L'Oursin — Restaurant in Seattle

The best French restaurant in Seattle in my humble opinion! - not anymore…

Update 3/8/25: had another dinner tonight and the food was great as usual. The service by our server was very underwhelming. While she was doing seemingly everything correct on paper, her service was lacking attention, care for us as customers and sincerity, it’d be more suitable for a fast casual restaurant than a restaurant of this quality. We told her that the red bubbles that we got were interesting in a bad way and for us it didn’t fit the main course at all, but she didn’t seem to care much about it. But our negative experience with her was not just with that. It was more of the overall feeling of NOT being welcome and truly listened which prevented us from fully enjoying the food and the moment.

This was not our first French restaurant, not even the 100th, and when French cuisine is represented internationally (it actually applies to France as much), the quality of service is as important as the quality of the cuisine.

I don’t know what was wrong with our server honestly. I don’t want to assume she was racist but the table beside us seemed to have received a much better service from her while another table with Chinese folks to our right was not getting good service at all. The thing is that she was the only server this way, the other ladies who were bringing dishes and the bill were very nice and attentive. I wish we got one of them as our main server! I don’t know the name of the disappointing one as she didn’t present herself when she welcomed us to the table.

You can check my profile and how many French restaurants across the globe I’ve reviewed and it’s extremely rare when I care to spend so much time to write a negative review like this. But I feel that this time it matters and that the service could get better. Not to mention that it was our special dinner for the International Women’s Day that was spoiled.

They automatically add 22% service charge to all bills which in my opinion doesn’t incentivize great service either. I’d rather leave a 30% tip for a great service than be left with a bittersweet aftertaste and the 50% chance of coming back. Unfortunately, because of this - reducing the rating from...

The food was good but it was not nearly on the tier I would expect from the price it commanded. The atmosphere is very much like a bistro. And for me, when I envision a bistro I think soups, sandwiches, salads etc… This menu was much more in line with what I would see (and spend) at a white-table cloth establishment, which is fine, if the food had lived up to the quality.

For starters the wine selection was great, so credit where credit is due. The main courses though is where it faltered. I got ravioli aux champignon and steak frites. The portions were in line with a fine dining establishment (which I still have yet to determine if this is or not) but the food was no where near as mind blowing as the high reviews led me to believe. The biggest blow was the steak. It was extremelyyyy chewy, over powered by the sauce and had no real flavor of its own. They offered ketchup and mayonnaise to go with it which is already a bad sign. Admittedly the fries were the best I’d ever had in my life (I’d maybe go back and just order those).

The ravioli was also very mediocre for being $42 pre tip and tax. The pasta itself was very dry but the filling was really good. The veggies were pretty good but nothing crazy in my opinion. 6 raviolis total.

For 2 drinks and 2 large plates it was $155. I would gladly pay this and more if I had been blown away at any point in the meal (the closest I got was the fries) but for mediocre food in a bistro setting I was tremendously disappointed. If you don’t care about price I would recommend you go, if you do even in the slightest I would...

As a French bistro, L'Oursin is not what one would expect in terms of atmosphere and feeling. From its location to its accommodations it comes across more as an American upscale, jazzy brunch spot. The space is ample, comfortable and gives off a vibe of sumptuousness. They offer a list of classic cocktails with a creative twist of one or more added ingredients. They are resonant of their classic cousins, but not necessarily made better by the twists, at least to my taste. But that is where the differences end. The food, however, is spot on in its comparison to French bistro fare. My dining companion and I had a couple of the classics. I love the chewy earthiness of escargot in a garlicky butter sauce. L'Oursin did not disappoint. The cassoulet was an ample serving containing sweet Toulouse sausage, silky melt-in-your-mouth pork belly and a crispy, tender duck confit hindquarter nestled in a base of buttery rancho gordo beans. As good if not better than any I have had - here or in France. In addition we ordered Flatan Poche - halibut with a seafood sauce of spot prawns, scallops, and muscles in a bath of seafood broth, flavors balanced to support the main ingredient. Excellent. We also had the bread basket, which was not inspiring, and the crab fritters which would have been made better with 1 tablespoon more of crab. But all-in-all it was a very tasty meal perfect for sharing with someone who has an appreciation for...