Le Rock — Restaurant in New York

We ate here on a Thursday night, and arrived just before 7pm to find the restaurant packed. The space is tightly arranged, with minimal space between tables, and the high ceilings reflect the sound around the room, making it very loud. We were promptly brought to our table, and our waiter greeted us shortly after. He talked us through the menu extensively, and offered his suggestions on what the best dishes were to try given it was our first time.

We each started with a cocktail, which was delivered quickly, and shortly thereafter placed our order. We decided to go with the razor clams and barbajuans to start, followed by the escargots and sunchokes, and finishing with the bison au poivre. Within a few minutes of ordering, our razor clams arrived and we began our meal.

That's about where things really started to fall off. While we found the food to be good, our server immediately stopped paying any sort of attention to us. He could be seen wandering around the room, aimlessly floating between the two POS screens in the main dining area and appearing to be entering orders. If not for the table next to us, who was experiencing the same lack of service and was much more vocal and emphatic in getting our server's attention, we would have waited more than 40 minutes to order our second drinks. By this point, we had eaten all of our starters/appetizers, and our main course was coming out as our server was finally delivering our glasses of wine.

This continued on, and we needed to beg (again) for another glass of wine and our check before needing to run out for another commitment that evening. This was especially curious as our waiter made the point to ask if we had a specific time we needed to be finished with our meal, which we expressed and were impressed that he would ask. Another head scratcher was that he was seemingly unaware that the bison came with a side of fries, having asked if we wanted to add them as an extra. We declined, and nearly sent them back when they arrived at our table, only to be informed by the busser that they were included with the dish. The server then came and apologized, stating he was unaware that fries were included. (???????)

Overall, the food was excellent. The cocktails were good (martini a touch overpriced), and the wine list was unique, interesting, and comprehensive. The service started off smoothly and efficiently, only to fall off a cliff. It was a bizarre series of events that left us feeling disappointed with the overall experience, especially given...

As mentioned in my previous reviews, I've been following the so-called revival effort of Rockefeller Center with some interest. And by follow, I mean eat.

Some places have been great. Others have been eh. NGL, I was genuinely expecting Le Rock to be eh, despite the recent hype. French fare is always so...extra. It's either obnoxiously rich or ridiculously overpriced, and more often than not, it's both.

Well, Le Rock is date night pricey, but not Michelin-starred pricey, and the food is only rich in the sense of bursting with flavor. We. Loved. It.

For classic pate and carbs, you are well-served with the Cervelle de Canut and Chicken Liver Mousse to start your meal.

I don't think I've ever seen Barbajuans on a French menu outside of France, so major props to Team Le Rock for serving this overlooked appetizer. They were fried to perfection. The Beignets Brandade de Morue were equally perfect, so savory I think I cried a little when the plate was empty.

The squeamish will avoid the Tablier de Sapeur because it says "tripe" on the menu, but they're fools who don't deserve good French food because this is a rare gem in the world of American French dining--a Lyonnaise specialty presented in perfect crispness with perfectly creamy sauce. Similarly, the squeamish (and jaded) will avoid the Escargots Bourguignons, but these were some of the best snails I've had, topped with a wonderful almond flour disc.

The Rigatoni Duck Bolognaise was rich fowl umami--so good, it should be upgraded to entree size, and so good, it puts most pasta restaurants to shame. The Steak Haché was filling without being overdone. I think the one dud of our meal was the very photogenic Leeks Vinaigrette--by all means, 'gram this dish in all its unwrappable glory, but the end result is kind of anticlimactic and too tart. And I love leeks.

Fortunately, dessert made up for that. The much-touted Baba aux Muses Verte is as moist and pillowy as you'd expect, but I'd skip the alcohol drizzle unless you have a problem. However, the Baba was easily surpassed by the fantastic Rhubarb Nougat Glacé aux Pistaches, which was perfectly semi-frozen and bursting with herbal,...

While I’m not vegetarian, I typically order a vegetarian entree at restaurants. So I’m basing my two-star review on the food I ate, and not my companion, who loved her meal.

The menu had little to offer vegetarians, but we started our meal with the Pumpkin Fritter Amuse Bouche - which was truly an amuse bouche! Typically provided gratis by upscale restaurants, these little guys cost $13 and tasted like something out of the frozen food section at Costco. That’s to say they were fine… the way most things from Costco are fine.

We then got the baguette with two spreads: radis buerre (radish and butter) and cervelle de canut (a cheese dip). Despite ordering two dips, we were only provided with one baguette, totaling 5 small pieces of bread. I know this was also an amuse, but technically we paid for two baguettes.

Finally, la piece de resistance was my $42 entree, Rice Pilaf with ramps and snap peas. There was approximately 1/2 inch of rice in my dish. It was, at best, a side dish. The flavor was minimal. I would not recommend it to anyone seeking a vegetarian meal at Le Rock, unless, perhaps, it was going to be your second dinner of the evening.

Finally, we ordered two mocktails. My French Cobbler (the pink drink) was delicious but cost $22… just like the alcoholic cocktails. Had I realized the price was the same I probably would have skipped it.

The ambiance in Le Rock is lovely and the waitstaff was attentive. (Although we were told we were not allowed to order the baguette before placing an order for the rest of our food.) The tables are too close together, so good luck escaping the very comfortable booth seating if there are diners on both sides of you.

The restaurant was filled with patrons who clearly just left work, which may be their bread and butter. But, if you’re visiting NYC looking for an outstanding meal, I’d look elsewhere. (Especially if you’re a...