Le Bernardin — Restaurant in New York

Dined here last night with my husband to celebrate our wedding anniversary. We both truly enjoy spending money on experiences and good food, especially culinary experiences that you can’t get anywhere else. The food was magnificent. Every bite surprised me. All the flavors went very well together and I wouldn’t change anything about any of the dishes. Each bite was different but similar. And the flavors were truly dancing on my tongue. 10/10 culinary experience.

For a resturaunt of that reputation, you’d expect the service to be first class. But the service did not meet our expectations compared to other resturaunts of the same category. The servers did not have a genuine sense of hospitality. When switching out the silverware after every course, the servers just barged between us in the middle of conversation, and plopped the silverware down on the table. Reaching their arm right in our faces, without an ounce of respect. Even I would say “excuse me” if I was that close to someone’s face and I’m not a trained waitstaff at a Michelin star resturaunt. Another note to mention- we were completly unaware that the bread service was unlimited and of constant supply throughout the dinner. After finishing out bread, the empty plates were crowding our table, along with our used lemon wedges, so we decided to ask one of the multiple waiters who were coming to our table to remove the plates (so that the table seemed a bit more tidy). He seemed shocked but took the plates away. After 20 minutes, we see the bread server walking around with the bread basket, handing out more bread to other tables which THEN made us realize that the bread service was constant and not just given after the appetizer. We politely asked if we could try some more bread, and the waiter looked extremely taken aback, reminded us that we asked for the bread plates to be taken away, made a face, seemed to roll his eyes and had a mouthful of words before giving us the plates back. He kept commenting that “you were the ones who asked for the plates to be removed, that means you don’t want anymore bread!” With extreme attitude! At this moment, I felt disrespected and calmly said “we were not made aware that the bread service was constant” and while I was saying that, he was still making comments, I had to speak over him. I didn’t even hear what he kept saying. But I was so shocked that he made such a scene about giving us the bread plates back. Before even taking away the plates, he could have informed us that if he takes the plates away, it meant that we didn’t want bread. This was our fist time dining there. We weren’t made aware of the rules. And this experience truly upset me a bit.

When you spend this much money on a resturaunt, you expect high quality food along with high quality hospitality. The service was average and my experience with that one particular waiter made me give the service 3 stars. The other staff were nice. But not a single waiter has the habit of saying “excuse me” before putting silverware down right in front of your face.

The ambiance was average. Nothing special. Looked like a regular resturaunt which is why I’m giving 3 stars to that. I guess, going to another 3-Michelin star resturaunt in NYC really set the bar high for me in terms of ambiance and service (which directly contribute to your dining experience)

Overall, the food itself is enough to dine there and spend the money. We did the chefs tasting menu but you can also choose a 4 course option which is cheaper. We decided to go all out during this first visit. I am a huge foodie and I truly took time to savor every bite and dissect the flavors and I will say that every bite of the same dish is so different but similar, and it was...

If I could give this place a 6th star I would. Outside of sushi in Tsukiji this is the best seafood meal I have ever had. I could not put one over the other when it comes to sushi in Tsukiji and Le Bernadin. Thank you Eric Ripert for your vision, your masterful artistry, and for creating this experience that I am blessed to have enjoyed

First the experience. I came for lunch, was the first one in, and walked into a beautiful dining room. Every member of staff at their post, welcoming, and in a prideful demeanor that resonated throughout the entire room. As I dined I enjoyed watching the choreography of the entire staff. Like a fine tuned machine. Not a moment was lost to serving their guest. My main waiter Virgil was exceptional. First he tolerated me, which is not easy for anyone. He did it with a smile and a great sense of humor. Very informative, attentive, business-like, and kind. It was a great mix of professional and friendly. Kim was my sommelier. Very kind, attentive, graceful, and knowledgeable. I had one more gentleman attending to me, and I apologize for not remembering his name exactly. He also was helpful, had great recommendations, and had the same professional and personable demeanor as Virgil and Kim. In fact, every member of staff that I encountered was professional, welcoming, and extremely attentive.

