and ask the lady in the entrance to see the wine menu. I immediately browsed through our options and it was obvious that their wines were totally overpriced, so much that we asked the waiter if they had a cork-fee. It took another 20 minutes for the manager to show up and tell us the cork-fee was $40. Again, totally exaggerated. It was obvious that he was annoyed already. My friend was celebrating his brand new US citizenship, but none of the options on the wine menu was decent enough. We ended up having wine by the glass. My Côtes du Rhône was drinkable, nothing more. Then our waiter disappeared for so long that we had to waive at him to place our orders.

I had the steak tartare, asked the waiter if I could prepare it myself, he looked at me as if I was an alien (I know, technically, I am, but still!) so I gave up. His body language was so obvious that he didn't want to be there that I didn't want to get in trouble and ask him anything.

Then, we waited, waited, and waited more. So much that we had to get up and ask for bread and butter to keep ourselves alive. Good sourdough bread. Not enough butter. Oh well!

What stroke each one of us was the noise. The room was so loud that we could barely hear ourselves across the table. The wait was becoming unbearable, our stomachs were growling, and our ears buzzing. We didn't need to speak to each other to know that we all wanted to get out and leave.

Anyway, finally our plates arrived...

Tartare: The good: the meat was hand-cut, which is great, because the texture and the bite are more pleasant this way. The fries must have been double-fried, as they should be, because they were crunchy outside and thoroughly cooked inside. The bad: very small portion, most likely less than 200g (7oz) of meat, and it was already mixed, so there was no way for me to know what was in it. Definitely not the right seasoning, not enough mustard, too many capers.

We skipped dessert, didn't order another glass, asked for the bill, and get out, relieved, but still hungry.

Nothing was French at L'Express, other than French food names on the menu. Not the staff, not the manager, not the atmosphere. Not even the food on our plate.

There are better...

I hate writing bad reviews but this was so annoying. . This was our go to, neighborhood place. Usually food and service are great. The other day was awful, what a disappointment. We ordered and was very specific about how i wanted it prepared, even joked with the waiter that I knew some chefs didn’t like doing that. He assured us customer is always right and we should have our food prepared the way we liked it. Unfortunately, the chef apparently disagreed. When he brought our meals I could tell it wasn’t right but tried to eat it anyway. I just couldn’t. Since the waiter never returned I went inside and told the host. She came and took my plate. I said that we had given specific instructions on cooking everything. Finally she came back but the other dish on plate was now prepared wrong. I had to go back around the corner, inside and tell them again. Finally got everything prepared correctly, over 15 minutes later when my friend had long finished her meal. Not a sorry about that or anything. No one cared. When we wanted to pay,since no one had come to check on how we were doing or if we needed anything else, we went inside. Where again, no one was interested in what an awful...

Our visit at L'Express was like a rollercoaster – some highs, some lows, and a bit of everything in between.

Let's start with the positives – the place has a friendly, cozy vibe that's perfect for a casual meal. The decor is inviting, and we immediately felt at ease. The staff was super nice and attentive, making the whole dining experience quite pleasant. Plus, it's definitely a haven for families with kids; there were plenty of little ones running around, and surprisingly, it added to the charm without any chaos.

Now, onto the main event – the food. I hate to say it, but it was a bit of a letdown. The fries, despite looking all crispy and irresistible, were sadly floppy. And the mussels arrived lukewarm, and the taste was just not hitting the right notes. Disappointing, to say the least.

However, there was a beacon of hope in the form of the beef tartar. It was actually pretty tasty, and it briefly saved our meal.

In a nutshell, L'Express] has a lot going for it – a welcoming atmosphere, friendly service, and a kid-friendly vibe. But, unfortunately, the food didn't live up to the hype. I'm all for giving places a second chance, but I think we'll be exploring other...