La Cuisine Restaurant — Restaurant in Ocala

We have been here about 5 times now and will never go back. My sister introduced me to this place and the first couple of times were great. That was a few years ago, and since then things have gone down hill. The food has been very inconsistent and it’s been either too salty or not salty enough. For instance, the truffle fries were great the first few times dining here. After that, they have been inedible. They are way too salty and too much truffle! My husband would always get the swordfish but the last few times, it was much too salty to really enjoy. I had the airline chicken breast and you could tell they must have forgot to salt the pasta water and if that is not done, it’s hard to get the salt right after it is cooked. The pasta was tasteless. The chicken was very good though. What made us decide to never go back to this restaurant, was the extremely RUDE hostess. We asked twice if we could sit before our reservation. I wouldn’t have if it weren’t for the fact that the place was just about closed and there was hardly anyone in the place. She said with no apologies at all, she would and could not do that. So 10 minutes before our reservation, and nope, had to wait no apologies and quite stern about it. Now I have a chronic illness that makes it difficult to stand very long or sit in uncomfortable chairs. Well there is barely a seat to sit on but of the few seats, I was able to sit, albeit uncomfortable. We were also very hungry and we were hoping that they would let us in early since the place was empty and almost closed. I have been in the restaurant business for years, and I know exactly what to expect. It was unbelievable how rude she was and we would have never ever treated a customer in such a way. I noticed while reading the reviews, that there have been others who had the same experience. Something I will share with you from being in the restaurant business. This hostess must have direct instructions from the owner that this how he wants things done. It’s obvious that the rule is no seating anyone before their reservation. The owner sets the tone. If not, a hostess like this would never ever be tolerated! She would have been fired long ago. I think the problem is the fact that this is the only French restaurant in Ocala, and without any competition in the French food department, they see little reason to change. Lastly, their is very little selection on the menu and for picky eaters this is NOT the place. Also, the menu items are extremely expensive for what you get as well. The positives: the wait staff had always been the very best service you could get in Ocala. Having said that, it doesn’t make up for the front of the restaurant or the inconsistencies in food. Oh, if they have music, it is always very good although just a little loud but the restaurant is small so it’s hard to adjust the sound much. This place obviously doesn’t care one bit about losing customers which shows no appreciation at all for those of us who were returning customers. Your customers are your life in the restaurant business but apparently they thing that they have enough and they don’t care if you don’t come back. The message was...

I looked on their website as well as many other restaurants in the area and I saw that they had a rack of lamb. I love lamb. They advertise a full rack of lamb in a demi-glace sauce for $46. Look at the picture for yourself in their website , It looks awesome. But when I received my meal it was a half a rack. The owner walked by and asked how is everything? I said according to your website I should get a full rack of lamb not a half. His response to me was oh well. I said to him. Oh well!!! He said sorry and walked away. I can make a better full rack of lamb at home for less than half the price of what I paid at this want to be French restaurant for a half rack. I also had the Escargot appetizer. If you have ever been to France or Europe, you will know when you receive this appetizer the snails are fresh in the shells. They are big and plump and juicy. Not like they were opened up from a can that was over a year old. They actually tasted like canned mushrooms with garlic sauce, sorry to say not a good example of French escargot appetizer. Then I was told they would offer me a free dessert because of the misleading picture on the website. The creme brulee was good. The service was good. My suggestion to everyone would be to take a French cooking lesson online, watch a YouTube video to make a French meal at home and you would be better satisfied. If you want an authentic French meal, you have to go to France. This restaurant is a poor example. If you would like an excellent meal go to Longhorn Steakhouse here in Ocala. If you like rack of lamb. They have a special every spring where you get a full rack of lamb for $27. Yes, I said full rack of lamb. And all the steaks are outstanding as well as the pork chops and grilled salmon. This special for rack of lamb runs I think February through May check their website in Ocala. Another restaurant to consider is BJ's restaurant. Excellent specials throughout the week and every meal is perfect. As an owner of the restaurant the one thing you do not say to a customer when they question you about the meal they received and what is depicted on their website is "Oh well" I will enter a negative advertisement on every social media website I can about this want to be French restaurant because of the owners attitude. There are many other great restaurants in the Ocala area, as well as nearby Gainesville and going south towards Orlando to have a good satisfying meal than eat here...

I rarely leave reviews, but we came here for New Years Eve dinner and I can’t begin to explain the level of dissatisfaction for what should have been a special dinner. We have been here 3 times before with no issue. The escargot is always a solid choice. On NYE, however, we were incredibly disappointed with the quality of food they offered and the overall dining experience. I ordered a beef Wellington for $68 that was the special for the evening (almost double the price of their steak dishes). Unfortunately, it must have been pre-baked and warmed up (or underbaked) because it came out less than 10 minutes after it was ordered and had a pale appearance throughout. While the steak inside was cooked to the correct temperature, everything else about this dish was an absolute disaster. For one, the puff pastry was doughy and obviously undercooked, thus inedible. I could scrape the dough all around with my fork. Second, the sides served with it, namely a side of sautéed mushrooms, had a burnt, reheated taste that also made them inedible. So, for $68, I ended up with a 4, maybe 5 oz piece of beef tenderloin. When I brought the issue up with the waiter, who admittedly seemed to be new, he didn’t really know what to do and simply said he was sorry, but still charged me the full $68. Additionally, the entire dining experience felt like a race, which really made the evening and dinner unenjoyable. Everything came out minutes after being ordered. For “fine dining” that’s usually not a good sign. What we expected to be a nice NYE dinner, turned into a 45 minute race to get us in and out as quickly as possible. Not a memorable NYE dinner to...