The food, oh the food! That is why I came. Did not let down, and EXCEEDED ALL EXPECTATIONS. For the lunch services I enjoyed a three course meal. My selections were the tuna with foie gras, the Dover Sole, and the pistachio praliné. This was my first encounter with the foie gras. It was deliciously prepared. The combination of thinly pounded out tuna, foie gras, and toasted baguette was delightfully light and decadent. The star of the show was the Dover Sole hands down. One of THE BEST dishes I have ever had. The toasted almonds, green olives, and sherry emulsion all complemented the sole perfectly. You could taste it all in one harmonious bite. A true culinary treasure, and I am just so grateful I was able to enjoy it. Finally, desert. I am not a huge desert person, and I would have gladly substituted out the desert for the shellfish melody (was so undecided between ordering the shellfish medley and tuna foie gras going in). However, the pistachio praliné was exceptional. Elegance and richness at its best. Perfect combination of savory and sweet. Not disappointed at all. With dinner I was also served a smoked and poached salmon spread with crackers prior to my courses, as well as a variety of breads that were offered throughout the meal. Than Manhattan was great, a definite recommendation. Also my Bordeaux with lunch was very nice. Finished the meal with a cup of coffee and a small pastry. An amazing and delicious array of food.

I am truly grateful for experiencing Eric Ripert's Le Bernadin. The food, the atmosphere, the staff, the entire experience. I am not a person who has the means to dine like this regularly, or really that many times in my life at all. So I have a few spots on my list in this large delicious world that I am hopeful to visit and experience before I meet the end of my time. This was one of them, and I am just so grateful. I have so much respect for Eric Ripert. Been wanting to try his food in his restaurant for a long time. I truly hope those who do have the means to enjoy this experience regularly or even occasionally truly appreciate what they get to experience. It's truly extraordinary, with extraordinary hardworking professional people who make it all come to life. I thank the entire staff for making my experience one I will remember for a...

Le Bernadine Review

Last night my husband and I had dinner at Le Bernadine. We chose the chef’s tasting menu. With drinks and tip it cost $780 - enough to feed a family of four for a month.

We started with a plate of three amuse bouche. On the left was something unmemorable, on the right was a small ball of stale choux pastry with something unremarkable inside, in the middle was an absolutely delicious mound of raw tuna.

This was followed by bread and butter. The butter was the reason we were eating at Le Bernadine. Several months ago we decided to have a family butter tasting. I mentioned it at my book club and one of the members said “Oh you must get some butter from Le Bernadine they have the best butter in the world, they are famous for it!!!!”. So my son went to Le Bernadine and asked if he could purchase some butter. He was told “No, we don’t sell our butter, if you want it you must eat it here”. Now I know why. The butter we were served was extremely salty and not at all to my taste, In fact I believe had it been included in our butter tasting it would have come last! The butters we did taste were ranked best to worst as follows:

1. European butter
2. New Zealand butter
3. supermarket butter
4. Kerry Gold Though to be fair to Kerry Gold we did the tasting in the fall not the spring when their butter would have benefited from fresh green grass.

Back to Le Bernadine - with the butter came bread - rosemary, raisin walnut, baguette and brioche. We did not try the rosemary bread, the raisin walnut bread was hard and dry, the baguette was unremarkable but the brioche was scrumptious, light, flaky, moist and not too sweet.

For my first course I had one of the tuna dishes. It was described on the menu as layers of thinly pounded yellowfin tuna; Foie Gras; toasted baguette; chives. The tuna component was in fact a tuna gel or aspic which was spread all over the Foie Gras. The Foie Gras was delicious - hard to mess that up - however the tuna gel was an unpleasant consistency and the flavor of the tuna was not improved by the processing. Unlike the tuna in the amuse bouche which as I said previously was superb.

My second appetizer was the Scallop with Uni. No complaints here, this was delicious, I enjoyed every bite.

My main course was Skate. I was so excited as Skate, with its delicate flavor, is one of my favorite foods. The Skate itself was delicious, however the papaya salad was drowned in lemon juice which in my opinion did not in any way complement the Skate. No problem, I was able to scrape that off. The pho broth unfortunately had fennel in it which I was not expecting and which I found most unpleasant. I asked to have the sauce removed, which the waiter obligingly did. I was asked if I would like a different sauce, I said no thank you but when the Skate was brought back the waiter proceeded to pour a spoonful of brown butter sauce over the fish. Fortunately only one as the sauce was burnt!!! I was able to scrape most of that off too and the Skate was delicious all on its own.

Then came the dessert. We both ordered the dark chocolate concoction which looked most appealing with 3 wispy looking chocolate leaves on top. They and the small bowl holding the dessert were actually stale chocolate cake that tasted as though it had been made from a Betty Crocker mix several days previously. The soft dark chocolate filling was however delicious.

Finally came a plate of four dessert amuse bouche. Three of them were not worth the calories but the chocolate one was the delicious chocolate from our actual dessert without the stale cake component.

I must say the service was good and the staff pleasant but we will not...